Dr. Tracy Llanera

Philosophy of Religion, Social and Political Philosophy, Ethics & Moral Philosophy, Pragmatism, Social Epistemology, Philosophy and Literature

• Nihilism
• Group egotism
• Extremism and Conversion
• Politics of Language
• Pragmatism

Richard Rorty: Outgrowing Modern Nihilism (Palgrave Macmillan, 2020).

A Defence of Nihilism, co-authored with James Tartaglia (Routledge, 2021).

• “A Culture of Egotism: Rorty and Higher Education” (w/ Nicholas H. Smith), The Shadow Side of the University: Philosophical Readings of Contemporary Higher Education, ed. Áine Mahon. Springer. Forthcoming.
• “Nihilism”, A Companion to Richard Rorty, ed. Alan Malachowski (Wiley-Blackwell, 2020), 482-489.
• “Art of Living: Irony and Redemption from Egotism”, Handbuch Richard Rorty [A Companion to Richard Rorty], ed. Martin Müller (Springer VS, 2019).
• “Of Private Selves and Public Morals: Philosophy and Literature in Modernity”, Worldmaking: Literature, Language, Culture [FILLM 5]. Ed. Tom Clark, Emily Finlay and Philippa Kelly (Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins, 2017), 77-86.
• “On Pragmatism, Religion, and Liberalism”, Thomism and Asian Cultures: Celebrating 400 Years of Dialogue Across Civilizations (Manila: UST Publishing House, 2012), 492-497.

• “Disavowing Hate: Group Egotism from Westboro to the Klan”, Journal of Philosophical Research 44 (2019), 13-31.
• “‘The Law of the Land has God’s Anointing’—Rorty on Religion, Language, and Politics”, special issue on Rorty and American Politics, Pragmatism Today 10.1 (2019) 46-61.
• “Pragmatist Transcendence in Rorty’s Metaphilosophy”, co-authored with Nicholas H. Smith; special issue on Richard Rorty, Analyse & Kritik 41.1 (2019), 97-116.
• “The Brown Babe’s Burden”, Hypatia 34.2 (2019), 374-383.
• “Richard Rorty and the Concept of Redemption”, International Journal for Philosophy of Religion 82.2 (2017), 103-118. Lead article.
• “Ethnocentrism: Lessons from Richard Rorty and Randy David”, Special issue on Imagined Democracies, Philippine Sociological Review 65 (2017), 133-149.
• "The Deep Personal Resonance of Nihilism”, Special issue on Nihilism and the Meaning of Life, Journal of Philosophy of Life 7.1 (2017), 81-91.
• “Rethinking Nihilism: Rorty vs. Taylor, Dreyfus, Kelly”, Philosophy and Social Criticism 42.9 (2016), 937-950. DOI:10.1177/0191453716645151 - Shortlisted for the 2017 Annette Baier Prize, Australasian Association of Philosophy
• “Redeeming Rorty’s Private-Public Distinction”, Contemporary Pragmatism 13.3 (2016), 319-340.
• “Morality by Words: Murdoch, Nussbaum, Rorty”, Budhi: A Journal of Ideas and Culture 18.1 (2014), 1-17. Lead article.
• “Shattering Tradition: Rorty on Edification and Hermeneutics”, Kritike 5.1 (2011), 108-116.
• “Alive Beyond Death! Ricoeur and the Immortalizing Narrative of the Self”, Philosophical Frontiers 5.1 (2010), 37-42.
• “The Copernican Revolution in Pragmatism? Dewey on Philosophy and Science”, Kritike 3.2 (2009), 56-67.

Invited Presentations

• “Pragmatism, Language Games, and the Philippine Drug War”, Standards of Decision-Making Across Cultures (SDAC) Guest Lecture Series, Friedrich-Alexander Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (Nov 2020)
• “In/Visible Brown Babes” (synthesis), Brown Babe’s Burden 2020, Filipino Women Doing Philosophy (Oct 2020)
• “Pragmatist Transcendence in Rorty’s Metaphilosophy” (Response: Martin Müller), Philosophy, Poetry, and Utopian Politics: The Relevance of Richard Rorty, Cambridge University, UK (Sep 2019)
• “Moral Progress? Synopsis and Open Issues”, Philosophy, Poetry, and Utopian Politics: The Relevance of Richard Rorty, Cambridge University, UK (Sep 2019)
• “Pernicious Truths: Pragmatism and Language Games”, Truth versus the Rhetoric of Truth: Authority, Realism, and Power, University of Oslo, Norway (Jun 2019)
• “Rorty, Transcendence and Metaphilosophy”, Richard Rorty Society Panel, 2019 American Philosophical Association Meeting, Vancouver, B.C., Canada (Apr 2019)
• “Pragmatism and Language Games”, Language and Power Workshop, University of Connecticut Humanities Institute (Apr 2019)
• “Duterte’s Resilient Charisma”, Roundtable: Rising Messiah and Fallen Heroes – Authoritarianism in Southeast Asia, Association for Asian Studies Conference, Denver, Colorado, U.S. (Mar 2019)
• “‘The Law of the Land has God’s Anointing’—Rorty on Religion, Language, and Politics”, UConn Political Theory Workshop (Apr 2019) and University of New South Wales Philosophy Seminar, Australia (Dec 2018)
• “The Brown Babe’s Burden”, The Platonic Society - Women in Philosophy Seminar, Macquarie University, Australia (May 2018)
• “Radical Conversion”, Royal Institute of Philosophy Lecture, Keele University, United Kingdom (Feb 2018)
• “Rorty and Bernstein: Egotism and Irony”, Wittgenstein Workshop, The New School for Social Research, New York, United States (Nov 2017)
• “Egotism from Westboro to the Klan”, New York Society of Women in Philosophy / SWIPShop, CUNY Graduate Center, United States (Nov 2017)
• “Redemption in a Secular Age”, Institute for Ethics and Society Seminar, University of Notre Dame, Australia (Aug 2015)
• “Of Private Selves and Public Morals: Philosophy and Literature in Modernity”, Research Seminar - University of Santo Tomas, Philippines (Jul 2013)
• “Morality by Words: Murdoch, Nussbaum, Rorty”, Philosophy Research Seminar - De La Salle University, Philippines (Dec 2012)

Conference and Workshop Presentations

• “Pragmatism, Language Games, and the Philippine Drug War”, 47th Annual Meeting of the Society for the Advancement of American Philosophy; Theme: Inter-American Philosophy, Hacienda Santa Clara (HSC), a Texas A&M University signature partner, City of San Miguel de Allende, Mexico (Mar 2020)
• “Disavowing Hate: Group Egotism from Westboro to the Klan”, 2nd Richard Rorty Society Meeting on Rorty’s Ethics, Penn State University, US (Nov 2019)
• “Pernicious Truths: Pragmatism and Language Games”, Macquarie University Work in Progress Seminar (Aug 2019)
• “Inclusive Pedagogies”, Climate Committee: Heather Battaly, Alexus McLeod, Teresa Allen, and Phillip Baron, Philosophy Brown Bag, University of Connecticut (Apr 2019)
• “‘The Law of the Land has God’s Anointing’—Rorty on Religion, Language, and Politics”, UCHI Social Epistemology Workshop – SEWing Circle (Nov 2018)
• “Salvaging Language, Salvaging Politics”, Philosophy Brown Bag, University of Connecticut (Oct 2018)
• “Egotism from Westboro to the Klan”, MQ University, Work-in-Progress Seminar (April 2018) and Philosophy Brown Bag, University of Connecticut (Oct 2017)
• “Egotism in Public Discourse”, UCHI Social Epistemology Workshop - SEWing Circle (Dec 2017)
• “Two Cases of Egotism”, UCHI Research Fellows Roundtable (Sep 2017) and UCHI Fellow Talk, United States (Nov 2017)
• “Polytheism from Nietzsche to Rorty”, Philosophy of Religion Workshop, University of Notre Dame, Australia (Apr 2017)
• “The Cultural Problem of Nihilism”, Religion & Society Interdisciplinary Workshop, MQ University, Australia (Feb 2017)
• “Redemption and Nihilism: Rorty vs. Taylor, Dreyfus, and Kelly”, Richard Rorty Society Inaugural Meeting, Hamilton College, United States (Sep 2016)
• “Self-creation and Solidarity as Strategies for Self-enlargement”, Australasian Society for Continental Philosophy Conference, University of New South Wales, Australia (Dec 2015)
• “Redemption in a Secular Age”, Conférence Mondiale des Institutions Universitaires Catholiques de Philosophie Conference, Australian Catholic University, Australia (Jul 2015)
• “Rethinking the Relationship between Egotism and Nihilism”, Australasian Association of Philosophy Conference, MQ University, Australia (Jul 2015); Society for the Advancement of American Philosophy - Summer Institute, UC Dublin, Ireland (Jun 2015); “The Reaches of Pragmatism” and MQ University, Research Seminar, Australia (Jun 2015)
• “Rorty and Redemption”, Australasian Society for Continental Philosophy Conference, University of Western Sydney, Australia (Dec 2013)
• “Of Private Selves and Public Morals: Philosophy and Literature in Modernity”, Australasian Universities, Languages & Literature Association Congress, University of Queensland, Australia (Jul 2013); “Worldmaking”
• “Morality by Words: Murdoch, Nussbaum, Rorty”, Australasian Society for Continental Philosophy Conference, University of Auckland, New Zealand (Dec 2012)
• “On the Immanent Counter-Enlightenment”, Biennial Conference in Philosophy, Religion and Culture, Catholic Institute of Sydney, Australia (Oct 2012); “The Expressible and the Inexpressible” and MQ University Research Seminar, Australia (Sep 2012)
• “On Pragmatism, Religion, and Liberalism”, The Quadricentennial International Philosophy Congress, University of Santo Tomas, Philippines (May 2011); “Thomism and Asian Cultures”
• “Shattering Tradition: Rorty on Edification and Hermeneutics”, Philosophical Association of the Philippines Conference, Miriam College, Philippines (Apr 2011)
• “The Rortyan Imagination and the Ricoeurean Narrative”, The Grace of Space: Tribute Lectures in Honor of Prof Leovino Ma. Garcia, Ateneo de Manila University, Philippines (Jan 2011)
• “Mysticism: Epistemologized and De-Politicized Through Pragmatism”, Mysticism Without Bounds Conference, Christ University, Bangalore, India (Jan 2011)
• “Breaking the Mirrored Man: Rorty and Pragmatism”, Philosophical Association of the Philippines Conference (Apr 2010)

Radio

• “You Might Need Some Richard Rorty” (The 2nd Richard Rorty Society Meeting), radio documentary by Tom Holland, Ideas – CBC Radio (Toronto, Canada), Dec 2019. https://www.cbc.ca/radio/ideas/people-are-turning-to-this-late-american-philosopher-in-troubled-times-1.5387197
• “Richard Rorty and Metaphilosophy” (with Nicholas Smith), The Philosopher’s Zone – ABC Radio National (Sydney, Australia), Sep 2019. https://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/philosopherszone/richard-rorty-and-transcendence/11546590
• “Devotion, democracy, and Duterte”, The Philosopher’s Zone – ABC Radio National (Sydney, Australia), Feb 2019. https://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/philosopherszone/devotion,-democracy-and-duterte/10762992
• "Nihilism and Modernity”, Radical Philosophy – 3CR Community Radio (Melbourne, Australia), Apr 2016. https://www.3cr.org.au/radicalphilosophy/episode-201604071530/dr-tracy-llanera-speaks-about-nihilism

Essays

• “In/Visible Brown Babes” (synthesis), Brown Babe’s Burden 2020, Filipino Women Doing Philosophy (Oct 2020). American Philosophical Association - Black Issues in Philosophy. Forthcoming.
• Revisiting the Brown Babe’s Burden”, American Philosophical Association - Black Issues in Philosophy. Nov 2019. https://blog.apaonline.org/2019/11/12/revisiting-the-brown-babes-burden/
• “The Sinners and Victims of Duterte’s Drug War”, New Naratif. Oct 2019. https://newnaratif.com/research/the-sinners-and-victims-of-dutertes-war-on-drugs/share/cwguhz/9b72e638ad349bcfd1a8369294e6f5e5/
• “Seeking Shelter in a Terrifying Father Figure”, Print, Nov 2016; “Echoes of Trump: A Terrifying Father Figure in the Philippines”. Online, Oct 2016. The Indypendent, Issue 218 (New York). https://indypendent.org/2016/10/echoes-of-trump-a-terrifying-father-figure-in-the-philippines/
• “Unholy War on Drugs brings Cardboard Justice to the Philippines”, The Indypendent (New York) Oct 2016. https://indypendent.org/2016/10/unholy-war-on-drugs-brings-cardboard-justice-to-the-philippines/

• Teaching Excellence Award, Office of the Provost, Student Evaluation of Teaching for Philosophy and Social Ethics Honors (Fall 2019), University of Connecticut
• Shortlist (2017) - Annette Baier Prize, Australasian Association of Philosophy, annual monetary prize for an outstanding philosophical paper or book chapter published by an Australasian woman in the previous year
• National Teaching Excellence Award Nomination (2016), Open Universities Australia
• Postgraduate Award (2015), Society for the Advancement of American Philosophy and University College Dublin School of Philosophy; Ireland - Summer Institute on “The Reaches of Pragmatism”
• Postgraduate Award (2013), The Japan Foundation and the Australasian Universities, Languages & Literature Association; University of Queensland
• Postgraduate Award (2011), Katholische Universität Eichstätt-Ingolstadt, Germany; “Human Rights and Natural Law: An Intercultural Perspective”