Janis (John) Talivaldis Ozolins

M.Sc., Dip.Ed., Ph.D. (Melb.) G.Dip.Ed.Admin. (Deakin)
Professor, College of Philosophy and Theology

Email: john.ozolins@nd.edu.au
Phone: 08 9433 0137

  • Biography

    Jānis (John) Tālivaldis Ozoliņš, M.Sc., Dip. Ed., Ph.D. (Melb.), G. Dip. Ed. Admin. (Deakin), FHERDSA, FPESA,  FACE,  LZA HZN,, is Professor, College of Philosophy and Theology, University of Notre Dame, Visiting Professor, Faculty of History and Philosophy, University of Latvia and Honorary Fellow, Institute of Philosophy and Sociology, University of Latvia. He was formerly Professor of Philosophy, at Australian Catholic University (ACU). His Adjunct Lecturer, Catholic Theological College, University of Divinity. He has also been Crawford Miller Visiting Research Fellow at St. Cross College, Oxford. He has held a number of other visiting Professorships overseas. He served as President of the Philosophy of Education Society of Australasia from 2006 to 2009, and Treasurer, 2016 to 2019. He is currently a Member of the Executive. He is Vice-Presdient (Oceania) COMIUCAP. He is editor of Analysis and Metaphysics, a journal for metaphysics and analytic philosophy, former editor of Res Disputandae/Ethics Education, and a Special issues Editor, of Educational Philosophy and Theory. His teaching and research interests include metaphysics and epistemology, applied ethics and bioethics, the philosophy of education, the relationship between religion and science, Confucian philosophy and political philosophy. His most recent publications include: Education and the Pursuit of Wisdom, London: Routledge, (2019), Civil Society, Education and Human Formation: Philosophy’s Role in a Renewed Understanding of Education, London: Routledge (2017).

  • Teaching Areas

    • Philosophy of Education
    • Social and Political Philosophy
    • Ethics and Moral Philosophy
    • Philosophy of Mind
    • Metaphysics
    • Philosophy of Science
    • Medieval Philosophy

  • Research Expertise and Supervision

    • Philosophy of Education
    • Social and Political Philosophy
    • Ethics and Moral Philosophy
    • Philosophy of Science
    • Metaphysics (especially Thomistic Metaphysics)

  • Books

    • Education in an Age of Lies and Fake News: Regaining a Love of Truth, edited volume, London: Routledge (forthcoming 2021)
    • Education and the Pursuit of Wisdom, monograph, London: Routledge, (2019),
    • Civil Society, Education and Human Formation: Philosophy’s Role in a Renewed Understanding of Education, edited volume,  London: Routledge (2017)
    • Religion and Culture in Dialogue: East and West Perspectives, edited volume, Dordrecht: Springer (2016)
    • Foundations of health care ethics: theory to practice, authored and edited with Joanne Grainger, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press (2015).

  • Books chapters

    • Teacher Education in a Catholic Context: An Australian Story In Peters, Michael (Ed.).  Encyclopedia of Teacher Education. Dordrecht: Springer-Meteor.  (2019).
    • Creating the Civil Society East and West: Relationality, Responsibility and the Education of the Humane Person. In Steven A. Stolz and R. Scott Webster. (Eds.). Measuring up in Education: Philosophical Explorations for Justice and Democracy Within and Beyond Cultures of Measurement in Educational Systems. London: Routledge. (2019)
    • Introduction. in Dalia Maria Stanciene, Irena Dargaviciene and Susan Robbins. (Eds.). Identity and Globalisation: Ethical Implications. Lithuanian Philosophical Studies Vol. VIII. 1-19. Washington: Council for Research in Values and Philosophy (2018).
    • Global Values and Combatting Global Crises. in Golfo Maginni, Vasiliki P. Solomou-Papanikolaou, Helen Karabatzaki and Konstantinos D. Koskeridis. (Eds.).  Philosophy and Crisis: Responding to Ways of Life in the Contemporary World. Vol. I.  175-92. Washington: Council for Research in Values and Philosophy (2017).
    • On the Provision of Medical Nutrition and Hydration. in Jason Eberl. (Ed.). Contemporary Controversies in Catholic Bioethics. Dordrecht: Springer, 405-424. (2017). DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-55766-3_27.
    • Introduction.  in Jānis T. Ozoliņš. (Ed.). Education, Civil Society and Human Formation: Philosophy’s Role in a Renewed Understanding of Education, 1-10. London: Routledge (2017)..
    • Democracy, Civil Society and Education. In Jānis T. Ozoliņš. (Ed.). Education, Civil Society and Human Formation: Philosophy’s Role in a Renewed Understanding of Education. 11-30. London: Routledge (2017).
    • The Hermeneutics of Ethical Research: A Case Study of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Communities. in Nishant Alphonse Irudayadason. (Ed.). Musings and Meanings: Hermeneutical Ripples. 91-108. New Delhi and Pune: Christian World Imprints and Jnana-Deepa Vidyapeeth, (2016).
    • Introduction. in J.T. Ozolins. (Ed.). Religion and Culture in Dialogue: East and West Perspectives. xvii-xxi. Dordrecht: Springer (2016).
    • Proglomena: Globalisation, Cultural Identity and Diversity. in J.T.Ozolins. (Ed.). Religion and Culture in Dialogue: East and West Perspectives.1-14 Dordrecht: Springer (2016).
    • God and Conceptions of Immanence and Transcendence in Aquinas and Mengzi.in J.T. Ozolins. (Ed.). Religion and Culture in Dialogue: East and West Perspectives. 95-110. Dordrecht: Springer (2016).

  • Journal Articles and Proceedings

    • A Narrative Approach Exploring Philosophy in Education and Educational Research.  Educational Studies, 44, 5, (2018) 578-593. DOI:10.1080/03055698.2017.1388215. [with Steven A. Stoltz.]
    • Creating the Civil Society East and West: Relationality, responsibility and the humane person”, Educational Philosophy and Theory, 49, 4, (2017) 362-378.
    • Reclaiming Paedeia in an Age of Crises: Education and the Necessity of Wisdom, Educational Philosophy and Theory, 47, 9, (2015) 870-882.

  • Conference Papers

    • “Justice in the Plato’s Republic: Lessons from the Ring of Gyges”, paper presented at the Values, Symbols and Meanings of Justice Symposium, Dokuz Eylul University, Izmir, Turkey, 13th June 2019 [by Skype].
    • “Embodiment, Self and Personal Identity”, paper presented at the AARE Philosophy of Education Special Interest Group Symposium, Melbourne, 12th June 2019
    • “Truth in a World of Fake News and Lies”, keynote paper, presented at the COMIUCAP Conference, held University of Notre Dame Australia, Sydney, 30th May, 2019.
    • “Augustine, Wisdom and Education”, paper presented at the Philosophy of Education Society of Australasia Conference, Rotorua, New Zealand, 8 December 2018.
    • “Borders: Enrichment or Threat to Culture?”, paper presented at the RVP Iasi Conference, Iasi, Romania,  2 November, 2018.
    • “Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples: Their Beliefs and Values”,  revised lecture, Alexander Cusa University, Iasi, Romania, 31 October, 2018
    • “The Relation between Theology and Philosophy: Anselm’s Proofs for the Existence of God”, World Congress of Philosophy, 19 August, 2018
    • “Reason and Religion: Allies in an Irrational and Hostile Secular World”, World Congress of Philosophy, 18 August, 2018
    • “Augustine and the Nature of Forgiveness, World Congress of Philosophy, Beijing, 15 August, 2018
    • “Conceptions of Wisdom in the East”, World Congress of Philosophy, Beijing, 15 August, 2018
    • “Identity, Diversity and the Modern World”, revised paper, World Congress of Philosophy, Beijing, 15 August, 2018
    • “Vai humanitārās zinātnes Latvijā un citās valstīs ir atšķirīgas?” Vadītājs - Kaspars Kļaviņš, Laimute Balode (Somija), Dzintra Bonda (ASV), Regīna Kvašīte (Lietuva), Jānis Ozoliņš (Austrālija), Andrejs Urdze (Vācija), Roundtable Discussion, World Congress of Latvian Scientists, Riga, Latvia, 19 June 2018
    • “The Concept of Wisdom”, 47th PESA Conference, University of Newcastle, Australia, 1-5 December, 2017.
    • “Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples: Their Beliefs and Values”, Erasmus Lecture, Alexander Cusa University, Iasi, Romania, 1 November, 2017.
    • “Identity, Diversity and the Modern World”, invited paper, RVP Conference, “How Intercultural Encounters (Re)shape the Contemporary World”,  Alexander  Cusa University, Iasi, Romania, 27-28 October, 2017.
    • “The Place of Religion in the Public Square”, COMIUCAP World Congress, University of Santa Tomas, Bogota, Colombia, 4-9 July, 2017.
    • “The Failure of Secularism: Why Democracy needs Religion in the Public Square and in the Classroom”, 46th Philosophy of Education Society of Australasia Conference, Fiji, 8th -12th December, 2016.
    • “Care for the Environment, Laudato Si’ and Australian Aboriginal Perspectives”, Sustainability, Past, Present and Future Conference, Heras Institute, Mumbai, 21st-23rd November, 2016.
    • “The Catholic University and the Challenge of Global Justice”, COMIUCAP panel presentation, American Catholic Philosophical Association Conference, San Francisco, 3rd -6th November, 2016.
    • “Hijacking Palliative Care By the Assisted Suicide Lobby via a Seductive Double EffectArgument”, Australian Association of Catholic Bioethicists Conference, Melbourne, 1st -4th  February, 2016.
    • “Democracy, Values and Education”, paper presented at the  45th PESA Conference, Australian Catholic University, Melbourne, 5th -8th December, 2015
    • “Democracy, Civil Society and Education”, keynote paper, presented at the Civil Society and Human Formation: Philosophy’s Role in a Renewed Understanding of the Meaning of Education” , COMIUCAP Conference, Australian Catholic University, Melbourne, 20-22 July, 2015
    • “The Role of the Humanities in the Development of Values”, invited paper presented at the Humanities and Social Sciences Today. Classical and Contemporary Issues Conference, Academia Romana, Iasi, Romania, 7-10 May, 2015
    • “Education as Transformation: Creating Cultural Identity and Civil Society”, paper presented at the School of Creative Arts and Humanities, Charles Darwin University, 4th March 2015