Paul J. Griffiths

Paul J. Griffiths (born 1955) is the Warren Professor of Catholic Thought at Duke University.

Griffiths has previously held appointments at the University of Notre Dame and the University of Chicago. A scholar of Augustine, Griffiths' main interests and pursuits are philosophical theology and the philosophy of religion—particularly Christianity and Buddhism. He received a doctoral degree in Buddhist Studies in 1983 from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and his early works established him as one of the most incisive interpreters of Yogācāra Buddhist philosophy. His works on Buddhism include "On Being Mindless" (Lasalle, IL: Open Court, 1991) and "On Being Buddha" (Albany: SUNY Press, 1994). After converting from Anglicanism to Roman Catholicism and accepting the Schmitt Chair of Catholic Studies at the University of Illinois at Chicago, he has largely given up his work in Buddhist Studies. His recent books include: "Problems of Religious Diversity" (Oxford: Blackwell, 2001); "Philosophy of Religion: A Reader" (co-edited with Charles Taliaferro) (Oxford: Blackwell, 2003); and, "Lying: An Augustinian Theology of Duplicity" (Grand Rapids: Brazos Press, 2004). He is currently working on a book regarding curiositas and the nature of intellectual appetite; its working title: "The Vice of Curiosity & the Ownership of Knowledge".

* [http://www.bc.edu/church21/meta-elements/ssi/griffithsbio.shtml Short biography]