Biography
James Greenaway holds degrees in philosophy and education.
His dissertation in the field of medieval political philosophy was rewarded with a Ph.D. by University College Dublin. Following a year of further research, his book entitled, The Differentiation of Authority: The Medieval Turn toward Existence (Catholic University of America Press, 2012) explores some of the philosophical foundations of Western society, especially the emergence of the human person in the late medieval period as a source of authority and dignity. He co-wrote and edited Human Dignity, Education, and Political Society: A Philosophical Defense of the Liberal Arts (Lexington Press, 2020). His most recent book concerns the meaning of belonging. It is entitled, A Philosophy of Belonging: Persons, Politics, Cosmos (University of Notre Dame Press, 2023).
Greenaway holds the St. Mary’s San José-Lonergan Chair in Catholic Philosophy. The work of the Chair aims to enhance the Catholic intellectual dimension of St. Mary’s University, and partners with St. Mary’s Center for Catholic Studies. As Chair, he facilitates interdisciplinary seminars for faculty, administration, and professional staff across campus, using Bernard Lonergan’s work on interiority as a foundation. These seminars aim to promote conversation and a common dialogical search for the unity that underpins the uni-versity. He established and currently leads “The Common Good Series,” a funded student seminar on great books that have enriched the constitutional, political, and philosophical traditions of Western civilization. Aside from regular academic responsibilities, Greenaway has also taught philosophy courses in TDCJ prisons since 2017 that aim at restoring and cultivating an understanding of human dignity among inmates. He has also promoted awareness of human trafficking in south Texas with public events that have allowed victims and survivors of trafficking to tell their own stories.
Selected Publications
Books
Grief: Seven Philosophical Questions (forthcoming, 2025)
A Philosophy of Belonging: Persons, Politics, Cosmos. Notre Dame, IN: The University of Notre Dame Press, 2023
Human Dignity, Education, and Political Society: A Philosophical Defense of the Liberal Arts. Lanham: Lexington Press, 2020
The Differentiation of Authority: The Medieval Turn Toward Existence. Washington D.C.: Catholic University of America Press, 2012.
Essays
“Love and Sacramentality in the Work of David Walsh, Personalism and Catholic Political
Thought: Essays in Honor of David Walsh, ed. Richard Avramenko and Thomas Holman. Lanham, MD: Lexington Press (forthcoming, 2024)
“Eric Voegelin’s Philosophy of History: Universal Humanity and the Tension of Historical Consciousness.” In Science et Esprit. Vol. 75 (2023), 319-336.
“Civility as Political Love: Likemindedness in a Time of Polarisation.” In International Political Anthropology Journal. Vol. 15, 2 (2022), 101-114.
“Foreword”, in Tilo Schabert, The Figure of Modernity: On the Irregularity of an Epoch, trans. Javier Ibáñez-Noé, foreword, James Greenaway. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, 2020
Reviews
“Reluctant Mystics: Remarks on Glenn Hughes’s From Dickenson to Dylan: Visions of Transcendence in Modernist Literature.” In Political Science Reviewer, forthcoming Spring 2022.
“Searching for History: A Review Essay of Wherefrom Does History Emerge? Inquiries in Political Cosmogony.” In Voegelinview.com, January, 2022.
Marder, Michael. Political Categories: Thinking Beyond Concepts. New York: Columbia University Press, 2019. Review of Metaphysics, Vol. 75, 2 (2021), 386-88.
“David Walsh’s The Sacramentality of the Person.” Perspectives in Political Science. Vol. 50, 4 (2021), 224-228.
Marder, Michael, Political Categories: Thinking Beyond Concepts. New York: Columbia University Press, 2019. Review of Metaphysics, Vol. 75, 2 (2021), 386-88.
Opinion
“Inclusion and Recognition: The Ancillary Values of DEI.” Public Discourse https://www.thepublicdiscourse.com/2023/11/91787/