William M. Paris PhD

William Paris is an assistant professor in the Department of Philosophy. He received a PhD in philosophy from Pennsylvania State University in 2018, and has served as the Frank B. Weeks Visiting Assistant Professor in Philosophy at Wesleyan University. From 2018-2020, he was a postdoctoral fellow at Northwestern University.

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Paris’s research interests are in Africana philosophy, philosophy of race, political philosophy and critical theory. He seeks to demonstrate how the work of Africana scholars can lead to a deeper understanding of contemporary conflicts. His manuscript Racial Justice and Forms of Life: Towards a Critical Theory of Utopia argues that utopia is an essential precondition for political critique and generating knowledge. He has recently published an article titled "'Socialism or Barbarism?: C.L.R. James and the Politics of Hope and Utopia" in HA: The Journal of the Hannah Arendt Center for Politics and Humanities.