jvernon


Jim Vernon

Photo of Jim Vernon

Professor

Office: Ross Building, S427
Phone: 416-736-2100 Ext: 33519
Email: jvernon@yorku.ca
Primary website: http://www.yorku.ca/jvernon/index.html

Accepting New Graduate Students


I work in Continental philosophy, with a focus on German Idealism (esp. Hegel) and recent French Philosophy (esp. Derrida, Badiou and Deleuze), and in political theory, with an emphasis on the organic intellectuals of post-war Black Liberation movements in America.

More...

My most recent book, Hip Hop, Hegel, And The Art of Emancipation: Let's Get Free (Palgrave Macmillan) analyzes the emergence of Hip Hop culture in the South Bronx of the 1970s through the lens of Hegel's Lectures on Aesthetics. I am currently working on the concept of political will in the dialectical thought of Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X, Huey P. Newton, and Fred Hampton.

Degrees

PhD, University of Guelph
MA Philosophy, University of Guelph
HBA Religious Studies and Literary Studies, McMaster University

Appointments

Faculty of Graduate Studies

Research Interests

Philosophy , Race and Racism, 19th and 20th Century Continental Philosophy, esp. Hegel and post-war French Philosophy, Post-Structuralism, Emancipatory Politics
Books

Publication
Year

. Sampling, Biting, and The Postmodern Subversion of Hip Hop (Palgrave MacMillan, 2021).

2021

Hip Hop, Hegel, and The Art of Emancipation: Let’s Get Free (Palgrave MacMillan, 2018).

2018

Hegel and Badiou: Infinity, Dialectics, Subjectivity: collection of essays, co-edited with Antonio Calcagno (Lexington Books).

2015

Intensities and Lines of Flight: Deleuze and Guattari and the Arts, co-edited with Antonio Calcagno and Steve Lofts (Rowman and Littlefield).

2014

Hegel and Deleuze: Together Again for the First Time, co-edited with Karen Houle (Northwestern University Press).

2013

Hegel’s Philosophy of Language (London: Continuum Books, 2007)

2007

Book Chapters

Publication
Year

“Conquering Finitude: Towards a Renewed Hegelian Middle”, Susan Dodd and Neil Robertson, eds. Unity of Opposites: Hegel and Canadian Political Thought (University of Toronto Press, forthcoming).

2016

“Introduction”, Jim Vernon and Antonio Calcagno, eds. Hegel and Badiou: Infinity, Dialectics, Subjectivity (Lexington Books), 1-11.

2015

“Badiou and Hegel on Love and the Family”, Jim Vernon and Antonio Calcagno, eds. Hegel and Badiou: Infinity, Dialectics, Subjectivity (Lexington Books), 155-176.

2015

“Some Questions in Lieu of Conclusions”, in Intensities and Lines of Flight: Deleuze and Guattari and the Arts, eds. Antonio Calcagno, Jim Vernon and Steve Lofts (Rowman and Littlefield, 2014), 207-211.

2014

“Deleuze on the Musical Work of Art”, in Intensities and Lines of Flight: Deleuze and Guattari and the Arts, eds. Antonio Calcagno, Jim Vernon and Steve Lofts (Rowman and Littlefield, 2014), 55-65.

2014

“Introduction”, (co-authored with Karen Houle) in Hegel and Deleuze, co-edited with Karen Houle (Northwestern University Press, 2013), xi-xxv.

2013

“Deleuze and Hegel on the Logic of Relations”, in Hegel and Deleuze, co-edited with Karen Houle (Northwestern University Press, 2013), 115-130.

2013

“The Realm of Abstraction: The Role of Grammar in Hegel’s Linguistic System,” in Jere Surber, ed. Hegel and Language (SUNY Press, 2006), 165-177.

2006

Book Reviews

Publication
Year

“Hegel, Deleuze, and the Critique of Representation: Dialectics of Negation and Difference”, Henry Somers-Hall, Notre Dame Philosophcial Reviews (2012), http://ndpr.nd.edu/news/36172-hegel-deleuze-and-the-critique-of-representation-dialectics-of-negation-and-difference/.

2012

“German Philosophy of Language: From Schlegel to Hegel and Beyond”, Michael N. Forster, Philosophy in Review 32:1 (2012), 16-19.

2012

“Postmodern Platos”, by Catharine H. Zuckert, Symposium: Journal of the Canadian Society for Hermeneutics and Postmodern Thought 2:1 (1998), 119-121.

1998

Journal Articles

Publication
Year

“Huey Newton’s Lessons for The Academic Left”, Theory, Culture, and Society, 37-38: 7-8 (2021), 267-287.

2021

“‘A Passion For Justice’: Martin Luther King, Jr. and G.W.F. Hegel on ‘World-Historical Individuals’”, Philosophy and Social Criticism 43:2 (2017), 187-207.

2017

“I Am We: Dialectics of Political Will in Huey P. Newton and the Black Panther Party”, Theory and Event 17:4 (December 2014).

2014

“Hegel, Edward Sanders and Emancipatory History”, Clio: A Journal of Literature, History and the Philosophy of History, 42:1 (2013), 27-52.

2013

"Liberation Theology: Hegel on Why Philosophy Takes Sides in Religious Conflict", Symposium: Canadian Journal of Continental Philosophy 17:2 (Fall 2013), 141-157.

2013

“Why We Fight: Hegel’s Struggle For Recognition Revisited”, Cosmos and History: The Journal of Natural and Social Philosophy 9:2 (2013), 178-197.

2013

“Siding with Freedom: Towards a Prescriptive Hegelianism”, Critical Horizons 12:1 (2011), 49-69.

2011

“Universal Grammar: The Necessity of the Linguistic Judgment,” Owl of Minerva 39: 1-2 (Spring 2009), 1-24.

2009

“‘Free Love’: A Hegelian Defense of Same-Sex Marriage Rights” The Southern Journal of Philosophy XLVII:1 (Spring 2009), 69-89.

2009

“American Antigone: Hegelian Reflections on the Sheehan-Bush Conflict,” Telos 144 (Fall 2008), 180-192.

2008

Erfahren and Erleben: Technological Experience and its Overcoming in Heidegger’s Beiträge,” Symposium: Canadian Journal of Continental Philosophy 12:1 (Spring 2008), 108-125.

2008

“The Moral Necessity of Moral Conflict in Hegel’s Phenomenology of Spirit,” Epoché: A Journal for the History of Philosophy 13:1 (Fall 2008), 67-80.

2008

“Homogeneity and Heterogeneity: Bataille and Hegel,” Dialogue: Canadian Philosophical Review XLII (2004), 317-38.

2004

“The People Have Spoken(?): Derrida, Democracy and Reciprocal Affirmation,” International Studies in Philosophy 34:2 (2002), 115-131.

2002

Conference Papers

Publication
Year

“‘Control for smilers can’t be bought’: Phish’s White Rebellion Against White Rebellion”, Phish Studies Conference, Oregon State University, May 2019.

2019

“‘In a minute, I’ll be free’: Phish, Hegel, and the Beautiful Failure of Aesthetic Emancipation”, Keynote Address at Language, Aesthetics & Expression, Ryerson Graduate Student Union Annual Conference, Ryerson University, March 2019.

2019

“‘Never Let An MC Steal Your Rhyme’: Sampling, Biting, and Appropriation”, Show and Prove Hip Hop Studies Conference, University of California, Riverside, December 2018.

2018

“Let’s Get Free: Hiphop as Post-Romantic Ideal”, Hegel and Romantic Art, Bishop’s University, March 2015.

2015

“Deleuze on the Musical Work of Art”, Intensities and Lines of Flight: Deleuze and Guattari and the Arts, King’s University College and The University of Western Ontario, May 2012.

2012

“Hegel on Language and Freedom”, Hegel, Freedom and History, Trent University, March/April 2012.

2012

“How to Write Hegelian History”, 50th annual meeting of The Society for Phenomenology and Existential Philosophy, October 2011.

2011

“Liberation Theology: Why Philosophy Takes Sides in Religious Conflicts”, at Hegel’s Absolute Spirit: Connections between Art, Religion and Philosophy, Duquesne University, March 2010.

2010

“‘Free Love’: Towards a Hegelian Defence of Same-Sex Marriage Rights”, at Thinking Through Hegel’s Philosophy of Right, Ryerson University, March 2008

2008

“The Moral Necessity of Moral Conflict”, at Hegel on Conflict, Terror and War, York University, March/April 2007; revised, at the Dept. of Philosophy, York University, October 2007

2007

“Logic, Language and the ‘Common Store of Thoughts’: On The Logic of Hegel’s Logic”, contribution to panel on John Burbidge’s The Logic of Hegel’s Logic, at Hegel’s Science of Logic, McGill University, March 2006

2006

“Reply to Chloe Taylor”, at the Society for Existential and Phenomenological Theory and Culture Annual Meeting, York University, May 2006

2006

“Is the Future Necessary or Contingent?: A Reply to Burbidge,” at Hegel on Contingency, University of Guelph, April 2003

2003

“The Realm of Abstraction: The Role of Grammar in Hegel’s Linguistic System,” at the Hegel Society of America Biennial Meeting, Pennsylvania State University, October 2002

2002

“The People Have Spoken(?): Derrida, Democracy and Reciprocal Affirmation,” at Philosophy, Interpretation, Culture, SUNY Binghamton, April 2001; revised, at the Canadian Society for Hermeneutics Annual Meeting, Laval University, May 2001

2001

“Against Inner Experience: Hegel, Derrida, Bataille,” at Bataille: Community, Transgression, Excess, Trent University, May 2000

2000

Conference Proceedings

Publication
Year

“‘Control for smilers can’t be bought’: Phish’s White Rebellion Against White Rebellion”, Phish Studies Conference, Oregon State University, May 2019.

2019


Current Courses

Term Course Number Section Title Type
Winter 2024 AP/PHIL1100 3.0 O The Meaning of Life LECT
Winter 2024 AP/PHIL2090 3.0 M Intro. to the Philosophy of Religion LECT



I work in Continental philosophy, with a focus on German Idealism (esp. Hegel) and recent French Philosophy (esp. Derrida, Badiou and Deleuze), and in political theory, with an emphasis on the organic intellectuals of post-war Black Liberation movements in America.

My most recent book, Hip Hop, Hegel, And The Art of Emancipation: Let's Get Free (Palgrave Macmillan) analyzes the emergence of Hip Hop culture in the South Bronx of the 1970s through the lens of Hegel's Lectures on Aesthetics. I am currently working on the concept of political will in the dialectical thought of Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X, Huey P. Newton, and Fred Hampton.

Degrees

PhD, University of Guelph
MA Philosophy, University of Guelph
HBA Religious Studies and Literary Studies, McMaster University

Appointments

Faculty of Graduate Studies

Research Interests

Philosophy , Race and Racism, 19th and 20th Century Continental Philosophy, esp. Hegel and post-war French Philosophy, Post-Structuralism, Emancipatory Politics

All Publications


Book Chapters

Publication
Year

“Conquering Finitude: Towards a Renewed Hegelian Middle”, Susan Dodd and Neil Robertson, eds. Unity of Opposites: Hegel and Canadian Political Thought (University of Toronto Press, forthcoming).

2016

“Introduction”, Jim Vernon and Antonio Calcagno, eds. Hegel and Badiou: Infinity, Dialectics, Subjectivity (Lexington Books), 1-11.

2015

“Badiou and Hegel on Love and the Family”, Jim Vernon and Antonio Calcagno, eds. Hegel and Badiou: Infinity, Dialectics, Subjectivity (Lexington Books), 155-176.

2015

“Some Questions in Lieu of Conclusions”, in Intensities and Lines of Flight: Deleuze and Guattari and the Arts, eds. Antonio Calcagno, Jim Vernon and Steve Lofts (Rowman and Littlefield, 2014), 207-211.

2014

“Deleuze on the Musical Work of Art”, in Intensities and Lines of Flight: Deleuze and Guattari and the Arts, eds. Antonio Calcagno, Jim Vernon and Steve Lofts (Rowman and Littlefield, 2014), 55-65.

2014

“Introduction”, (co-authored with Karen Houle) in Hegel and Deleuze, co-edited with Karen Houle (Northwestern University Press, 2013), xi-xxv.

2013

“Deleuze and Hegel on the Logic of Relations”, in Hegel and Deleuze, co-edited with Karen Houle (Northwestern University Press, 2013), 115-130.

2013

“The Realm of Abstraction: The Role of Grammar in Hegel’s Linguistic System,” in Jere Surber, ed. Hegel and Language (SUNY Press, 2006), 165-177.

2006

Book Reviews

Publication
Year

“Hegel, Deleuze, and the Critique of Representation: Dialectics of Negation and Difference”, Henry Somers-Hall, Notre Dame Philosophcial Reviews (2012), http://ndpr.nd.edu/news/36172-hegel-deleuze-and-the-critique-of-representation-dialectics-of-negation-and-difference/.

2012

“German Philosophy of Language: From Schlegel to Hegel and Beyond”, Michael N. Forster, Philosophy in Review 32:1 (2012), 16-19.

2012

“Postmodern Platos”, by Catharine H. Zuckert, Symposium: Journal of the Canadian Society for Hermeneutics and Postmodern Thought 2:1 (1998), 119-121.

1998

Books

Publication
Year

. Sampling, Biting, and The Postmodern Subversion of Hip Hop (Palgrave MacMillan, 2021).

2021

Hip Hop, Hegel, and The Art of Emancipation: Let’s Get Free (Palgrave MacMillan, 2018).

2018

Hegel and Badiou: Infinity, Dialectics, Subjectivity: collection of essays, co-edited with Antonio Calcagno (Lexington Books).

2015

Intensities and Lines of Flight: Deleuze and Guattari and the Arts, co-edited with Antonio Calcagno and Steve Lofts (Rowman and Littlefield).

2014

Hegel and Deleuze: Together Again for the First Time, co-edited with Karen Houle (Northwestern University Press).

2013

Hegel’s Philosophy of Language (London: Continuum Books, 2007)

2007

Journal Articles

Publication
Year

“Huey Newton’s Lessons for The Academic Left”, Theory, Culture, and Society, 37-38: 7-8 (2021), 267-287.

2021

“‘A Passion For Justice’: Martin Luther King, Jr. and G.W.F. Hegel on ‘World-Historical Individuals’”, Philosophy and Social Criticism 43:2 (2017), 187-207.

2017

“I Am We: Dialectics of Political Will in Huey P. Newton and the Black Panther Party”, Theory and Event 17:4 (December 2014).

2014

“Hegel, Edward Sanders and Emancipatory History”, Clio: A Journal of Literature, History and the Philosophy of History, 42:1 (2013), 27-52.

2013

"Liberation Theology: Hegel on Why Philosophy Takes Sides in Religious Conflict", Symposium: Canadian Journal of Continental Philosophy 17:2 (Fall 2013), 141-157.

2013

“Why We Fight: Hegel’s Struggle For Recognition Revisited”, Cosmos and History: The Journal of Natural and Social Philosophy 9:2 (2013), 178-197.

2013

“Siding with Freedom: Towards a Prescriptive Hegelianism”, Critical Horizons 12:1 (2011), 49-69.

2011

“Universal Grammar: The Necessity of the Linguistic Judgment,” Owl of Minerva 39: 1-2 (Spring 2009), 1-24.

2009

“‘Free Love’: A Hegelian Defense of Same-Sex Marriage Rights” The Southern Journal of Philosophy XLVII:1 (Spring 2009), 69-89.

2009

“American Antigone: Hegelian Reflections on the Sheehan-Bush Conflict,” Telos 144 (Fall 2008), 180-192.

2008

Erfahren and Erleben: Technological Experience and its Overcoming in Heidegger’s Beiträge,” Symposium: Canadian Journal of Continental Philosophy 12:1 (Spring 2008), 108-125.

2008

“The Moral Necessity of Moral Conflict in Hegel’s Phenomenology of Spirit,” Epoché: A Journal for the History of Philosophy 13:1 (Fall 2008), 67-80.

2008

“Homogeneity and Heterogeneity: Bataille and Hegel,” Dialogue: Canadian Philosophical Review XLII (2004), 317-38.

2004

“The People Have Spoken(?): Derrida, Democracy and Reciprocal Affirmation,” International Studies in Philosophy 34:2 (2002), 115-131.

2002

Conference Papers

Publication
Year

“‘Control for smilers can’t be bought’: Phish’s White Rebellion Against White Rebellion”, Phish Studies Conference, Oregon State University, May 2019.

2019

“‘In a minute, I’ll be free’: Phish, Hegel, and the Beautiful Failure of Aesthetic Emancipation”, Keynote Address at Language, Aesthetics & Expression, Ryerson Graduate Student Union Annual Conference, Ryerson University, March 2019.

2019

“‘Never Let An MC Steal Your Rhyme’: Sampling, Biting, and Appropriation”, Show and Prove Hip Hop Studies Conference, University of California, Riverside, December 2018.

2018

“Let’s Get Free: Hiphop as Post-Romantic Ideal”, Hegel and Romantic Art, Bishop’s University, March 2015.

2015

“Deleuze on the Musical Work of Art”, Intensities and Lines of Flight: Deleuze and Guattari and the Arts, King’s University College and The University of Western Ontario, May 2012.

2012

“Hegel on Language and Freedom”, Hegel, Freedom and History, Trent University, March/April 2012.

2012

“How to Write Hegelian History”, 50th annual meeting of The Society for Phenomenology and Existential Philosophy, October 2011.

2011

“Liberation Theology: Why Philosophy Takes Sides in Religious Conflicts”, at Hegel’s Absolute Spirit: Connections between Art, Religion and Philosophy, Duquesne University, March 2010.

2010

“‘Free Love’: Towards a Hegelian Defence of Same-Sex Marriage Rights”, at Thinking Through Hegel’s Philosophy of Right, Ryerson University, March 2008

2008

“The Moral Necessity of Moral Conflict”, at Hegel on Conflict, Terror and War, York University, March/April 2007; revised, at the Dept. of Philosophy, York University, October 2007

2007

“Logic, Language and the ‘Common Store of Thoughts’: On The Logic of Hegel’s Logic”, contribution to panel on John Burbidge’s The Logic of Hegel’s Logic, at Hegel’s Science of Logic, McGill University, March 2006

2006

“Reply to Chloe Taylor”, at the Society for Existential and Phenomenological Theory and Culture Annual Meeting, York University, May 2006

2006

“Is the Future Necessary or Contingent?: A Reply to Burbidge,” at Hegel on Contingency, University of Guelph, April 2003

2003

“The Realm of Abstraction: The Role of Grammar in Hegel’s Linguistic System,” at the Hegel Society of America Biennial Meeting, Pennsylvania State University, October 2002

2002

“The People Have Spoken(?): Derrida, Democracy and Reciprocal Affirmation,” at Philosophy, Interpretation, Culture, SUNY Binghamton, April 2001; revised, at the Canadian Society for Hermeneutics Annual Meeting, Laval University, May 2001

2001

“Against Inner Experience: Hegel, Derrida, Bataille,” at Bataille: Community, Transgression, Excess, Trent University, May 2000

2000

Conference Proceedings

Publication
Year

“‘Control for smilers can’t be bought’: Phish’s White Rebellion Against White Rebellion”, Phish Studies Conference, Oregon State University, May 2019.

2019


Current Courses

Term Course Number Section Title Type
Winter 2024 AP/PHIL1100 3.0 O The Meaning of Life LECT
Winter 2024 AP/PHIL2090 3.0 M Intro. to the Philosophy of Religion LECT