Dr. Béla Szabados
Professor Emeritus
Department of Philosophy and Classics
University of Regina
Past President, Canadian Society of Aesthetics, 2001-2003

 

Dr. Szabados is a Wittgenstein Scholar recognized by the British Wittgenstein Society.

Education:

  • B.A., Sir George Williams
  • M.A., Ph.D., University of Calgary

Areas of Interest:

  • Moral Psychology
  • Aesthetics
  • Wittgenstein
  • Ethics
  • Philosophy of Literature
  • History of Philosophy

Current Research:

  • Wittgenstein and Music
  • Philosophy of Emotions
  • Philosophy of Religion
  • Metaphilosophy
  • Self-deception

Recent Teaching

Undergraduate Courses:

Introduction to philosophy; epistemology; aesthetics; philosophy of emotions; seminars on self-deception and hypocrisy; Wittgenstein.

Graduate Courses:

Wittgenstein and Culture

MA Supervision

Supervisees:

  • Noelle Decorby, 'Examples in Ethics in Light of Wittgenstein' (2005)
  • Eleanor Akins, 'Welcome: Jacques Derrida and the Religious Ethics of Hospitality' (with Jacquie Kuikman, 2004)
  • Mark Young, 'Belief and Moral Appraisal: An Investigation of the Warranted Aspects of W. K. Clifford's Evidentialist Position' (with Ken McGovern, 2002)
  • Dawn Peterson, 'The Test of Time: Aesthetic Judgement in Hume's Philosophy' (with Ken McGovern, 2001)
  • Shabnum Khaki, 'Taking Faith Seriously: A Critique of Modernist Pictures of Faith' (with Ken McGovern, 1997)

PUBLICATIONS

A. BOOKS:

  

 

  1. Far in/Far out: Memoirs of a Philosophy Grad Student 1966-1972", 2022.
  2. Wittgenstein as Philosophical Tone Poet: Philosophy and Music in Dialogue. Ropdopi/Brill, 2014.
  3. Wittgenstein at the Movies: Cinematic Investigations. Rowman and Littlefield/Lexington Books, 2011.
  4. Ludwig Wittgenstein on Race, Gender, and Cultural Identity: Philosophy as a Personal Endeavour. Edwin Mellen Press, 2010.
  5. Once Upon a Time in the West: The Making of the Western Canadian Philosophical Association 1963-2004 APP, 2005.
  6. Hypocrisy: Ethical Investigations (with Eldon Soifer), Broadview Press, 2004.
  7. Wittgenstein Read Weininger: A Reassessment (with David Stern), Cambridge University Press, 2004.
  8. Writting Addictions: Towards a Poetics of Desire and Its Others (with Ken Probert), Canadian Plains Research Center, 2004.
  9. On The Track of Reason (co-editor), Westview, 1992.
  10. In Light of Chaos, Thistledown, 1990.

B. CHAPTERS IN BOOKS:

  1. 'Wittgenstein's Reception of Wagner: Language, Music and Culture' in Wittgenstein Reading/editors: Sacha Brue, Wolfgang Huemer, Daniel Steuer. De Gruyter, 2013.
  2. 'Kai Nielsen: Secular Humanist all the way down' in Icons of Unbelief: Atheists, Agnostics and Secularists, edited by S. T. Joshi, Greenwood Press, Westport and London, pp. 279-295.
  3. 'Wittgensteinian Fideism 1967-89: An Appreciation,' in D.Z. Phillips and Kai Nielsen, Wittgensteinian Fideism? SCM Press, Canterbury, UK, 2005, pp. 1-18.
  4. 'Reading Wittgenstein on Reading' (co-authored) in 2 above.
  5. 'A Portrait of Wittgenstein as a Weiningerian' in 2 above.
  6. 'Introduction' to 3 above.
  7. 'Neither Nothing Nor Something' in Marlene Kadar (ed.) Lifewriting (Oxford University Press), 1992.
  8. 'Moral Expertise', in Wes Cragg (ed.) Contemporary Moral Problems, First, Second and Third editions, (McGraw-Hill/Ryerson), 1987.
  9. 'The Self, Its Passions and Self-Deception' in M.W. Martin (ed.) Self-Deception and Self-Understanding: New Essays in Philosophy and Psychology (University of Kansas), 1985.
  10. 'On Irrationality' in Theodore Geraets (ed.) Rationality Today/La Rationalité
    (University of Ottawa Press), 1977.

C. ARTICLES IN REFEREED JOURNALS

  1. 'Wittgenstein on Self-deception in Science, Psychology and Philosophy' (with Peter Campbell) in Wittgenstein-Studien Volume 4, issue 1, 2013.
  2. 'Wittgenstein on Musical Irony', Wittgenstein-Studien. (DeGruyter) April 2012, Volume 3.
  3. 'Wittgenstein Listens to Mahler', Dialogue, Volume XLVI, No. 1, 2007: pp. 91-113.
  4. 'Wittgenstein and Musical Formalism', Philosophy, Journal of the Royal Institute, November, 2006
  5. 'After Religion? Kai Nielsen on Wittgenstein on Religion', Dialogue, 2005.
  6. 'Hypocrisy and Privacy.' Journal of Philosophical Research. volume 27, 2002, pp. 601-618. co-authored.
  7. ‘Hypocrisy, Change of Mind, Weakness of Will.’ Metaphilosophy. pp. 60-78, 1999. co-authored.
  8. ‘Was Wittgenstein an Anti-Semite?: The Significance of Anti-Semitism for Wittgenstein’s Philosophy.’ Canadian Journal of Philosophy.Vol. 30, pp. 1-27 (Lead Article), 1999.
  9. ‘Addiction and Authorship.’ EA: Canadian Journal of Aesthetics. May, 1999.
  10. ‘Hypocrisy and Consequentialism.’ co-authored. Utilitas. pp. 168-194, 1998.
  11. ‘Hypocrisy After Aristotle.’ co-authored. Dialogue. pp. 545-570, 1998.
  12. ‘Wittgenstein’s Women: The Significance of Misogyny in Wittgenstein’s Philosophy.’ Journal of Philosophical Research,1997.
  13. ‘Autobiography and Philosophy.’ Metaphilosophy.1995.
  14. ‘Reading Rousseau Through the Eyes of Embarrassment.’ British Journal of Aesthetics, Oxford University Press, July, 1994.
  15. 'Autobiography After Wittgenstein.' Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism. Lead Paper, 1992.
  16. 'Embarrassment and Self-Esteem.' Journal for Philosophical Research, USA, 1990.
  17. 'Jealousy and Self-Knowledge.' Proceedings of the World Congress of Philosophy (ed. Venant Cauchy) Montreal, 1988.
  18. 'Freud, Self-Knowledge and Psychoanalysis.' Canadian Journal of Philosophy, 1982.
  19. 'Wittgenstein on Mistrusting One’s Own Belief.' Canadian Journal of Philosophy, 1981.
  20. 'Wittgenstein on Belief.' Philosophical Papers, 1981.
  21. 'Morality and Class.' Philosophical Studies, Ireland, 1980.
  22. 'Hypocrisy.' Canadian Journal of Philosophy, Lead Paper, 1979.
  23. 'Moral Expertise.' Canadian Journal of Philosophy, 1978.
  24. 'Rylean Belief.' Philosophical Studies, Ireland, 1978.
  25. 'Fingarette on Self-Deception.' Philosophical Papers, South Africa, 1977.
  26. 'Butler on Corrupt Conscience.' Journal of the History of Philosophy, USA, 1976.
  27. 'The Morality of Self-Deception.' Dialogue, Canada, 1974.
  28. 'Self-Deception.' Canadian Journal of Philosophy, 1974.
  29. 'Rorty on Belief and Self-Deception.' Inquiry, Norway, 1974.
  30. 'Wishful Thinking and Self-Deception.' Analysis, England, 1972-73.

D. CRITICAL NOTICES:

    Alfred Mele's Irrationality, Oxford University Press (1987) Canadian Journal of Philosophy, June, 1990.

E. REVIEWS:

  1. Review of James C. Klagge, Wittgenstein in Exile. Philosophy in Review, Volume 31, No 5, 2011.
  2. 'Wittgenstein and Ethical Inquiry: A Defense of Ethics as Clarification' in Philosophy in Review, August 2008, XXVIII, No. 4, pp. 310-312.
  3. 'The Sense of an Ending', A Review Essay of Bernard Williams, On Opera (Books in Canada, Volume 36, Issue 3, pp. 19-21).
  4. 'Scoring Music' A Review of Philosophy of Music: An Introduction, Books in Canada, November, 2006.
  5. Review of Ranjit Chatterjee, Wittgenstein and Judaism: A Triumph of Concealment, Philosophy in Review, 2006.
  6. Review of Duncan Richter, Historical Dictionary of Wittgenstein's Philosophy, Philosophy in Review, 2005.
  7. Review of Ludwig Wittgenstein: Public and Private Occasions, edited by James Klagge and Alfred Nordmann, 2003, in Philosophy in Review 2003.
  8. Review of Wittgenstein: Biography and Philosophy, edited by James Klagge, Cambridge University Press, 2001 in Philosophy in Review, 2002.
  9. Review of Otto Weininger, On Last Things, (translated by Steven Burns), Edwin Mellen Press, 2001. in Philosophy in Review, volume xxI, No.5, pp. 380-382.
  10. John Caputo, ‘The Prayers and Tears of Jacques Derrida: Religion Without Religion.' Dialogue, co-authored, 2000.
  11. Dawne McCance, 'Posts: Re-Engaging The Ethical.' Canadian Journal of Religious Studies, co-authored, 2000.
  12. Kuipers, Hart, Nielsen (eds.) 'Walking the Tightrope of Faith.' Philosophy in Review, co-authored, 2000.
  13. Annette Barnes, ‘Seeing Through Self-Deception.’ Philosophy in Review, pp. 79-82, 1999.
  14. Grace Jantzen, "Becoming Divine: toward a Feminist Philosophy of Religion." Philosophy in Review, Vol. 19, pp. 428-431, co-authored, December,1999.
  15. 'Terence Penelhum, Reason and Religious Faith.’ Canadian Philosophical Reviews, co-authored, 1997.
  16. Nancy Harrowitz and Barbara Hyams (eds.), ‘Jews and Gender: Response to Otto Weininger.’ Philosophy and Literature, 1996.
  17. Norman Malcolm, ‘Wittgenstein: A Religious Point of View.’ Canadian Philosophical Reviews, 1995.
  18. Susan Brill, ‘Wittgenstein and Critical Theory.’ Canadian Philosophical Reviews, 1995.
  19. Justin Oakley, ‘Morality and the Emotions.’ Canadian Philosophical Reviews, 1994.
  20. 'Travels with Wittgenstein' a review of the diaries of David Pinsent.' Canadian Philosophical Reviews, 1992.
  21. J. Tilghman, 'Wittgenstein, Ethics and Aesthetics: The View from Eternity.' Canadian Philosophical Reviews, 1992.
  22. Robert Dunn, 'The Possibility of Weakness of Will.' Canadian Philosophical Reviews, 1988.
  23. Mike W. Martin, 'Self-Deception and Morality.' Canadian Philosophical Reviews, 1987.
  24. Lloyd Steffen, 'Self-Deception and the Common Life.' Canadian Philosophical Reviews, 1987.
  25. Jay Newman, 'Fanaticism and Hypocrisy.' Canadian Philosophical Reviews, 1987.
  26. 'Wittgenstein Conversations,' a review of O.K. Bowsma's memoirs in Dialogue, 1987.
  27. David Pears, 'Motivated Irrationality.' Canadian Philosophical Reviews, 1986.
  28. Brian McGuinness (ed.) 'Wittgenstein and His Times.' Canadian Philosophical Reviews, 1984.
  29. M.R. Haight's 'A Study of Self-Deception.' Canadian Philosophical Reviews, 1982.

F. MISCELLANEOUS PUBLICATIONS:

  1. 'Prowling the Queen City with Martin Heidegger,' in Regina's Secret Spaces: Love and Lore of Local Geography, edited by Lorne Beug, Anne Campbell, Jeannie Mah, photograhy by Don Hall. Pp. 34-35, Canadian Plains Research Center, 2006.
  2. 'If an Elephant Could Speak,' p. 91 in above (with Heather Hodgson).
  3. Biographical entry for Saskatchewan Writers: Past and Present, edited by Heather Hodgson (CPRC 2004)
  4. 'Misreading Kristjana Gunnars.' A short essay on The Prowler. Wascana Review, Winter 1990, and Prairie Fire, 1990.
  5. 'Tongues.' A poem. Dandelion, Winter 1990.
  6. 'Crossing with Jello' and 'Epilepsy.' Two poems. Prairie Fire, Winter 1989.
  7. 'Censored Postcards.' Grain, 1989.

G. PAPERS READ AT CONFERENCES:

  1. 'Commentary on Mike Hymers "Wittgenstein, Meaning, Method and Moralityâ"', May 2007, Canadian Philosophical Association, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon.
  2. 'Wittgenstein and Mendelssohn', Canadian Society for Aesthetics, May, 2007, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon.
  3. 'Wittgenstein and Musical Formalism' Western Canadian Philosophical Association, Vancouver, October, 2006.
  4. 'Irony in Music: Sparshott and Wittgenstein' Canadian Society for Aesthetics, 2006, York University, Toronto, Ontario.
  5. 'Wittgenstein Listens to Mahler', Western Canadian Philosophical Association, Victoria, 2004.
  6. 'Wittgenstein Reads Plato', Western Canadian Philosophical Association, Lethbridge, 2004.
  7. 'What Do Hanslick and Wittgenstein Have in Common?' Canadian Society of Aesthetics, Winnipeg 2004.
  8. 'Wittgenstein Listens to Music,' Canadian Society of Aesthetics, Halifax, 2003.
  9. 'Hypocrisy and Privacy', Western Canadian Philosophical Association (WCPA), Edmonton, Alberta, 2000.
  10. ‘Hypocrisy: Double-Standards and Equality’ (co-authored), Canadian Philosophical Association (CPA), Sherbrooke, Quebec, June 1999.
  11. Hypocrisy: The Complacent, the Self-Righteous and the Cynical’ (co-authored), Institute for Ethics and Public Policy, Washington, DC, 1999.
  12. ‘Are There Out-of-the-Closet Hypocrites?’ (co-authored), WCPA, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, November, 1998.
  13. ‘Addiction and Authorship’, Joint Session: ACCUTE and CPA at Learneds, Ottawa, 1998.
  14. ‘Politics and Hypocrisy’ (co-authored), CPA, St. John's, Newfoundland, 1997.
  15. ‘Wittgenstein and Anti-Semitism’, CPA, St. John's, Newfoundland, 1997.
  16. ‘Hypocrisy, Change of Mind and Weakness of Will’ (co-authored), WCPA, Winnipeg, October 1997.
  17. ‘Consequentialism and Hypocrisy’ (co-authored), International Society for Utilitarian Studies, New Orleans, March 1997.
  18. ‘Two Concepts of Hypocrisy’ (co-authored), WCPA, Lethbridge, 1996.
  19. ‘An Aristotelian account of Hypocrisy’ (co-authored), CPA, St. Catherines, 1995.
  20. ‘Riches of Embarrassment’ International Society for Philosophy and Literature, March 1994.
  21. 'Self-Deception: A Schema Based Account' Third International Congress of Cognitive Science, San Sebastian, Spain, May 1993.
  22. 'Reading Rousseau Through the Eyes of Embarrassment,' ASA Pacific Division, Asilomar, California , March, 1993.
  23. 'Private Embarrassments' CPA, Learneds, May 1993.
  24. 'Self-Narration' symposium at the Canadian Society for Aesthetics (CSA), Learneds, May, 1993.
  25. 'Autobiography and Philosophy', WCPA, Vancouver, October, 1991.
  26. 'Embarrassment, Literary Criticism and Autobiography', CSA, Victoria, 1990.
  27. 'Wittgenstein's Aesthetics' ASA, Austin, Texas, 1990.
  28. 'Wittgenstein and Literature' The Future of Art, Lahti, Finland, 1990.
  29. 'Embarrassing Episodes', WCPA, Lethbridge, October 1989.
  30. Comments on Kai Nielsen's 'Farewell to the Tradition' WCPA, Calgary, October, 1988.
  31. 'Autobiography and Self-Deception: Reflections on the Death of Autobiography', CSA, Hamilton, 1987.
  32. Comments on 'The Systematic Elusiveness of the Ugly', ASA, Kansas, 1987.
  33. 'Comments on 'Wollheim and the Philosophy of Psychoanalysis', CPA, Hamilton, 1987.
  34. Symposium on Nielsen's Philosophy and Atheism, CPA, Winnipeg, 1986.
  35. Comments on 'Art and Real Life Emotions', ASA, Asilomar, California, 1986.
  36. 'Jealousy and Self-Knowledge' World Congress of Philosophy, Montreal 1984.
  37. Comments on 'Personal Identity, Moral Agency and Utilitarianism', APA, San Francisco, 1980.
  38. 'Wittgenstein on Belief', WCPA, Edmonton, 1979.
  39. Comments on 'Irrationality of Personal Hatred' CPA, 1979.
  40. 'Wittgenstein on Mistrusting One's Own Belief', CPA, 1979.
  41. Comments on 'Wittgenstein on Universals and Family Resemblances', CPA, 1979.
  42. 'Hypocrisy' CPA, London, 1978.
  43. 'On Moral Expertise', CPA, Fredericton, 1977.
  44. 'A Note on Irrationality', International Colloquium on Rationality Today, Ottawa, 1977.
  45. 'Nielsen on Morality and Class', WCPA, Lethbridge, 1976.
  46. 'Butler on Corrupt Conscience', CPA, Edmonton, 1975.
  47. 'Capital Punishment Revisited', WCPA, Calgary, 1975.
  48. Comments on Langford's 'Capital Punishment and Deterrence', CPA, Toronto, 1974.

H. INVITED SPEAKER:

  1. 1. 'Musical Self-Deception: Listening to Music with Wittgenstein and Penelhum', The Penelhum Symposium, celebrating the fortieth anniversary of the University of Calgary; co-sponsored by the Department of Religious Studies and the Department of Philosophy, November 4, 2006.
  2. 'Wittgensteinian Fideism: An Appreciation', Claremont Conference in the Philosophy of Religion, Claremont University, California, USA, February, 2003.
  3. "Weininger's and Wittgenstein's Reconceptions of Psychology", Conference on the centenary re-evaluation of Otto Weininger's Sex and Character, University of Sussex, Great Britain, June 2003.
  4. University of Alberta: 2000, Department of Philosophy.
  5. University of Calgary: 1994, Department of Philosophy.
  6. University of Saskatchewan: 1993, Department of Philosophy.
  7. University of Alberta: 1992, Department of Philosophy.
  8. University of Calgary: 1981, Institute of Humanities.


I. JOURNALISM:

  1. ‘Koestler in Control?, Globe and Mail, 1999, (Letter to the Books Editor).
  2. ‘Semantic Peace’ Globe and Mail, 1998, (Letter to the Editor).
  3. Human Rights Commentary: ‘It’s Wrong to Give Qiao Shi an Honorary Degree’ Globe and Mail, April 18, 1996.