Sweet, William 1955-

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SWEET, William 1955-

PERSONAL: Born 1955, in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada; son of William Donald and Joyce Leila (Taylor) Sweet. Education: Carleton University, B.A. (with honors), M.A.; University of Ottawa, B.A. (magna cum laude), B.Th. (magna cum laude), Ph.D.; University of St. Paul, Ottawa, B.Ph. (magna cum laude), S.T.B. (magna cum laude), L.Ph., D.Ph.; University of Manitoba, M.A.; Sorbonne, University of Paris I, D.E.A.; also attended University of Berlin, University of Austria, International College of Philosophy (Paris, France), College of France, Dominican College of Philosophy and Theology (Ottawa, Ontario, Canada), University of Quebec—Chicoutimi, Memorial University of Newfoundland, and Goethe Institut. Religion: Roman Catholic. Hobbies and other interests: Travel, rock climbing, reading.

ADDRESSES: Office—Department of Philosophy, St. Francis Xavier University, P.O. Box 5000, Antigonish, Nova Scotia, Canada B2G 2W5. E-mail—wsweet@stfx.ca.

CAREER: University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, lecturer, 1979-80, 1983-85, 1987-88; University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada, lecturer at St. Thomas More College, 1980-83; Carleton University, Ottawa, lecturer, 1989-90; St. Francis Xavier University, Antigonish, Nova Scotia, Canada, assistant professor, 1990-95, associate professor, 1995-2000, professor of philosophy, 1990—, chair of Faculty of Arts, 1998-2000, chair of university faculty, 2001-02. University of St. Paul, Ottawa, Professor Henry Herbert Glassmacher Lecturer, 1994; Australian National University, visiting scholar at Research School of Social Sciences, 1996; Catholic University of Louvain, holder of Hoover Chair of Economic and Social Ethics, 1996; Indian Council for Cultural Relations, member of distinguished visitor program, 1996; University of Manitoba, Jesuit Speakers Series lecturer at St. Paul's College, 1998; University of Wales—Cardiff, Royal Institute of Philosophy lecturer, 1999; University of Madras, Nimishakkavi K. Subbaiah Naidu Endowment lecturer, 1999; Dominican College of Philosophy, guest professor, 1999—; Dharmaram College, Bangalore, India, Dharma Endowment lecturer, 2001; University of Pune, visiting professor, 2001; University of Quebec—Montreal, holder of UNESCO Chair, 2001; Madras Christian College, Chennai, India, Dr. S. Radhakrishnan Endowment lecturer, 2002; organizer of conferences and workshops; guest on media programs in Canada and abroad. Eastern Regional Health Board of Nova Scotia, member of ethics committee, 1999-2000; St. Martha's Regional Hospital, member of mission assurance advisory council, 1999—, chair of research ethics committee, 2001-02; Guysborough, Antigonish, Strait District Health Authority, chair of research ethics committee, 2002—.

MEMBER: World Union of Catholic Philosophical Societies (secretary general, 1998—), International Congress for Social Philosophy (vice president and member of executive committee, 2001—), Istituto Internazionale Jacques Maritain (vice president, 2002-05), Canadian Jacques Maritain Association (member of board of directors, 1995—; president, 1999-2002), Canadian Society of Christian Philosophers (president, 2001-03), Canadian Society for Studies in Religion (member of executive committee, 1999-2001), Canadian Philosophical Association (member of board of directors, 1997-99), American Society of Christian Philosophers (chair of committee on outreach to Christian philosophers, 1996—), St. Francis Xavier Association of University Teachers (president, 2002-04).

AWARDS, HONORS: Grants from Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, 2000—.

WRITINGS:

Idealism and Rights, University Press of America (Lanham, MD), 1997.

Science, Religion, and Non-Science, Dharmaram Publishers (Bangalore, India), 2002.

Religious Belief, Meaning, and Proof: The Contemporary Debate, Dharmaram Publishers (Bangalore, India), 2002.

(With Hendrik Hart) Anti-foundationalism, Faith, and Community, Rodopi Press (Amsterdam, Netherlands), 2003.

Contributor of articles to scholarly journals, including Fu Jen International Journal of Philosophy, Sadhan: Journal of the Centre for Studies in Civilizations, Indian Socio-Legal Journal, International Journal for Philosophy of Religion, International Journal of Applied Philosophy, Research in Philosophy and Technology, Indian Philosophical Quarterly, Journal of Religious Studies, Man and Nature, and Philosophy and Theology.

EDITOR

God and Argument, University of Ottawa Press (Ottawa, Ontario,, Canada), 1999.

The Collected Works of Bernard Bosanquet, twenty volumes, Thoemmes Press (Bristol, England), 1999.

The Bases of Ethics, Marquette University Press (Milwaukee, WI), 2000.

(With Gerald F. Gaus) The Philosophical Theory of the State and Related Essays by Bernard Bosanquet, St. Augustine's Press (South Bend, IN), 2001.

Natural Law: Reflections on Theory and Practice by Jacques Maritain, St. Augustine's Press (South Bend, IN), 2001.

Idealism, Metaphysics, and Community, Ashgate Publishers (Aldershot, England), 2001.

Philosophy, Culture, and Pluralism, Éditions du Scribe (Aylmer, Quebec, Canada), 2002.

Bernard Bosanquet: Essays in Philosophy and Social Policy, 1883-1922, three volumes, Thoemmes Press (Bristol, England), 2003.

The Philosophy of History: A Reexamination, Ashgate Publishers (Aldershot, England), 2003.

(With James Thomas) The Nature of Metaphysics, 2003.

Philosophical Theory and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, University of Ottawa Press (Ottawa, Ontario, Canada), 2003.

(With Errol E. Harris) The Philosophical Remains of Arthur Ritchie Lord, Volume 1: "The Principles of Politics" and Related Essays, Volume 2: "Freedom" and Essays in Politics, Ethics, Aesthetics, and Religion, Volume 3: "The History of History" and Essays in Epistemology and the History of Philosophy from Descartes to Hegel, Edwin Mellen Press (Lewiston, NY), 2003.

Area editor, Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 1999—. Journal of Dharma, associate editor, 1996—, special issue editor, 1997, 1998; editor, Maritain Studies, 1994—, Canadian Society of Christian Philosophers Newsletter, 1994-99, Bulletin of the Canadian Jacques Maritain Association and Bulletin of the Canadian Society for the Study of Religion, both 1999-2001, and Philosophy, Culture, and Traditions, 2001—; associate editor, South Pacific Journal of Philosophy and Culture 1996—; special issue editor, Bradley Studies, 2001; member of editorial board, Carrefour, 1986-91, Dialogue and Science et esprit, both 2000—, and Collingwood and British Idealism Studies, 2002—.

WORK IN PROGRESS: Editing and writing introduction for The Moral, Social, and Political Philosophy of the British Idealists, with Stamatoula Panagakou, for Imprint Academic (Thoverton, England), completion expected in 2004; editing and writing introduction for Collected Works of Jacques Maritain, Volume 6: Preface to Moral Philosophy, Preface to Metaphysics, Lectures on Natural Law, for University of Notre Dame Press (Notre Dame, IN); editing and writing critical introductions for Modern Liberal Political Thought; Bernard Bosanquet: An Introduction to His Life and Work.

SIDELIGHTS: William Sweet told CA: "I am motivated by a general curiosity about some of the 'big questions' and also by a conviction that an open discussion of these questions will, if not allow us to arrive at a consensus, at least remind us that there are certain fundamental problems that human beings invariably pursue. My own work tends to focus on three of these questions. What is it to have rights and dignity in a world that is so often marred by violence and oppression? How can we have faith in a transcendent when we live in a world surrounded by technology and human artifice? Are there any shared or common values in a world that is home to a wide range of cultures and traditions?

"To help in thinking about these questions, I am guided by the following. To begin with, I am particularly interested in the history behind current debates, because it is in this that I think we can see where the key concerns in these debates really lie. (Not surprisingly, I believe that we have lost a lot by losing our historical sense and by becoming 'caught up' in contemporary society and technology.) I am also particularly interested in 'recovering' the work of major modern philosophers whose insights seem particularly promising here. I have been inspired by the writings of Ludwig Wittgenstein, by Jacques Maritain, and by Bernard Bosanquet—but more and more by recent Asian thinkers as well. I am also interested in trying to bring into contact—and to understand as thoroughly and as clearly as possible—the views of these major philosophers.

"In the past six years these questions and these interests have led me to extend my travels beyond Europe and North America, to Asia (especially India), Australia, and Africa—to understand better the place of cultural traditions in relation to philosophy. They have also led me to work on volumes of essays where philosophers, political and social theorists, theologians, and historians could be brought together on trans-disciplinary themes. One volume dealt with 'the bases of ethics.' Another, prepared at the turn of the millennium, called for a reexamination of 'the philosophy of history.' But I also have had the chance to work on some of the history of ideas as well.

"Over the next decade or so, I hope to build on this work by exploring more deeply the relations between cultural traditions and philosophies, but also to see how far one can bring philosophers, theologians, and social and political theorists into closer contact on the big questions referred to above."