Stephen Asma
Professor of Philosophy at Columbia College Chicago. Hold the title of Distinguished Scholar. Fulbright Scholar (2014) in Beijing China. Author of ten books, including "Th Emotional Mind: Affective Roots of Culture and Cognition" (Harvard, 2019), "Against Fairness: In Favor of Favoritism" (Univ. of Chicago Press, 2012), "On Monsters: an Unnatural History of Our Worst Fears" (Oxford), "Stuffed Animals and Pickled Heads" (Oxford), and the best selling "Buddha for Beginners" (originally published in 1996 and reissued in 2008). My writing has been translated into German, Spanish, Hebrew, Czech, Romanian, Hindi, Portuguese, and Chinese.
Co-Founder of the Research Group in Mind, Science and Culture at Columbia College. The Research Group is actively working on a philosophical and scientific understanding of the mind/brain that properly incorporates the emotional dimension of mammalian consciousness.
In addition to Western philosophy, I have an abiding interest in Buddhism and Confucianism. In 2003, I was Visiting Professor at the Buddhist Institute in Phnom Penh, Kingdom of Cambodia, teaching a "Buddhist Philosophy" seminar course as part of their Graduate Program in Buddhist Studies. In addition to Cambodia, I have also researched Asian philosophies in Thailand, Vietnam, Hong Kong, Mainland China, and Laos. I also lived and studied in Shanghai China.
I’ve lectured at Harvard, Brown, Fudan University, Oxford, University of Macao, the Field Museum, the Newberry Library, the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History, and many more.
I am a regular writer for the New York Times philosophy column "The Stone" and the Chronicle of Higher Education (the Chronicle Review magazine), penning many feature articles on philosophical subjects, including the often quoted “Green Guilt” piece on religious environmentalism, and “Dinosaurs on the Ark: Natural History and the New Creation Museum.” I’ve also written for the Chicago Tribune, Sunday Times, In These Times magazine, Curator journal, the Skeptical Inquirer, the journal Biology and Philosophy, Journal of Consciousness Studies, the American Philosophical Quarterly, Truthout.com, and Skeptic magazine. My writing regularly makes the rounds of the blogosphere and online reportage. My work has been featured in Vanity Faire.com, Podularity, The Daily Beast, Bookslut, Tikkun Daily, Beliefnet, Arts and Letters Daily, UtneReader.com, and the “Idea of the Day” at the New York Times.
In the past few years, I have become a contributor to several radio programs, appearing regularly on WBEZ (Chicago Public Radio), WNPR (Connecticut Public Radio), KCRW (Los Angeles Public Radio), NPR’s “To the Best of Our Knowledge” and Oprah Radio (“Soul Series”). I’ve also appeared on BBC World News and MTV.
I was a professional blues/jazz musician for many years in Chicago, and had the good fortune to play music with some of my musical heroes, including Buddy Guy, Bo Diddley, B.B. King, Ko-Ko Taylor, Junior Wells, Son Seals, Lonnie Brooks, and many others.
Co-Founder of the Research Group in Mind, Science and Culture at Columbia College. The Research Group is actively working on a philosophical and scientific understanding of the mind/brain that properly incorporates the emotional dimension of mammalian consciousness.
In addition to Western philosophy, I have an abiding interest in Buddhism and Confucianism. In 2003, I was Visiting Professor at the Buddhist Institute in Phnom Penh, Kingdom of Cambodia, teaching a "Buddhist Philosophy" seminar course as part of their Graduate Program in Buddhist Studies. In addition to Cambodia, I have also researched Asian philosophies in Thailand, Vietnam, Hong Kong, Mainland China, and Laos. I also lived and studied in Shanghai China.
I’ve lectured at Harvard, Brown, Fudan University, Oxford, University of Macao, the Field Museum, the Newberry Library, the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History, and many more.
I am a regular writer for the New York Times philosophy column "The Stone" and the Chronicle of Higher Education (the Chronicle Review magazine), penning many feature articles on philosophical subjects, including the often quoted “Green Guilt” piece on religious environmentalism, and “Dinosaurs on the Ark: Natural History and the New Creation Museum.” I’ve also written for the Chicago Tribune, Sunday Times, In These Times magazine, Curator journal, the Skeptical Inquirer, the journal Biology and Philosophy, Journal of Consciousness Studies, the American Philosophical Quarterly, Truthout.com, and Skeptic magazine. My writing regularly makes the rounds of the blogosphere and online reportage. My work has been featured in Vanity Faire.com, Podularity, The Daily Beast, Bookslut, Tikkun Daily, Beliefnet, Arts and Letters Daily, UtneReader.com, and the “Idea of the Day” at the New York Times.
In the past few years, I have become a contributor to several radio programs, appearing regularly on WBEZ (Chicago Public Radio), WNPR (Connecticut Public Radio), KCRW (Los Angeles Public Radio), NPR’s “To the Best of Our Knowledge” and Oprah Radio (“Soul Series”). I’ve also appeared on BBC World News and MTV.
I was a professional blues/jazz musician for many years in Chicago, and had the good fortune to play music with some of my musical heroes, including Buddy Guy, Bo Diddley, B.B. King, Ko-Ko Taylor, Junior Wells, Son Seals, Lonnie Brooks, and many others.
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Papers by Stephen Asma
masculinity. Where does it come from and what
can be done to stop it?
In this essay, Stephen Asma explores the way otherwise adaptive masculine traits can become maladaptive, causing dangerous levels of aggression.
masculinity. Where does it come from and what
can be done to stop it?
In this essay, Stephen Asma explores the way otherwise adaptive masculine traits can become maladaptive, causing dangerous levels of aggression.
Mixing the continental tradition of Canguilhem and Foucault together with analytical philosophy of biology, Asma's treatment of the historical form/function dispute analyzes the complex interactions among ideologies, metaphysical commitments, and research programs. Following Form and Function is a significant contribution to the history of science, history of philosophy, and disputes within contemporary biology.
No theorist of religion has failed to notice the importance of emotions in spiritual and ritual life, but truly systematic research has only recently delivered concrete data on the neurology, psychology, and anthropology of the emotional systems. This very recent "affective turn" has begun to map out a powerful territory of embodied cognition. Why We Need Religion incorporates new data from these affective sciences into the philosophy of religion. It goes on to describe the way in which religion manages those systems--rage, play, lust, care, grief, and so on. Finally, it argues that religion is still the best cultural apparatus for doing this adaptive work. In short, the book is a Darwinian defense of religious emotions and the cultural systems that manage them.