Dr. Bechtol earned his Ph.D. in philosophy from Texas A&M University, B.A. degree from Baylor University, M.Div. from Fuller Theological Seminary, and M.A. in philosophy from Loyola Marymount University. His research interests include continental philosophy since Kant, especially as it has developed in phenomenology, hermeneutics, existentialism, and continental philosophy of religion. He is also the author of one article, book reviews, and several works in progress, as well as a number of conference presentations in his areas of interest.
His dissertation, entitled Inflections of the Event: The Death of the Other as Event, offers a phenome…
Dr. Bechtol earned his Ph.D. in philosophy from Texas A&M University, B.A. degree from Baylor University, M.Div. from Fuller Theological Seminary, and M.A. in philosophy from Loyola Marymount University. His research interests include continental philosophy since Kant, especially as it has developed in phenomenology, hermeneutics, existentialism, and continental philosophy of religion. He is also the author of one article, book reviews, and several works in progress, as well as a number of conference presentations in his areas of interest.
His dissertation, entitled Inflections of the Event: The Death of the Other as Event, offers a phenomenological account of the significance of the death of another person for those who survive that person. He argues that the death of the other is best described as an event because the death of the other is not only the loss of a person but a death of the world and, with this, a reconfiguration of the meaning of the world. In offering this description, he focuses on the philosophical accounts of the nature of an event from Martin Heidegger, Jacques Derrida, and Jean-Luc Marion. In addition to his dissertation work, he is currently working on a few other projects: the importance of Paul Celan’s poetry for Derrida’s account of an event, especially the event of the death of the other; some of the implications for our ethical life that arise out of an account of the death of the other as an event; and the Kantian roots of the recent interest in continental philosophy on the nature of the event.
He has served as the assistant to the editor of both Epoché: A Journal for the History of Philosophy and Inter-American Journal of Philosophy. He has also been the graduate convener for the Study Group in Continental Philosophy at Texas A&M University. For his department, he has served both as the Secretary of the Graduate Students in Philosophy organization and has been the Graduate and Professional Student Council Representative for this same organization. He has also been a participant at the Collegium Phaenomenologicum on the topic of “Heidegger, Gelassenheit, Ethical Life, Ereignis 1933-1946.” His work has been generously supported by the Melbern G. Glasscock Center for Humanities Research at Texas A&M University and by the College of Liberal Arts Professional Development at Texas A&M University.