鶹AV

Garth W. Green

Academic title(s): 

John W. McConnell Professor of Philosophy of Religion
Director, School of Religious Studies

Garth W. Green
Contact Information
Address: 

3520 University Street, Room 112
Montreal, Quebec
H3A 2A7, Canada

Phone: 
514-398-1446
Fax number: 
514-398-6665
Email address: 
garth.green [at] mcgill.ca
Degree(s): 

M.A. (Boston)
M.A. (Leuven)
Ph.D. (Boston)

Specialization: 

Philosophy of Religion, Philosophical Theology, Christian Neo-Platonism, German Idealism, French Phenomenology

Biography: 

I teach and research the histories of Christian theology and European philosophy, and the systematic relations within and between these histories. I have focused on (1) medieval, and specifically neo-Platonic, theology, (2) modern and 19th-century philosophies of religion, and (3) the reconfiguration of this medieval-theological and modern-philosophical inheritance in contemporary phenomenology and its ‘theological turn.’ In each case, my intention is to comprehend fundamental philosophical and theological problems by attending to the process of their unfolding, in order to come to a contemporary understanding of ourselves as inheritors of these philosophical and theological histories.

These interests developed during graduate study in Religion (M.A., Boston University), Philosophy (M.A., Leuven), and Philosophy of Religion (Ph.D., Boston University). I held graduate fellowship and research positions at the Institut für die Wissenschaften vom Menschen (Austria), the University of Leuven (Belgium), the Institut Catholique de Paris (France), and the Istituto Italiano per gli Studi Filosofici (Italy). I was Assistant Professor of Philosophy of Religion at Boston University, where I taught in the Department of Religion, Department of Philosophy, and School of Theology, from 2004-2011. I became Associate Professor of Philosophy of Religion at 鶹AV in Fall 2011, and John W. McConnell Professor of Philosophy of Religion in 2017.

Since arriving at 鶹AV, I have been a Faculty Fellow at the 鶹AV Institute for the Public Life of Arts and Ideas (2013-16), and have held a FRQSC Nouveaux Chercheurs Grant (2013-16) for my work on Michel Henry and the origins of the ‘theological turn’ of French phenomenology. In that context, I co-hosted (with Professor Jean Grondin, Université de Montréal) the International Conference of the Société Francophone de Philosophie de la Religion. I was Visiting Professor at the Université Catholique de Louvain (Institut Supérieur de Philosophie) in Summer 2014, and at the Università di Cagliari (Facoltà di Lettere e Filosofia) in Summer 2015. 

I became Director of the School of Religious Studies in February, 2018.

In 2019, I founded, with Jean Grondin and Sean McGrath, the Canadian Society for Philosophy of Religion/Société canadienne de philosophie de la religion, of which I serve as inaugural president. In 2021, I founded with George di Giovanni a new series with 鶹AV-Queen’s University Press, entitled Studies in the Philosophy of Religion.

I will return to a full-time research, publication, and graduate supervision schedule when this term of service has been fulfilled.

Courses: 

RELG 321 Western Intellectual Tradition 3 Credits
    Offered in the:
  • Fall
  • Winter
  • Summer


RELG 325 Varieties Rel Exp in Christnty 3 Credits
    Offered in the:
  • Fall
  • Winter
  • Summer


RELG 341 Intro:Philosophy of Religion 3 Credits
    Offered in the:
  • Fall
  • Winter
  • Summer


RELG 374 Topics:Philosophy of Religion 3 Credits
    Offered in the:
  • Fall
  • Winter
  • Summer


RELG 380 Religion,Philosophy, Modernity 3 Credits
    Offered in the:
  • Fall
  • Winter
  • Summer


RELG 642 Contemp Philosophy of Religion 3 Credits
    Offered in the:
  • Fall
  • Winter
  • Summer

Selected publications: 

Recent Publications

2024, Book Chapter; “The Historiographical Significance of Cusanus’ Apologia,” in Divine Illumination: The Reception of German Mysticism in Early Modern England, eds. Torrance Kirby, Douglas Hedley, and Daniel Tolan (Leiden and Boston: Brill).

2023, Book Chapter; “On Hart On Afterthinking,” in The Philosophical Theology of Ray L. Hart (Edinburgh University Press), Alina Feld and Sean McGrath, eds.

2022, Journal Article; “Michel Henry: Natural Consciousness, Philosophical Consciousness, the Essence of Manifestation,” Archivio di Filosofia, 2/3.

2021, Book Chapter; “Hegel’s Philosophy of Religion,” in Wiley-Blackwell Encyclopedia of Philosophy of Religion, 4 v. Co-authored with George di Giovanni; Stewart Goetz and Charles Taliaferro, eds. (Oxford, Wiley Blackwell).

2020, Journal Article; “Nicholas of Cusa’s Platonism: Its Epistemological Structure and Historiographical Significance,” in Annuario Filosofico, n. 36.

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