Debra Nails

Debra Nails is a philosophy professor and well known classics scholar currently teaching at Michigan State University. Nails earned her M.A. in philosophy and classical Greek from Louisiana State University before going on to earn a Ph.D. in philosophy at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg in 1993.^[1] Previously, she taught at in the Department of Classics, Philosophy, and Religion at Mary Washington College. Nails currently teaches courses on the history of philosophy, continental rationalism, metaphysics, and modern philosophy.

Contributions to Philosophy

Nails' work primarily focuses on ancient Greek philosophy, metaphysics, feminist philosophy, and early modern philosophy.^[2] She is the chair of the Committee for Professional Ethics of the American Association of University Professors and was previously on the Committee for the Defense of Professional Rights of Philosophers, and the Committee on Academic Career Opportunities and Placement of the American Philosophical Association.

Professional Publications

Nails has published numerous peer-reviewed articles in journals such as The Southwest Philosophy Review,^[3] The Classical Journal,^[4] Skepsis,^[5] Phoenix,^[6] and Ancient Philosophy.^[7] In addition, she has written chapters in books such as A Companion to Greek and Roman Political Thought,^[8] Plato's Symposium: Issues in Interpretation and Reception,^[9] A Companion to Plato,^[10] Race and Racism in Modern Philosophy,^[11] and Plato’s Laws: From Theory into Practice.^[12] Her books include The People of Plato: A Prosopography of Plato and Other Socratics,^[13] and Agora, Academy, and the Conduct of Philosophy. ^[14] She also edited Plato's Symposium: Issues in Interpretation and Reception with J. H. Lesher and Frisbee C. C. Sheffield; ^[15] Naturalistic Epistemology: A Symposium of Two Decades with Abner Shimony; ^[16] Spinoza and the Sciences with Marjorie Grene;^[17] and Women and Morality with Mary Ann O’Loughlin and James C. Walker.^[18]

Awards and Distinctions

In addition to being named chair of the Committee for Professional Ethics of the American Association of University Professors, Nails was also a Research Fellow at the Boston University Center for the Philosophy and History of Science and a University Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Witwatersrand University.^[19]

Selected Works

Plato's Symposium: Issues in Interpretation and Reception. Hellenic Studies Series 22 (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2006). Ed. Debra Nails, J. H. Lesher, and Frisbee C. C. Sheffield. xii + 446 pp.

The People of Plato: A Prosopography of Plato and Other Socratics (Indianapolis and Cambridge: Hackett Publishing, 2002), xlviii + 414 pp.

Agora, Academy, and the Conduct of Philosophy. Philosophical Studies Series 63 (Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers, 1995), xxii + 264 pp.

Naturalistic Epistemology: A Symposium of Two Decades. Boston Studies in the Philosophy of Science Series 100 (Boston: Reidel, 1987), vi + 384 pp. Ed. Debra Nails and Abner Shimony.

Spinoza and the Sciences. Boston Studies in the Philosophy of Science Series 91 (Boston: Reidel, 1986) xix + 336 pp. Ed. Debra Nails and Marjorie Grene.

Women and Morality. Social Research 50:3 (1983). Debra Nails, Mary Ann O’Loughlin, and James C. Walker.

See also

American Philosophy

American Philosophers

References

1. ^ Michigan State University/philosophy/Debra Nails accessed June 14, (2011)
2. ^ Michigan State University/philosophy/Debra Nails accessed June 14, (2011)
3. ^ Nails, Debra. “Seduced by Prodicus,” Southwest Philosophy Review 17:2 (2001), 129–39.
4. ^ Nails, Debra. “The Dramatic Date of Plato’s Republic.” The Classical Journal 93 (1998), 383–396.
5. ^ Nails, Debra. “Human Nature and the Founding of the Polis,” Skepsis 8 (1997), 92–102.
6. ^ Nails, Debra. “Plato’s ‘Middle’ Cluster,” Phoenix 48:1 (1994), 62–67.
7. ^ Nails, Debra. “Problems with Vlastos’s Platonic Developmentalism,” Ancient Philosophy 13:2 (1993), 273–291.
8. ^ Nails, Debra. "The Trial and Death of Socrates.” In A Companion to Greek and Roman Political Thought, ed. Ryan Balot, pp. 323–38 (Oxford: Blackwell, 2009). [Reprinted from "A Companion to Socrates", ed. Sara Ahbel-Rappe and Rachana Kamtekar, pp. 5–20 (Oxford: Blackwell, 2006).]
9. ^ Nails, Debra. “Tragedy Off-Stage.” In Plato's Symposium: Issues in Interpretation and Reception, ed. J. H. Lesher, Debra Nails, and Frisbee C. C. Sheffield, pp. 179–207. Hellenic Studies Series 22 (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2006).
10. ^ Nails, Debra. "The Life of Plato of Athens.” In A Companion to Plato, ed. Hugh Benson, pp. 1–12 (Oxford: Blackwell, 2006).
11. ^ Nails, Debra. “Metaphysics at the Barricades: Spinoza and Race.” In Race and Racism in Modern Philosophy, ed. Andrew Valls, pp. 57–72 (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2005).
12. ^ Nails, Debra. “Mouthpiece Schmouthpiece.” In Who Speaks for Plato, ed. Gerald A. Press, pp. 15–26 (Lanham: Rowman and Littlefield, 1999).
13. ^ Nails, Debra. The People of Plato: A Prosopography of Plato and Other Socratics (Indianapolis and Cambridge: Hackett Publishing, 2002), xlviii + 414 pp.
14. ^ Nails, Debra. Agora, Academy, and the Conduct of Philosophy. Philosophical Studies Series 63 (Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers, 1995), xxii + 264 pp.
15. ^ Plato's Symposium: Issues in Interpretation and Reception. Hellenic Studies Series 22 (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2006). Ed. Debra Nails, J. H. Lesher, and Frisbee C. C. Sheffield. xii + 446 pp
16. ^ Naturalistic Epistemology: A Symposium of Two Decades. Boston Studies in the Philosophy of Science Series 100 (Boston: Reidel, 1987), vi + 384 pp. Ed. Debra Nails and Abner Shimony.
17. ^ Spinoza and the Sciences. Boston Studies in the Philosophy of Science Series 91 (Boston: Reidel, 1986) xix + 336 pp. Ed. Debra Nails and Marjorie Grene.
18. ^ Women and Morality. Social Research 50:3 (1983). Debra Nails, Mary Ann O’Loughlin, and James C. Walker.
19. ^ Michigan State University/philosophy/Debra Nails accessed June 14, (2011)