Raimond Gaita

Raimond Gaita (born 1946) is Foundation Professor of Philosophy at the Australian Catholic University and Professor of Moral Philosophy at King's College London. He is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities.

Born in Germany in 1946 to a Romanian father (Romulus Gaita) and a German mother (Christine Anna Dörr), he arrived in Australia in 1950 at the age of four. His childhood and the lives of his family members and close friends are heavily detailed in his award winning memoir "Romulus, My Father" which was made into an award winning film starring Eric Bana (Romulus), Franka Potente (Christine), Kodi Smit-McPhee (Raimond) and Marton Csokas (Hora).

Gaita attended St. Patrick's College, Ballarat (Victoria) Melbourne High School (Victoria), University of Melbourne (BA Hons, MA) and University of Leeds (PhD). He is married to Yael Gaita, who is a teacher at The King David School, where she teaches Hebrew. He has two children, Katerina and Eva and two step children, Dahlia and Michelle.

Because he believes that it is generally a good thing for philosophers to address an educated and hard-thinking lay audience as well as their colleagues, Gaita has contributed extensively to public discussion about reconciliation, collective responsibility, the role of moral considerations in politics, genocide and the alleged uniqueness of the Holocaust, education (the nature of teaching as a vocation, the role of love in learning) and about the plight of the universities. Most recently he has been active in speaking and writing against people who advocate that in order to protect ourselves against terrorists we should legalise some forms of torture.

Bibliography

* "Romulus, My Father" ((Melbourne: Text Publishing, 1988), London: Review, 2000); (Barcelona: Ediciones Del Bronce, 2001), (Salzburg and Hamburg, Salzburg and Vienna: Residenz Verlag, 2001); (Amsterdam: Ambo, 2004) (Haifa: Carmel, 2008). Winner, Nettie Palmer Prize for Non-Fiction, Victorian Premier's Literary Awards, 1998; Shortlisted, Queensland Premier’s Award for Contribution to Public Debate 1999; Braille Book of the Year 1999; Age Book of the Year 1999, National Biography Award, 1999. Nominated by New Statesman, London, as one of the best books of 1999 and by The Australian Financial Review as one of the ten best books of the decade.
* "" ((Melbourne: Text Publishing 1999); (London and New York: Routledge, 2000). Nominated by The Economist as one of the best books of 2000)
* "The Philosopher's Dog" ((Melbourne: Text Publishing, 2002), pp. 214; (London: Routledge, 2003); (New York: Random House, 2003); (Amsterdam: Ambo/Anthos, 2003); (Berlin: Rogner and Berhnard 2003); (Tapai: The Bookery, 2004); (Beijing: People's Literature Publishing House, 2004); (Istanbul: Dost Kitabevi Yayinlari, 2005); (Tokyo: Shuei-Sha, 2005); (Jerusalem: The Attic, 2005); (Rio deJaneiro: Betrand Brasil); (Genoa: Il Melangola 2007) (Portugal: Casa das Letras 2007). Shortlisted for the NSW Premier's Award (2003) and The Age Book of the Year (2003). Nominated by the Kansas City Star as one of the ten best books of 2005.
* "" (2004, 2nd Edition)

Further reading

*J. Franklin, (2003), "Corrupting the Youth: A History of Philosophy in Australia", Macleay Press, ch. 16

External links

* [http://www.kcl.ac.uk/kis/schools/hums/philosophy/staff/r_gaita.html Professor Raimond Gaita] at King's College London
* [http://www.abc.net.au/rn/religionreport/stories/2008/2179773.htm Professor Raimond Gaita interviewed] on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation
* [http://cdn2.libsyn.com/philosophybites/GaitaMixSes.MP3?nvb=20080918080816&nva=20080919080816&t=0d6eb60497f2fc243187b Raimond Gaita interviewed about Torture on "Philosophy Bites"]
* [ http://video.aol.com/video-detail/9am-raimond-gaita-rob-connolly/2203119501Raimond Gaita and Robert Connolly discuss Romulus, My Father (the film)]