1. 1
Curriculum Vitae (selected)
Samantha Vice
Philosophy Department Nationality: South African
University of the Witwatersrand
Private Bag 3 Work Telephone: +27 (0)117174345
Wits 2050 Email: Samantha.Vice@wits.ac.za
Johannesburg
South Africa
Academic Positions Held
January 2015 – present: Distinguished Professor, Wits University.
2012 – December 2014: Associate Professor, Rhodes University.
September 2008 to 2012: Senior Lecturer, Rhodes University.
April 2005 to September 2008: Lecturer, Rhodes University.
April 2003 to April 2005: Andrew Mellon Post-Doctoral Research Fellow, Rhodes University.
January to October 1999: Junior Lecturer, Rhodes University.
Tertiary Education
1999-2003 – PhD in Philosophy, The University of Reading, on a Commonwealth Scholarship.
Thesis: Self-Reflection and the Worthwhile Life, supervised by John Cottingham.
1996, 1998 – MA in Philosophy, Rhodes University (first class)
1995 – BA Honours in Philosophy, Rhodes University (first class)
1992-1994 – BA in Philosophy and English, Rhodes University (first class)
Publications: Articles and Book Chapters
‘Feeling at Home: Institutional Culture and the Idea of a University’, in Being at Home: Race,
Institutional Culture and Transformation at South African Higher Education Institutions, edited
by Sally Matthews and Pedro Tabensky. The University of Kwazulu-Natal Press, 2015, pp.45-
71.
‘Politics, Moral Identity, and the Limits of White Silence’, in Pursuing Trayvon Martin:
Historical Contexts and Contemporary Manifestations of Racial Dynamics, edited by George
Yancy and Janine Jones. Lexington Books, 2012, pp. 205-213.
2. 2
‘Beauty, Mourning, and the Commemoration of Evil’, in Midwest Studies in Philosophy 36,
2012, pp.142-162.
‘Reflections on “How Do I Live in This Strange Place?”’, South African Journal of Philosophy
30 (4), 2011, pp. 503-518.
‘Cynicism and Morality’, Ethical Theory and Moral Practice 14 (2), 2011, pp. 169-184.
‘How do I live in this Strange Place?’ Journal of Social Philosophy, 41 (3), 2010, pp. 323-342.
‘Lighthouses in a Foggy World: Ideals in Frank Capra’s Meet John Doe’, in Ward E. Jones and
Samantha Vice (eds.), Ethics at the Cinema. Oxford University Press, 2011, pp.159-177.
‘Literary Style and Moral Vision in the Fictions of Coetzee’, in Anton Leist and Peter Singer
(eds.), Coetzee and Ethics: Philosophical Perspectives on Literature. Columbia University
Press, 2010, pp.293-315.
‘The Virtues of the Useless: On Goodness, Evil and Beauty’, in Pedro Tabensky (ed.), The
Positive Function of Evil. Palgrave Macmillan, 2009, pp.155-171.
‘The Insignificance of the Self: Partiality and Spirituality’, in Nafsika Athanassoulis and
Samantha Vice (eds.), The Moral Life: Essays in Honour of John Cottingham. Palgrave
Macmillan, 2008, pp.9-30. (And co-author of the ‘Introduction’, pp.1-8.)
‘Living with the Self: Self-Understanding and Self-Judgement’, in Pedro Tabensky (ed.),
Judging and Understanding: Essays on Free Will, Justice, Forgiveness and Love. Ashgate,
2006, pp.91-110.
‘Self-Concern in Iris Murdoch’s The Sovereignty of Good’, in Anne Rowe (ed.), Iris Murdoch:
A Re-Assessment. Palgrave Macmillan, 2007, pp.60-71.
‘On the Tedium of the Good’, Ethical Theory and Moral Practice 8 (4), 2005, pp. 437-57.
‘On Persons and Immortality’, The South African Journal of Philosophy 23 (4), 2004, pp. 365-
74.
‘Literature and the Narrative Self’, Philosophy 78, 2003, pp. 93-108.
Publications: Co-Edited Collections
Aging and Ethics, co-edited with Tom Martin. Special Issue of Philosophical Papers 41 (3),
2012.
The Moral Life: Essays in Honour of John Cottingham, co-edited with Nafsika Athanassoulis.
Palgrave Macmillan, 2008.
Ethics at the Cinema, co-edited with Ward E. Jones. New York: Oxford University Press, 2011.
3. 3
Publications: Reviews
Review of Michael Slote, The Impossibility of Perfection, for Notre Dame Philosophical
Reviews, February 2012.
Review of David Parker, The Self in Moral Space, The Times Literary Supplement, August 8
2008.
Review of Joel Kupperman, Six Myths About the Good Life, for Notre Dame Philosophical
Reviews, 16.08.2006.
Review of Pedro Alexis Tabensky, Happiness: Personhood, Community Purpose, in
Philosophical Papers 33 (2), 2004, pp.236-241.
Review of Damian Cox, Marguerite La Caze and Michael P. Levine, Integrity and the Fragile
Self, in Philosophical Papers 32, 2003.
Review of David A. Jopling, Self-Knowledge and the Self in Ratio 15 (2), 2002.
Review of Candace Vogler, Reasonably Vicious, in Times Literary Supplement, February 6,
2004.
Review of Christine Swanton, Virtue Ethics: A Pluralist View, in Times Literary Supplement,
April 2, 2004.
Completed Forthcoming Publications
Review of Thaddeus Metz, Meaning in Life, for Mind (forthcoming end of 2015).
‘Moral Purity and Moral Demandingness’, in Partiality and Impartiality - Morality, Special
Relationships and the Wider World, edited by Brian Feltham, John Cottingham and Philip
Stratton-Lake (forthcoming 2016 for Oxford University Press).
‘Optimism and Meaning’, in Life, Death, and Meaning, 3rd
edition, edited by David Benatar
(forthcoming 2016 for Rowman and Littlefield).
‘Race, Luck, and the Moral Emotions’, in The Routledge Companion to the Philosophy of Race,
edited by Paul C. Taylor, Linda Alcoff, and Luvell Anderson (forthcoming 2016 for
Routledge).
Forthcoming Publications in Progress
‘Pride and Whiteness’ (provisional title), in The Moral Psychology of the Emotions: Pride,
edited by J. Adam Carter and Emma C. Gordon (forthcoming for Rowman and Littlefield
2016/2017).
Paper on the constitutional case Solidarity obo Barnard v South African Police Services,
forthcoming for The Constitutional Court Review 7th
issue.
4. 4
Paper on ‘Emigration and Patriotism’, for a book symposium in The South African Journal of
Philosophy.
In progress
‘The Ethics of Animal Beauty’.
‘Living With the Past: Hope or Cynicism’ – submitted to a journal for consideration.
‘Aesthetic Injustice’.
Paper on race and conflicting identities, for a conference on race in November. It will then be
considered for publication in Philosophical Papers, an accredited journal.
Conference Presentations
Conference on Race, Rhodes University, November 2015.
Workshop for The Constitutional Law Review 7th
issue, December 2015.
Spring Colloquium, September 2015, University of Cape Town.
Invited speaker at the conference ‘Moral Philosophy and Its Discontents: New Perspectives on
Ethical Thought’, Adelaide, Australia, July 2014.
Invited speaker at the conference ‘Modalities of the Good’, Prague, July 2014.
Philosophical Society of Southern Africa Conference, January 2014, Bloemfontein.
Invited speaker at the Stockholm Workshop in Philosophy, June 2013.
Spring Colloquium, September 2013, University of KwaZulu-Natal.
Roundtable on Institutional Culture, September 2013, Rhodes University.
‘Figuring the Animal’ Conference, University of the Western Cape, September 2013.
‘Whitewash Conference’, University of Johannesburg, March 2013.
Philosophical Society of Southern Africa Conference, January 2013, Durban.
Minding Animals, Multi-Disciplinary Conference, Utrecht, July 2012.
Spring Colloquium, September 2012, Rhodes University.
Philosophical Society of Southern Africa Conference, January 2012, Cape Town.
Spring Colloquium, September 2011 (University of KwaZulu-Natal).
Conference on ‘Living with the Past’, June 2011 (The University of the Witwatersrand).
Philosophical Society of Southern Africa Conference, January 2011, Durban.
Philosophical Society of Southern Africa Conference, January 2010.
British Society of Ethical Theory annual conference, July 2009 (The University of Reading).
Conference on ‘J.M. Coetzee as Moral Philosopher’, March 2009 (The University of the
Witwatersrand).
5. 5
Philosophical Society of Southern Africa Conference, January 2009.
Invited speaker at the conference on ‘Impartiality and Partiality in Ethics’, The University of
Reading, Nov 30 – Dec 1 2007.
Philosophical Society of Southern Africa Conference, January 2008.
Philosophical Society of Southern Africa Conference, January 2007.
Philosophical Society of Southern Africa Conference, January 2006.
Spring Colloquium, September 2006 (University of KwaZulu-Natal).
Philosophical Society of Southern Africa Conference, January 2005.
Conference on ‘Judging and Understanding’, November 2004 (Goethe Institute, Johannesburg).
Conference on ‘Reasons of the Heart’, September 2004 (University of Edinburgh).
Conference on ‘Iris Murdoch: A Reassessment’, September 2004 (Kingston University).
British Society of Ethical Theory annual conference, July 2004 (University of Kent).
Philosophical Society of Southern Africa Conference, January 2004.
Ethics Society of South Africa annual conference, March 2004.
Rhodes University Spring Colloquia, September 2003 and 1999.
National Post-graduate Analytic Philosophy Conference, Bristol 2002.
Other Selected Academic Presentations
Panel member on a roundtable on the Existential Conversations Course, Allan
Gray Centre for Leadership Ethics, Rhodes University, October 2015.
Forthcoming: Panel member and speaker at a book launch and public meeting, hosted by the
Centre for Conflict Resolution, Cape Town, November 2015.
Forthcoming: Presentation at WISER, Wits University, October 2015.
Participant in the Workshop ‘Africanizing the Philosophy Curricula in Universities in Africa’,
hosted by The University of the Witwatersrand, September 2015.
Panel member and invited speaker at the launch of Being at Home: Race, Institutional Culture
and Transformation at South African Higher Education Institutions, University of
Johannesburg, March 2015.
Invited speaker at The University of the Witwatersrand, March 2014.
Invited speaker at The University of Fort Hare, October 2012.
Invited speaker at a workshop at The University of Stellenbosch and the Stellenbosch Institute
for Advanced Studies, October 2012. The workshop was held on my paper, ‘How Do I Live in
this Strange Place?’ and invited speakers responded.
Invited Speaker at The University of Johannesburg, February 2012.
6. 6
Workshop at The University of the Witwatersrand, hosted by the Wits Centre for Ethics, on
‘How Do I Live in this Strange Place?’, October 2011.
Invited Speaker at The University of the Witwatersrand, April 2010.
Invited Speaker at The University of Cape Town, April 2007.
Invited Speaker at The University of the Witwatersrand, October 2006.
‘Lighthouses in a Foggy World’, Winter School, National Arts Festival 2006.
Inter-disciplinary symposia at Rhodes University: i) ‘Dignity and Narrative Control in The
Remains of the Day’, 2003; ii) ‘The Idea of Narrative’, 2004.
Symposium on Tom Martin’s Oppression and the Human Condition: An Introduction to
Sartrean Existentialism, at Rhodes University, May 2003.
Related Experience and Information
National Research Foundation (NRF) Rating: B(3). The B rating is awarded to researchers with
“considerable international recognition by their peers for the high quality and impact of their
research outputs” (NRF, ‘Definition of Rating Categories’).
June – December 2014: Head of the Philosophy Department, Rhodes University.
2010- 2013: Co-Editor (with Lucy Allais and Ward Jones) of the journal, Philosophical Papers.
Member of the NRF specialist rating panel for Philosophy and Political Science, 2012 - 2016.
Secretary of the Philosophical Society of Southern Africa, 2010 - 2016.
External examiner for The University of the Witwatersrand; The University of KwaZulu-Natal;
Fort Hare University
July 2011- January 2012: Acting Head of the Philosophy Department, Rhodes University.
My paper, ‘How do I Live in this Strange Place?’, is the subject of a special issue of The South
African Journal of Philosophy (30:4), edited by Ward E. Jones, November 2011.
Member of the external assessors’ panel for the University of Johannesburg’s Philosophy
Department, October 2007.
Referee for a variety of local and international philosophy journals; and external examiner of
PhD and MA theses for South African universities.
Member of the Management Board of the Allan Gray Centre for Leadership Ethics, Rhodes
University.
Rhodes University Committee Membership: From 2008 I worked on the Ethical Standards
Committee and have acted as Chair of the Animal Ethics sub-committee for many of those year.
I have sat on the Academic Freedom Committee and the Honorary Awards Committee, as well
as various ad hoc special committees, including one on secularisation in the university.
7. 7
Awards
Vice-Chancellor’s Distinguished Research Award, from Rhodes University, 2011.
Commonwealth Scholarship for PhD research in the United Kingdom from the Association of
Commonwealth Universities.
Award for being among the top ten graduates of Rhodes University.
CSD and Rhodes University Masters and Honours scholarships.
Full Academic Honours from Rhodes University.