Dr Richard Elliott

Overview

Biography

Richard Elliott is Lecturer in European Philosophy at Birkbeck, in the School of Historical Studies. Before that, he was a Postdoctoral Fellow for the British Society for the History of Philosophy.

Richard has published widely on themes in 19th and 20th Century European Philosophy, drawing on the works of figures such as Nietzsche, Adorno, Heidegger, Freud, Wagner, and others. He has also published on topics in Early Modern Philosophy, as well as ethics, aesthetics, and the philosophy of religion.

He currently has a book under contract with Cambridge University Press, entitled Nietzsche and the Death of God.

He is Chief Organizer of the forthcoming 'Fanon's Philosophical Legacy'  International Workshop, to be held at Birkbeck over two days in June 2025. It will coincide with the centenary year of Frantz Fanon's birth.

He is Co-Convenor of the new 'Guises of Nihilism in Early and Late Modern Philosophy' Project, with Professor G. Anthony Bruno (Royal Holloway). Birkbeck will host a workshop for this project in March 2025. A special issue of The British Journal of Philosophy on this theme will follow. 

Office hours

Please book an appointment by email.

Web profiles

• Academia.edu Profile

Administrative responsibilities

• BA Philosophy Admissions Tutor

Research

Research overview

My Primary Research is in Post-Kantian European Philosophy. 
I am currently working on:

i. I currently have four papers under review on Nietzsche’s contributions to topics in ethics, moral psychology and philosophical psychology
ii. Project on Fanon as Philosopher: including a projected edited volume from proceedings for the 'Fanon's Philosophical Legacy' conference (June 2025), and three personal research papers on Fanon's metaethics, recognition, the role of ressentiment, and the 'new humanism'.
iii. Papers and projected eventual monograph on consciousness, estrangement, and the role of aesthetics in Adorno
iv. Paper on the later Heidegger on nihilism, metaphysics and its supposed 'overcoming' (forthcoming for The British Journal for the History of Philosophy)

Other Currently Active Research Areas :

i. Paper on 'Truthfulness, Lying, and the External Criteria for Authenticity’
ii. Paper on 'The so-called "Continental" Contribution to Metaethics'
iii. Interdisciplinary paper (intellectual history/philosophy) on Nietzsche's valorisation of Frederick the Great
iv. The role of power in Heidegger's historical critique of metaphysics

 

Supervision and teaching

Supervision

I have supervised and continue to supervise both undergraduate and graduate students on topics in ethics, myriad topics in 19th and 20th century European philosophy, political philosophy, and Spinoza.

Students interested in working in these areas can email me: r.elliott@bbk.ac.uk

Teaching

Teaching modules

• London: Places, Objects, Ideas (SC03015S3)
• The Philosophy of Nietzsche (Level 7) (SSPL114S7)
• Research in Theoretical Philosophy (SSPL157S7)
• Research in Practical Philosophy (SSPL158S7)
• Themes in Twentieth-Century French and German Philosophy (Level 5) (SSPL265S5)

Publications

External Repositories