Kevin Brien
Professor of Philosophy
Chair, Department of Philosophy
Faculty Advisor of Black Student Union
E-mail: kbrien2@washcoll.edu
Phone: (800) 422-1782, ext. 7772
Office: Smith 115
Education
- Boston University, 1964
- M.A., Boston University, 1968
- Ph.D., Boston University, 1978
Biography
Kevin M. Brien, Professor of Philosophy and Religion, has been with the Department of Philosophy and Religion at Washington College since 1986. Before his years with Washington College he taught for many years at five other colleges and universities.
His main areas of specialization and interest are: Eastern Philosophy and Religion, Philosophy of Science, Philosophy of Marxism, Philosophy of Nietzsche, and History of Philosophy.
His book Marx, Reason, and the Art of Freedom: Second Edition was published in 2006 by Prometheus/Humanity Books.
Prof. Brien's most recent paper publications are:
- "Rethinking Marx and the Spiritual" to be published in the American journal RETHINKING MARXISM, Forthcoming 2008.
- "Marx's Dialectical-Empirical Method of Explanation" published in the Venezuelan journal UTOPIA Y PRAXIS: LATINOAMERICANA, 2007.
- "Humanistic Marxism and the Transformation of Reason" published in the Indonesian journal MELINTAS, Spring '06. [Published by Universitas Katolik Parahyangan in Bandung, Indonesia.]
- "Buddhismus" [in German] published in Marx-Glossar, Ed. Christoph Henning, Spring'06. [Published by Edition Freitag, Berlin.]
- "Humanistic Marxism and the Transformation of Reason" published in the Polish journal DIALOGUE AND UNIVERSALISM, Fall 2006. [Published jointly by the Polish Academy of Sciences and Warsaw University.]
- "Buddhism and Marxism: Ironic Affinities" published in the Polish journal DIALOGUE AND UNIVERSALISM, 2004.
- "To Believe?—Or Not to Believe?: A Dialogue Concerning Religion, Politics, and Suffering" published in the Greek journal SKEPSIS: A Journal for Philosophy and Inter-Disciplinary Research, 2004.
Prof. Brien is currently working on a new book project tentatively called "Toward a New Liberation Spirituality." His on-going work is a long-term project aimed at a critical synthesis of Marx, Nietzsche, and Buddhism.
Recent Paper Presentations
- "The Need for a Cross-Cultural Jihad of Ijtihad" presented in December 2007 at the annual Congress of the American Philosophical Association held in Baltimore, MD.
- "World Peace and Humanistic-Marxism" presented in June 2007 at the Seventh World Congress of the International Society for Universal Dialogue (ISUD) held in Hiroshima, Japan.
- "Lao Tzu, Heraclitus, and Native American Spirituality" presented in June 2007 at an International Symposium on Dialogue: Literature and Philosophy held at Beijing International Studies University, Beijing, China.
- "Humanistic Marxism and Freedom" presented in June 2007 at the Institute for Transcultural Studies under Beijing International Studies University, Beijing, China.
- "World Peace: Humanistic Marxism & Buddhism" presented in December 2006 at the Interim World Philosophy Congress held at the University of Delhi, India.
- "World Peace & Humanistic Marxism" presented in October 2006 at a Rethinking Marxism Congress held at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.
- "Two Bodhisattvas: Buddha and Marx" presented in 2006 at the Fourth International Conference on New Directions in the Humanities held at the University of Carthage, Tunisia.
- "Humanistic Marxism and Buddhism: Ironic Affinities" presented in January 2006 at Benares Hindu University in Varanasi, India.
- "Humanistic Marxism and the Transformation of Reason" presented in July 2005 at the Sixth World Congress of the International Society for Universal Dialogue in Helsinki, Finland.