Wanda Torres Gregory

Professor and Department Chair of Philosophy

Education

  • Ph.D., Boston University

About Me

My areas of teaching include contemporary philosophy, ethics, logic, nineteenth-century philosophy, and philosophy of language. A recipient of the 2001 Simmons University Dean's Award for Excellence in Teaching, I have taught many different courses with the same objective of guiding students on the path of philosophy, the pursuit of wisdom. My mission as a teacher is to inspire students to think philosophically — to wonder, reflect, and reason methodically about the great problems. The synergy of my teaching and scholarship is reflected in my textbook as leading editor, World Ethics (CA: Wadsworth, 2003), which includes multicultural and feminist perspectives along with the European classics in one comprehensive anthology in ethics.

My scholarship is dedicated to the philosophy of language and I specialize in twentieth-century German philosopher, Martin Heidegger. In my most recent book, Speaking of Silence in Heidegger (Lanham, Maryland: Lexington Books-Rowman & Littlefield, 2021), I uncover the conceptual links, levels, and dynamics at play in Heidegger’s reticent thoughts on silence from his early works to his last manuscripts, and critically assess his later ideas of silence in terms of autonomous forces that define our essence as the beings who speak in word-sounds. My earlier book Heidegger's Path to Language (Lanham, Maryland: Lexington Books-Rowman & Littlefield, 2016; 2018, reprinted in paperback), tracks, analyzes and evaluates the development of Heidegger's reflections on language over the course of seven decades. This work, which represents a culminating point in my scholarly career, has received positive reviews in the journals Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews and Comparative and Continental Philosophy.

In addition to professional presentations and journal articles that focus on Heidegger and compare his views with those of twentieth-century analytic philosophers W.V. Quine, Rudolf Carnap, and Ludwig Wittgenstein, I have published the following two co-translations of Heidegger's works on language: On the Essence of Language (NY: SUNY Press, 2004), which was nominated in the spring of 2005 for the German Translation Award presented by the American Translators Association; and Logic as the Question Concerning the Essence of Language (NY: SUNY Press, 2009), which was nominated for the Goethe Institute's 2010 Helen and Kurt Wolff Translator's Prize.

What I Teach

  • PHIL 122 Real-life Logic
  • PHIL 123 Symbolic Logic
  • PHIL 130 Ethics
  • PHIL 136 Philosophy of Human Nature
  • PHIL 152 Philosophy through Literature and Film
  • PHIL 246 Who Am I? How Do I Know?
  • PHIL 247 The Meaning of Life
  • PHIL 258 Special Topics in Philosophy (Intermediate Symbolic Logic)
  • PHIL 350 Independent Study (various topics)
  • PHIL 355 Thesis (various topics)
  • PHIL 370 Internship (various topics)
  • PHIL 390 Seminar (Past topics: Philosophical Reflections on Language; Heidegger; Wittgenstein; Nietzsche)

Research/Creative Activities

My current research project is a comparison between Ludwig Wittgenstein’s and Heidegger's concepts of silence.

Heidegger's Problems with Ordinary Grammar

Professor Wanda Torres Gregory recalls her interest in the philosopher Martin Heidegger being sparked when, as an undergraduate student, she encountered his idea that language "speaks." That moment, along with her enduring interest in language, has inspired her academic career and research. While much scholarly attention has been paid to Heidegger and his consideration of language, Torres Gregory has noticed a gap that her current research is working to fill. In her paper "Heidegger's Problems with Ordinary Grammar," she traces Heidegger's persistent belief that grammar is philosophically problematic. This belief relates to his perception of everyday grammar as inadequate for deeper human expression, as it is charged with preconceptions.

Learn more about Heidegger's Problems with Ordinary Grammar