Email

vharrison@um.edu.mo

Office

E21-4101a

Consultation Hours

Mondays, 8:00-9:00

Thursdays, 8:00-9:00

Victoria HARRISON 何瑞芬

Introduction

I am a Full Professor of Philosophy at the University of Macau, where I have taught since 2016. I served as Head of the Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies (2021–2024) and previously as Associate Dean for Research and Curriculum in the Faculty of Arts and Humanities (2018–2021). Before moving to Macau, I taught at the University of Glasgow (2005–2016), where I was Reader in Philosophy and Director of the Forum for Philosophy and Religion. I have also held teaching positions at the University of Colorado at Boulder, Birkbeck College, the University of Notre Dame’s London Centre, Kingston University, and the Muslim College in London.

I specialise in the philosophy of religion, with a particular interest in religious diversity and intercultural dialogue. My research integrates analytic philosophy with classical Indian and Chinese philosophical traditions, exploring how diverse cultural perspectives can inform contemporary philosophical discourse.

I am currently Vice-President of the European Society for the Philosophy of Religion and serve as Subject Editor for Philosophy of Religion at Philosophy Compass and the Stanford Encylopedia of Philosophy.

For more information about me and my research, please follow these links:

OrcID Profile

Interviews on Closer to Truth

See my publications on Kudos

Scopus Profile

Google Scholar Page

Research Gate Page

Thematic Bibliography

Education

Heythrop College, University of London (BA hons 1990, PhD 1997).

Research Interests

  • Philosophy of religion, focusing on epistemology and religious diversity
  • Intercultural philosophy, with emphasis on classical Indian and Chinese traditions
  • Philosophy of museums and material culture
  • Interreligious dialogue and exemplar-based reasoning.

Funded Research Projects

A Philosophical Analysis of Objects and their Stories in the Macao Museum. MYRG2023-00185-FAH

Sino-Muslim Philosophy in an Inter-Religious Perspective. MYRG2020-00201-FAH

Conversations that Matter: Exploring Community Ideals in Macao through “Exemplar Reasoning”. MYRG2019-00145-FAH

Global Philosophy of Religion in a Pluralist World. SYRG2016-00090-FAH

Teaching and Supervision

I teach courses in philosophy of religion, intercultural philosophy, and Asian philosophical traditions. I welcome supervision inquiries from postgraduate students interested in these areas, as well as in the philosophy of museums.

Philosophy and the Spiritual Life, edited with Tyler Dalton McNabb (London & New York: Routledge, 2023).

Atheisms: The philosophy of non-belief, edited with Harriet A. Harris (London & New York: Routledge, 2023).

Eastern Philosophy of Religion (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2022).

Eastern Philosophy: The Basics, expanded 2nd edition (London and New York: Routledge, 2019).

The History of Evil in the Early Twentieth Century 1900–1950 CE, volume 5 of A History of Evil. General editors, Chad Meister and Charles Taliaferro (London and New York: Routledge, 2018).

The Oneness Hypothesis: Beyond the Boundary of Self, edited with Philip J. Ivanhoe, Owen Flanagan, Eric Schwitzgebel, and Hagop Sarkissian (New York: Columbia University Press, 2018).

Philosophy and Museums: Essays on the Philosophy of Museums, edited with Anna Bergqvist and Gary Kemp (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2016).

Eastern Philosophy: The Basics (London and New York: Routledge, 2013). 256pp.

The Routledge Companion to Theism, edited with Charles Taliaferro and Stewart Goetz (London and New York: Routledge, 2012). 728pp.

Probability in the Philosophy of Religion, edited with Jake Chandler (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012). 253pp.

Religion and Modern Thought (London: SCM, 2007). 425pp.

The Apologetic Value of Human Holiness, Studies in Philosophy and Religion, volume 21 (Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic, 2000). 230pp.

‘Theological Reflections on Pluralism and Anarchy: Insights from Paul Feyerabend’, Theology and Science. Forthcoming.

‘Balthasar and Spirituality’, The Oxford Handbook of Hans Urs von Balthasar (Oxford: Oxford University Press). Forthcoming.

‘Philosophical Perspectives on the Educational Dimensions of Museums’, with Philip Tonner in Routledge Handbook of Museum and Heritage Education (London and New York: Routledge, 2025).

‘William Wainwright’s Legacy from a Chinese Perspective’, Religious Studies Review 51, 1 (February 2025).

‘Buddhist Religious Epistemology’, The Cambridge Handbook of Religious Epistemology, with John Zhao (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2023).

‘The Spiritual Life and Philosophy: A Historical and Contemporary Introduction’, with Rhett Gayle, and Tyler Dalton McNabb in Philosophy and the Spiritual Life, edited by Victoria S. Harrison and Tyler Dalton McNabb (London & New York: Routledge, 2023), pp. 1–6.

‘Self-Transformation and Spiritual Exemplars’, with Rhett Gayle in Philosophy and the Spiritual Life, edited by Victoria S. Harrison and Tyler Dalton McNabb (London & New York: Routledge, 2023), pp. 109–122.

‘Truth and Religious Pluralism’, Dialogue: A Journal of Religion & Philosophy 60 (April 2023): 11–15.  ISSN 1367-2592

‘What if the Dead are Never Really Dead?’, The Monist 104, 3 (2021): 337–351.

‘Religion in Museums’, Introduction to the Special Issue on Religion in Museums, Religions 12, 2 (2021): 1–2.

‘Religious Pluralism’ (2020). In Oxford Bibliographies in Philosophy. Ed. Duncan Pritchard (New York: Oxford University Press).

‘Conversations that Matter: Exploring Community Ideals in Macao’, in Fórum Internacional “Missão Cultural da Grande Baía Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau”: Colectânea, Governo de Região Administrativa Especial de Macau Direcção dos Serviços de Estudo de Polítìcas e Desenvolvimento Regional, 2020, pp. 373–377.

‘Globale Philosophie und globale PhilosophInnen’, in Religion und Pluralität, edited by Sebastian Gäb (Stuttgart: Kohlhammer, 2020), pp. 39–52.

‘“Exemplar Reasoning” as a Tool for Constructive Conversation between Confucians and Catholics’, in Confucianism and Catholicism: Reinvigorating the Dialogue, edited by Michael Slater, Erin Cline and P.J. Ivanhoe (South Bend, Indiana: University of Notre Dame Press, 2020), pp. 172–189

‘Philosophy of Museums’, with Philip Tonner (2020). In Oxford Bibliographies in Anthropology. Ed. John Jackson (New York: Oxford University Press).

‘Self-transformation and Spiritual Exemplars’, European Journal for Philosophy of Religion. 12, 4 (2020): 9–26. With Rhett Gayle.

‘CoronaGothic, a Post-Mortem’, Critical Quarterly 62, 4 (2020): 74–76.

‘Realigning Philosophy and Wisdom in the 21st Century’, Algemeen Nederlands Tijdschrift voor Wijsbegeerte 112, 3 (2020): 225–340.

‘Global Philosophy of Religion(s)’, Religious Studies: An International Journal for the Philosophy of Religion 56, 1 (2020): 20–31.

‘Can Religious Diversity Help with the Problem of Religiously-motivated Violence?’, in Religious Truth and Identity in an Age of Plurality, edited by Peter Jonkers and Oliver Wiertz (London and New York: Routledge, 2019), pp. 264–280.

‘Practical Questions Concerning Religious Diversity’, in Religious Truth and Identity in an Age of Plurality, edited by Peter Jonkers and Oliver Wiertz (London and New York: Routledge, 2019), pp. 202–209.

‘Conceptual Metaphors and the Sense of Knowing: East and West’, Revista Brasileira de Filosofia da Religião (Brazilian Journal for Philosophy of Religion) 4, 2 (2018): 37–52.

‘Imagination and the Lives of Others’, in Imagination: Cross-Cultural Philosophical Analyses, edited by Hans-Georg Moeller and Andrew K. Whitehead (London: Bloomsbury Academic, 2018), pp. 187–202.

‘Oneness: A Big History Perspective’, in The Oneness Hypothesis: Beyond the Boundary of Self, edited by Philip J. Ivanhoe, Owen Flanagan, Victoria S. Harrison, Eric Schwitzgebel, and Hagop Sarkissian (New York: Columbia University Press, 2018), pp. 39–52.

‘Mathematical Objects and the Object of Theology’, Religious Studies: An International Journal for the Philosophy of Religion 53, 4 (2017): 479–496.

‘Hans Urs von Balthasar’, in The Oxford Handbook of the Epistemology of Theology, edited by William J. Abraham and Frederick D. Aquino (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2017), pp. 535–547.

‘Introduction’, in Philosophy and Museums: Essays on the Philosophy of Museums, edited by Victoria S. Harrison with Anna Bergqvist and Gary Kemp (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2016), pp. 1–12.

‘Conceptual Metaphors and the Goals of Philosophy’, in Wisdom and Philosophy, edited by Hans-Georg Moeller and Andrew Whitehead (London: Bloomsbury Academic, 2016), pp. 205–222.

‘Seeing the Dao: Conceptual Metaphors and Philosophy of Religion’, Religious Studies: An International Journal for the Philosophy of Religion 51 (2015): 307–322.

‘Religious Pluralism’, in The Routledge Handbook of Contemporary Philosophy of Religion, edited by Graham Oppy (London and New York: Routledge, 2015), pp. 257–269.

‘An Internalist Pluralist Solution to the Problem of Religious and Ethical Diversity’, Sophia: International Journal for Philosophy of Religion 51, 1 (2012): 71–86.

‘Religious Diversity’, in The Routledge Companion to Theism, edited by Charles Taliaferro, Victoria S. Harrison, and Stewart Goetz (London and New York: Routledge, 2012), pp. 477–490.

‘Probability in the Philosophy of Religion’, with Jake Chandler in Probability in the Philosophy of Religion, edited by Jake Chandler and Victoria S. Harrison (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012), pp. 1–24.

‘Philosophy of Religion, Fictionalism, and Religious Diversity’, The International Journal for Philosophy of Religion: 40th Anniversary Issue 68 (2011): 43–58.

‘Embodied Values and Muslim-Christian Dialogue: “Exemplar Reasoning” as a Model for Interreligious Conversations’, Studies in Interreligious Dialogue 21 (2011): 20–35.

‘What’s the Use of Philosophy of Religion?’, in God, Goodness and Philosophy, edited by Harriet A. Harris (Aldershot: Ashgate, 2011), pp. 29–43.

‘God and Philosophy’, in A Companion to Catholic Education, edited by Stephen McKinney and Leonard Franchi (Gracewing Publications: 2011), pp. 3–18.

‘Hermeneutics, Religious Language and the Qur’ān’, Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations 21, 3 (2010): 207–220.

‘Postmodern Thought and Religion: Open-traditionalism and radical orthodoxy on religious belief and experience’, The Heythrop Journal LI (2010): 962–974.

‘Internal Realism, Religious Pluralism and Ontology’, Philosophia 36 (2008): 97–110.

‘Modernity, Religious Fundamentalism and the Secularization Thesis’, ICFAI Journal of History and Culture 2, 3 (2008): 7–21.

‘Christian Feminism, Scripture and the Concept “God”’, in Women and Religions II, edited by Lucia Gresková and Michaela Moravčiková (Bratislava: Institute for State-Church Relations, 2008), pp. 34–42. Also published as: ‘Krestansky Feminizmus, Pismo Svate a Pojem “Boh”’, in Zeny a Nábozenstva II, edited by Lucia Gresková and Michaela Moraviková (Bratislava: Institute for State-Church Relations, 2008), pp. 25–33.

‘Narrative, Postmodernity and the Problem of “Religious Illiteracy”’, New Blackfriars 89 (2008): 591–605.

‘Theism and the Challenge of Twentieth-Century Philosophy’, Philotheos: International Journal of Philosophy and Theology 7 (2007): 90–103.

‘Theorizing Religious Diversity in a Multicultural World’, ICFAI Journal of History and Culture 1, 1 (2007): 25–43.

‘Feminist Philosophy of Religion and the Problem of Epistemic Privilege’ The Heythrop Journal  XLVIII (2007): 685–696.

‘Metaphor, Religious Language and Religious Experience’, Sophia: International Journal for Philosophy of Religion 46, 2 (2007): 127–145.

‘Representing the Divine: Feminism and Religious Anthropology’, Feminist Theology 16, 1 (2007): 128–146.

‘On Defining the Religious Person’, Theology CX, 856 (2007): 243–250.

‘Modern Women, Traditional Abrahamic Religions and Interpreting Sacred Texts’, Feminist Theology 15, 2 (2007): 145–159.

‘Internal Realism and the Problem of Religious Diversity’, Philosophia 34, 3 (2006): 287–301.

‘The Pragmatics of Defining Religion in a Multi-cultural World’, The International Journal for Philosophy of Religion59 (2006): 133–152.

‘Scientific and Religious Worldviews: Antagonism, Non-antagonistic Incommensurability and Complementarity’, The Heythrop Journal XLVII (2006): 349–366.

‘Fragmentary Selves and God-given Identity’, Journal of Indian Philosophy and Religion 11 (2006): 139–153.

‘Arguments from Design: A Self-defeating Strategy’, Philosophia 33 (2005): 297–317.

‘The Metamorphosis of “The End of the World”: from theology to philosophy and back again’, Philosophy and Theology17, 1 (2005): 33–50.

‘Theology as Revelation and Apologia’, Theology CIV (2001): 248–255.

‘Holiness, Theology and Philosophy’, Philosophy and Theology 12, 1 (2000): 53–78.

‘Human Holiness as Religious Apologia’, lead article in The International Journal for Philosophy of Religion 46 (1999): 63–92.

‘Personal Identity and Integration’, The Heythrop Journal XL (1999): 424–437.

‘Homo Orans: Von Balthasar’s Christocentric Philosophical Anthropology’, The Heythrop Journal XL (1999): 280–300.

‘Putnam’s Internal Realism and von Balthasar’s Religious Epistemology’, lead article in The International Journal for Philosophy of Religion 44 (1998): 67–92.

‘Kierkegaard’s Philosophical Fragments: a clarification’, Religious Studies 33 (1997): 445–472.

Victoria S. Harrison’s Thematic Bibliography