Researcher Details |

Joseph Rivera

I lecture and conduct research on a variety of topics. Trained in the fluid disciplines of phenomenology and philosophy of religion, I focus on themes such as the self, love, empathy, temporal experience, the body, and spiritual experience. In phenomenology I work on figures such as Edmund Husserl, Martin Heidegger and their French heirs: Jean-Luc Marion, Michel Henry, Jean-Yves Lacoste, Emmanuel Levinas and Jacques Derrida. I also research in a secondary area, political philosophy and the mechanics of dialogue. Here I draw principally on the work of John Rawls.

I am currently working on a fourth book project that explores the concept of the world in light of the debate between realism and anti-realism with an emphasis on the cosmology of St. Augustine. While I continue to work within post-Husserlian phenomenology, I also include in this project other philosophical voices from the anglophone world, such as Hilary Putnam and Richard Rorty.

Book

	Year	Publication
	2024	(2024) Theological Fringes of Phenomenology. London: Routledge. https://www.routledge.com/Theological-Fringes-of-Phenomenology/Rivera-OLeary/p/book/9781032472119#:~:text=These%20include%20the%20Incarnation%2C%20the,Eucharist%2C%20Grace%2C%20and%20Prayer.
	2022	Joseph Rivera (2022) Phenomenology and the Horizon of Experience: Spiritual Themes in Henry, Marion, Lacoste. New York: Routledge. https://www.routledge.com/Phenomenology-and-the-Horizon-of-Experience-Spiritual-Themes-in-Henry/Rivera/p/book/9781032136400
	2018	Rivera, J. (2018) Political theology and pluralism: Renewing public dialogue. [Link] [DOI]
	2015	Joseph Rivera (2015) The Contemplative Self after Michel Henry: A Phenomenological Theology. Notre Dame, Indiana: Notre Dame University Press.
	2014	Joseph Rivera and Scott Davidson (translators) (2014) Flesh and Body: On the Phenomenology of Husserl, by Didier Franck. New York and London: Bloomsbury.

Peer Reviewed Journal

	Year	Publication
	2023	Joseph Rivera (2023) 'Phenomenology, Givenness, Mystery: Dilating Subjectivity'. Religions, 8 :1-18. [Link] https://doi.org/10.3390/rel14081008
	2021	Joseph Rivera (2021) 'Blumenberg's Problematic Secularization Thesis: Augustine, Curiositas and the Emergence of Late Modernity'. Religions, 15 (5):297-313. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel12050297
	2021	Joseph Rivera (2021) 'Giving as Loving: A Requiem for the Gift?'. Continental Philosophy Review, 54 (3):349-366. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11007-021-09527-y
	2020	Joseph Rivera (2020) 'Religious Reasons and Public Reason: Recalibrating Ireland's Benevolent Secularism'. Review of European Studies, 12 (1):1-12. [DOI]
	2020	Rivera, J (2020) 'Political Liberalism and Resentment: A Theological Rejoinder'. Modern Theology, . [DOI]
	2020	Rivera, J (2020) 'Introduction: Political Theology, or the Formations of Pluralism'. Religions, . [DOI]
	2019	Rivera, Joseph (2019) *'We-Synthesis Husserl and Henry on Empathy and Shared Life'. Research in Phenomenology*, 49 (2). [DOI]
	2019	Rivera J. (2019) 'Liberal Citizenship and the Hermeneutics of Public Dialogue: A Rawlsian Perspective'. :133-151. [DOI]
	2019	Rivera J. (2019) 'The “original position” as public performance: Liberalism, pluralism, and asceticism'. Religions, 10 (8). [DOI]
	2019	Joseph Rivera (2019) 'Phenomenologies of the Trinity: Trends in Recent Philosophy of Religion'. Philosophy Compass, 14 (1):1-11. [DOI]
	2019	Joseph Rivera (2019) 'The as yet Undetermined Animal: Augustine's Memoria after Cognitive Science'. European Journal of Science and Theology, 15 (5):77-94. [Link]
	2018	Joseph Rivera (2018) 'The Myth of the Given? Rethinking Phenomenology's Theological Turn'. Philosophy Today, 62 (2):181-197. [Link]
	2018	Joseph Rivera (2018) 'Futures of the Theological Turn'. Philosophy Today, 62 (2):89-97. [Link]
	2017	Rivera, J (2017) 'Human Nature and the Limits of Plasticity: Revisiting the Debate Concerning the Supernatural'. Neue Zeitschrift fur Systematische Theologie und Religionsphilosophie, 59 :34-53. [DOI]
	2016	Rivera, J (2016) 'God and Metaphysics in Contemporary Theology: Reframing the Debate'. Theological studies, 77 :823-844. [DOI]
	2015	Michel Henry (Rivera J.; Faithful G.; translators) (2015) 'The four principles of phenomenology'. Continental Philosophy Review, . [DOI]
	2013	Rivera J. (2013) 'Figuring the porous self: St. Augustine and the phenomenology of temporality'. Modern Theology, 29 (1):83-103. [DOI]
	2013	Dr Joseph Rivera (2013) 'Toward a Liturgical Existentialism'. NEW BLACKFRIARS, vol. 94 :79-96.
	2012	Dr Joseph Rivera (2012) 'Corpus Mysticum and Religious Experience: Henry, Lacoste, Marion'. International Journal of Systematic Theology, vol. 14 :327-349.
	2011	Dr Joseph Rivera (2011) 'Generation, Interiority and the Phenomenology of Christianity in Michel Henry'. Continental Philosophy Review, Continental Philosophy Review, 44 :205-235.
	2010	Dr Joseph Rivera (2010) 'Jean-Luc Marion: The Subject as Gifted in Christological Perspective'. Heythrop Journal-A Quarterly Review Of Philosophy And Theology, 51 :1053-1060.

Other Journal

	Year	Publication
	2023	(2023) 'Single Guest Editor of Special Issue on “What is Philosophy of Religion: Definitions, Motifs, New Directions” Religions MDPI, 2023' Religions, 1 . https://www.mdpi.com/journal/religions/special_issues/Philosophy_of_Religion_New_Directions
	2021	(2021) 'Editor and panel organizer of online symposium examining Joseph O’Leary’s Reality Itself: Philosophical Challenges of Indian Mahāyāna, hosted at Syndicate network' Syndicate, 2 . https://syndicate.network/symposia/philosophy/reality-itself/
	2019	(2019) 'Single Guest Editor of Special Issue on “Political Theology and Pluralism,” Religions MDPI 2019' Religions, 1 . https://www.mdpi.com/journal/religions/special_issues/PoliticalTheology
	2018	(2018) 'Single Guest Editor of Special Topic on “The Futures of Theological Turn in Phenomenology,” for the journal Philosophy Today, vol.62, no.1 (2018): 89-197' Philosophy Today, (no.1) .
	2018	Joseph Rivera (2018) 'Spiritual Exercises in a Secular Age: Prospects for a Theological Reduction' 17 (2) :307-327. [Link]
	2017	Joseph Rivera (2017) 'Christian Life and the Phenomenology of Life' 16 (1) :161-182.

Book Chapter

	Year	Publication
	2023	Joseph Rivera (2023) 'Phenomenology, Experience, Spiritual Life' In: Image and Imagination in the Phenomenology of Religious Experience. Nordhausen Germany : Verlag Traugott Bautz GmbH. https://www.bautz.de/product-page/image-and-imagination-in-the-phenomenology-of-religious-experience?lang=en
	2023	Joseph Rivera (2023) 'Affection, Mood, and Poetry: Overcoming Mentalism' In: God and Phenomenology: Thinking with Jean-Yves Lacoste. Eugene Oregon : Veritas. [Link]
	2023	Joseph Rivera and Michael Hinds (2023) 'To Learn Baseball: A Transatlantic Dialogue on the Astros and American Ways of Winning' In: Astros and Asterisks: Houston's Sign-Stealing Scandal Explained. Austin, TX : University of Texas Press. https://utpress.utexas.edu/9781477327432/
	2022	Joseph Rivera (2022) 'The Liberal Subject: The Politics of Life in Michel Henry' In: Michel Henry's Practical Philosophy. London : Bloomsbury. https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/michel-henrys-practical-philosophy-9781350202764/
	2013	Joseph Rivera (2013) 'The Night of Living Flesh: Sainthood in Michel Henry' In: Postmodern Saints of France. London and New York : Bloomsbury.

Conference Contribution

	Year	Publication
	2019	Joseph Rivera (2019) Leuven Encounters in Systematic Theology (LEST XII) Rawlsian Public Reason: A Model of Political Theology Leuven, Belgium, 23/10/2019-26/10/2019.
	2018	Joseph Rivera (2018) Society for the Study of Theology Annual Conference Nietzsche on the Hinterworld: A Relief for Theology University of Nottingham, UK, 09/04/2018-11/04/2018.
	2018	Joseph Rivera (2018) Workshop on Religion and Violence Rene Girard's Phenomenology of Religious Violence University Vienna, Austria, 18/03/2018-21/03/2018.
	2017	Joseph Rivera (2017) Annual Meeting of the Society for Continental Philosophy and Theology Reconciling Metaphysics and Sacramental Experience Furman University, Greenville, South Carolina, 22/03/2017-25/03/2017.
	2017	Joseph Rivera (2017) Colloquium on Michel Henry Michel Henry and Irenaeus on Life Instiut für Systematische Theologie, Universität Freiburg, 23/07/2017-25/07/2018.
	2016	Joseph Rivera (2016) Philosophy and Theology Symposium Sameness and Otherness: A Response to Jeffrey Bloechl Dublin City University, 12/03/2016-12/03/2016.
	2016	Joseph Rivera (2016) St. Patrick's College Humanities Workshop Secularization Theory: A Plea for Ambiguity Dublin, 23/03/2016-23/03/2016.
	2016	Joseph Rivera (2016) Society for the Study of Theology Plasticity in Question: The Debate Concerning the Supernatural Durham University, 22/04/2016-23/04/2016.
	2016	Joseph Rivera (2016) Role of the Church in a Pluralist Society Overlapping consensus and Political Theology: A Pragmatic Approach Trinity College Dublin, 21/06/2016-23/06/2016.
	2015	Joseph Rivera (2015) Christian Doctrines of Divinization East and West, Faculteit Theologie, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven “Theosis and the Secularization of the Modern World.” Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, 30/01/2015-.
	2015	Joseph Rivera (2015) Catholic Theological Association of Great Britain Grace without Nature? Theological Anthropology Revisited Durham University, 08/09/2015-09/09/2015.
	2014	Joseph Rivera (2014) Irish Theological Association Conference, Sacramental Theology Today, St. Patrick's College “The World is not a Sacrament: Disenchantment and Modernity.” Maynooth, Ireland, 18/10/2014-.
	2014	Joseph Rivera (2014) Mystical Theology and Continental Philosophy Conference, Liverpool Hope University “Practical and Political Theology in a Secular Age.” Liverpool, 11/07/2014-.
	2013	Joseph Rivera (2013) The D Society in Philosophy of Religion, Cambridge University “God and Being in Contemporary Theology: the Promise of the Metaphysics of Exodus 3.14.” Cambridge, 08/02/2013-.
	2013	Joseph Rivera (2013) The Soul: Center for Theology and Philosophy Conference “The Soul-Body Distinction: An Augustinian Rereading Oxford, 28/06/2013-.
	2012	Joseph Rivera (2012) Theology and Ethics Public Seminar, University of Edinburgh School of Divinity “Philosophy and Theology: A Rapprochement Edinburgh, 09/02/2012-.
	2012	Joseph Rivera (2012) Beyond Myth and Enlightenment Conference, University of Vienna, Austria “Contemplating Transcendence: Eucharistic Temporality after Husserl and Heidegger.” Vienna, 13/09/2012-.
	2012	Joseph Rivera (2012) Phenomenology and Religion Workshop, Trinity College Dublin “The Phenomenological Reduction and the Problem of the ‘World:’ Theological Possibilities.” Dublin, 24/04/2012-.
	2011	Joseph Rivera (2011) What is Life? Center for Theology and Philosophy Conference “Individuation, Temporality and Life Krakow, Poland, 24/06/2011-.
	2011	Joseph Rivera (2011) Sacramental Theology and Postmodernism Seminar What are Saturated Phenomena? Edinburgh, 08/02/2011-.
	2011	Joseph Rivera (2011) Phenomenology and Theology Seminary, Univ of Edinburgh School of Divinity “Phenomenology and Theology in Michel Henry” Edinburgh, 15/02/2011-.
	2010	Joseph Rivera (2010) Colloquium in Catholic Theology, University of Nottingham “Corpus Christi Mysticum in Lacoste and Henry: Religious Experience or Non-Experience?” Nottingham, 11/11/2010-.
	2010	Joseph Rivera (2010) Colloque international à l’occasion de l’ouverture du Fonds Michel Henry “Michel Henry’s Phenomenology of the Incarnation and the Problem of Religious Experience.” Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium, 17/12/2010-.
	2010	Joseph Rivera (2010) Center for Subjectivity Research, University of Copenhagen “Recovering the Cartesian Subject: Self-Affection as Self-Awareness in the Michel Henry’s Phenomenology of Life.” Copenhagen, 24/08/2010-.
	2010	Joseph Rivera (2010) International Society for Religion, Literature and Culture “Pure Flesh: Michel Henry’s Theological Critique of Husserlian Intentionality.” Oxford, 27/09/2010-.
	2010	Joseph Rivera (2010) “The Temporality of the Self: Comparing an Anxious Heidegger with a Hopeful St. John of the Cross.” The Present Moment: Postgraduate Conference in Theology and Religion Oxford, 30/09/2010-.
	2009	Joseph Rivera (2009) American Academy of Religion “Liturgy or Death? The Phenomenology of Authenticity in Heidegger and Lacoste.” Montreal, 07/11/2009-.
	2009	Joseph Rivera (2009) Leuven Encounters in Systematic Theology “The Question of a Phenomenology of Creation in Michel Henry.” Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, 28/10/2009-.
	2008	Joseph Rivera (2008) The Philosophy of Jean-Luc Marion Reading the Atonement as a Saturated Phenomenon Franciscan University, Steubenville, Ohio, USA, 25/04/2008-.
	2008	Joseph Rivera (2008) American Academy of Religion “Communing with the Gods: William Robertson Smith, Sacrifice and Atonement Theology 1890-1915.” Chicago, 31/10/2008-.

Book Review

	Year	Publication
	2019	Rivera, J (2019) The Providence of God: A Polyphonic Approach. LONDON: BREV [DOI]
	2016	Rivera, J (2016) The Theological Project of Modernism: Faith and Conditions of Mineness. HOBOKEN: BREV [DOI]
	2015	Rivera, J (2015) Theology without Metaphysics: God, Language and the Spirit of Recognition. HOBOKEN: BREV [DOI]
	2015	Rivera, J (2015) Barbarism. HOBOKEN: BREV
	2015	Rivera, J (2015) Praying to a French God: The Theology of Jean-Yves Lacoste. LONDON: BREV
	2015	Rivera, J (2015) Who's Afraid of Relativism? Community, Contingency and Creaturehood. HOBOKEN: BREV [DOI]
	2014	Dr Joseph Rivera (2014) Postmodern Apologetics? Arguments for God in Contemporary Philosophy, Christina M. Gschwandtner (New York: Fordham University Press, 2012). BREV
	2014	Dr Joseph Rivera (2014) Interpreting Excess: Jean-Luc Marion, Saturated Phenomena and Hermeneutics, by Shane Mackinlay (New York: Fordham University Press, 2010). BREV
	2013	Dr Joseph Rivera (2013) Michel Henry: the Affects of Thought, eds., Jeffrey Hanson and Michael Kelly (New York and London: Continuum, 2012). BREV
	2013	Dr Joseph Rivera (2013) Secularization: In Defense of an Unfashionable Theory by Steve Bruce (Oxford, UK Oxford University Press, 2011). BREV
	2011	Dr Joseph Rivera (2011) Religious Experience Reconsidered: A Building-Block Approach to the Study of Religion and Other Special Things, by Ann Taves (Princeton and Oxford: Princeton University Press, 2009). BREV
	2011	Dr Joseph Rivera (2011) Derrida and Theology, by Stephen Shakespeare (London and New York: Continuum, 2009). BREV
	2010	Dr Joseph Rivera (2010) Solomon Among the Postmoderns, by Peter Leithart (Grand Rapids, MI: Brazos Press, 2008). BREV
	2009	Dr Joseph Rivera (2009) What Would Jesus Deconstruct? The Good News of Postmodernism for the Church, by John Caputo (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2007). BREV
	2008	Dr Joseph Rivera (2008) Christ and Culture, by Graham Ward (Malden, MA; Oxford: Blackwell Publishers, 2005). BREV

Languages

Language	Reading	Writing	Speaking
German	Functional	None	None
French	Fluent	Basic	Basic
Spanish	Functional	None	Basic

Research Interests

Philosophy and philosophy of religion

Themes: secularity, political theory, democracy, concepts of the world, theories of the self, time, the philosophical nature of the body, empathy, love, and happiness.