Hashem Morvarid, Ph.D.
- Assistant Professor , Philosophy
-
My research interests center on building a constructive conversation between Islamic philosophy and contemporary anglophone philosophy (often referred to by philosophers as “analytic philosophy”). Many philosophical and theological questions are shared across these traditions. I am especially interested in (i) recasting classical Muslim philosophers’ theories within contemporary analytic conceptual frameworks, so that their ideas become more accessible to anglophone philosophers; (ii) drawing on insights from classical Islamic philosophy to address current philosophical and theological problems; and (iii) critically reconstructing and developing concepts and views from classical Islamic philosophy in light of developments in analytic philosophy. I see this work as mutually enriching: Islamic philosophy offers distinctive ideas and arguments to contemporary analytic discussions, while analytic methods provide powerful tools for clarifying, evaluating, and further developing the rich heritage of Islamic philosophical thought.
- Ph.D., Philosophy, University of Illinois at Chicago
- Ph.D., Analytic Philosophy, IPM – Institute for Research in Fundamental Sciences (Iran)
- M.A., Islamic Philosophy and Theology, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad (Iran)
- B.A., Islamic Seminary Studies, Seminary of Qom (Iran)
- “Avicenna on Divine Simplicity.” Oxford Studies in Philosophy of Religion 13 (forthcoming).
- “Avicenna on the Theory of Forms.” Philosophy and Phenomenological Research 111 (1) (2025): 235–259. https://doi.org/10.1111/phpr.70020
- “Avicenna on Common Natures and the Ground of the Categories.” British Journal for the History of Philosophy 32 (4) (2023): 766–797. https://doi.org/10.1080/09608788.2023.2201609
- “The Muʿtazila’s Arguments Against Divine Command Theory.” Religious Studies 58 (3) (2021): 610–627. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0034412521000172
- “Essence and Logical Properties.” Philosophical Studies 176 (2019): 2897–2917. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11098-018-1156-x
- “Finean Essence, Local Necessity, and Pure Logical Properties.” Synthese 195 (11) (2018): 4997–5005. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11229-017-1441-9
- “Hale on the Absoluteness of Logical Necessity.” Acta Analytica 32 (2017): 1–11. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12136-016-0290-3
- Islamic Philosophy
- Analytic Metaphysics
- Philosophy of Religion
- Islamic Philosophy
- Philosophy of Religion
- Classical Greek Philosophy
- Symbolic Logic I
Fellowships:
- William H. Miller Postdoctoral Fellowship, Johns Hopkins University (2023–2025)
- UIC Dean’s Scholar Fellowship, University of Illinois at Chicago (2021–2022)
Templeton Research Fellowship (2020–2021)
Awards:
- Honorable Mention, Outstanding Dissertation/Thesis Award, University of Illinois at Chicago, Arts & Humanities Division (2023–2024)
- Firdawsi Science Fellowship Award, University of Illinois System–wide (Spring 2023)
- Research Award, Global Philosophy of Religion Project, Templeton Foundation (Summer 2022)
- Research Award, The Christian West and Islamic East: Theology, Science, and Knowledge Project, Templeton Foundation (Summer 2021)
- Honorable Mention, Society for Medieval and Renaissance Philosophy (Fall 2021), for “The Muʿtazila’s Arguments Against Divine Command Theory”
- Graduate Research Award, University of Illinois at Chicago (Fall 2020)
- Provost’s Graduate Research Award, University of Illinois at Chicago (Fall 2019)
- Chicago Consular Corps Scholarship (2017–2018)
I serve the Muslim community through teaching and public presentations that offer an understanding of Islam grounded in authentic sources, moral conscience, and human rationality. My work aims to counter radical, immoral, or irrational interpretations of Islam and to address misconceptions that contribute to fear and misunderstanding.