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107Against the Received Wisdom, Wagner and Nietzsche Together Again: A Response to Claus-Artur ScheierSouthern Journal of Philosophy 37 (S1): 87-92. 1999.
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93Nietzsche, Naturalism and Interpretation (review)Journal of the History of Philosophy 38 (4): 606-607. 2000.In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:Reviewed by:Nietzsche, Naturalism and InterpretationJames WinchesterChristoph Cox. Nietzsche, Naturalism and Interpretation. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1999. Pp. 241. Cloth, $45.00.This is a well-written book. It is clear. Making use of a wide variety of sources both analytic and continental, it argues that Nietzsche is a naturalist. By that Cox means that Nietzsche rejects other worldly sources of knowledge and being.…Read more
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92Nietzsche's Stinking Thigh and the Footsteps of Tariq RamadanComparative and Continental Philosophy 3 (2): 207-224. 2011.Even while proclaiming that God is dead, Nietzsche often praises Islam and explicitly endorses the Laws of Manu. His praise of Islam and the Laws of Manu is usually tied to a critique of Christianity. Nietzsche’s own social ethic, based in Will to Power, advocates the exploitation of the weak. Tariq Ramadan often speaks appreciatively of Nietzsche, but his vision of social justice seems very similar to the Christian social ethic that Nietzsche constantly attacks. This essay examines the role tha…Read more
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70Bell Hooks, Reel To Real: Race, Sex, and Class At The MoviesJournal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism 57 (3): 388-389. 1999.
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70Understanding Aesthetic Judgments Across Cultural Borders: bell hooks, Kant, and Cornel West and the Understanding of Aesthetic Judgments of OthersSouthern Journal of Philosophy 38 (3): 499-525. 2000.
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63Bell Hooks, Art on My Mind: Visual PoliticsJournal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism 54 (4): 389-390. 1996.
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40Ruprecht, Louis A., Jr. Winckelmann and the Vatican's First Profane Museum. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2011, 252 pp., 28 b&w illus., $85.00 cloth (review)Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism 71 (2): 224-226. 2013.
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27Later Derrida (review)Review of Metaphysics 58 (2): 463-465. 2004.With Derrida things are never simple. As Herman Rapaport demonstrates in this wonderful book, Derrida has an uncanny ability to problematize supposedly clear distinctions. Analyzing and extending several of Derrida’s recent works, Rapaport brings the later Derrida into conversation with cultural studies and existentialism.
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26Refugees in an Age of AngerEco-Ethica 8 187-199. 2019.In this paper, I will first argue that the refugee crises in Europe and along the southern border of the United States are the direct result of colonial and neo-colonial politics. The nations that have caused the problems, therefore, have a moral responsibility first to accept refugees and then to work to fix the problems they created. The nations that are responsible for the problems should work to fix them so that the refugees can return home. We will also see that at times, for example in the…Read more
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19Aesthetics Across the Color Line: Why Nietzsche (Sometimes) Can't Sing the Blues (edited book)Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. 2002.James Winchester brings the western philosophical tradition into dialog with contemporary African-American thinkers in an attempt to bridge the culture gap in aesthetic judgments
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10Nietzsche's Aesthetic Turn: Reading Nietzsche After Heidegger, Deleuze, DerridaState University of New York Press. 1994.This clearly written book, intended for both specialists and nonspecialists, focuses on Nietzsche's later writings, where he appears unsystematic and indifferent to questions of truth.
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6Ethics in an Age of Savage Inequalities (edited book)Lexington Books. 2015.Examining global poverty as well as poverty within the United States, this book asks what moral obligations the middle class has to the poor
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5Eros, Pleasure, Friendship, and The Good LifeSpringer Nature Switzerland. 2025.The book invites its readers to explore the role erotic love, pleasure, and friendship play in crafting a good life. These topics are enduring themes that captures the heart of human existence, and have been the focus of many works of philosophy and literature. However, there remains scope for further examination. This book offers a compelling case to expand the exploration beyond the preponderance of white, male canonical figures that have dominated the field, in order to include an array of sc…Read more
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4Nietzsche's racial profilingIn Andrew Valls (ed.), Race and Racism in Modern Philosophy, Cornell University Press. 2005.
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4In Search of a Good LifeIn Eros, Pleasure, Friendship, and The Good Life, Springer Nature Switzerland. pp. 1-6. 2025.Eros, pleasure, and friendships are, for me, three of the most important things to investigate in an effort to live a good life. Careful as we may be, there is no guarantee that we will live a good life. Catastrophes lurk, but often we are our own worst enemies. We often fail to consider what really matters to us. The story of King Croesus reminds us that even the lives of the wealthy and powerful often end in tragedy. Audre Lorde died of cancer when she was only 58, but lived a life embracing t…Read more
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3(In Praise of) PleasureIn Eros, Pleasure, Friendship, and The Good Life, Springer Nature Switzerland. pp. 43-84. 2025.This chapter examines the Dhammapada’s (a Buddhist text) warnings about pleasure as well as stories about Aristippus, the legendary founder of Hedonism. It also surveys writings by Plato, Aristotle, Epicurus, Theodore Adorno, and Michel Onfray. I tell the story of Francois Mitterrand’s (former president of France) last meal, where he ate an ortolan (“bunting” in English)—a small songbird. For many French it is a great delicacy. French law actually prohibits eating it. Tradition has it that one p…Read more
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3The Good LifeIn Eros, Pleasure, Friendship, and The Good Life, Springer Nature Switzerland. pp. 135-168. 2025.Here, I compare my own views of the good life with Aristotle, Marcus Aurelius, Confucius, Nietzsche, and Audre Lorde. Like all ancient stoics, Aurelius has confidence that the universe is ruled by Zeus and anything that might look bad for an individual is actually part of Zeus’s plan for the universe. I have no such confidence. Nietzsche and Lorde offer compelling arguments that the good life requires becoming who we are as opposed to conforming to society’s expectations. Nietzsche’s essay “Scho…Read more
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1ErosIn Eros, Pleasure, Friendship, and The Good Life, Springer Nature Switzerland. pp. 7-42. 2025.This chapter examines theories of the erotic put forth by Plato and Audre Lorde, L.H. Stallings, Ariana Cruz, and Amia Srinivasan. Plato’s Socrates suggests that we can tame the erotic and use it to achieve the greatest philosophical wisdom. Lorde argues that proper use of the erotic can lead us to ourselves and empower us. Stallings highlights how eros can empower, among others, trans and queer people to live out their “perverse” desires. Cruz suggests that carefully studying porn and BDSM allo…Read more
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Aesthetics across the Color Line: Why Nietzsche Can't Sing the BluesJournal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism 61 (4): 410-411. 2003.
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Nietzsche's Aesthetic TurnDissertation, Emory University. 1991.This dissertation attempts to make sense out of Nietzsche's last works where he appears unsystematic and professes to be unconcerned with questions of truth. ;Chapter 1 examines Martin Heidegger's and Bernd Magnus' attempts to give a unified interpretation to the Eternal Return and concludes that there is no single correct interpretation. ;Chapter 2 discusses the efforts by Heidegger and Wolfgang Muller-Lauter to give a unified interpretation to the Will to Power. I conclude that during the writ…Read more
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A.D. Schrift, "Nietzsche and the question of interpretation: Between hermeneutics and deconstruction" (review)Man and World 26 (1): 98. 1993.
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FriendshipIn Eros, Pleasure, Friendship, and The Good Life, Springer Nature Switzerland. pp. 85-133. 2025.Friendship is, in my view, essential to the good life. This chapter looks at the life-long friendships in Toni Morrison’s Love and Elena Ferrante’s the Neapolitan Quartet. It also examines theoretical accounts given by Plato, Aristotle, Montaigne, Emerson, and bell hooks before turning to an autobiographical account: Thomas Bernhard’s Wittgenstein’s Nephew. As with love, friendships are shaped by the time and place we live. I am struck by Lorde’s account of her growing up. In middle school she w…Read more
James Winchester
Georgia College and State University
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Georgia College and State UniversityProfessor
Areas of Interest
Aesthetics |
20th Century Philosophy |
African/Africana Philosophy |
Continental Philosophy |