19th and 20th century continental philosophy, ethics, moral psychology, philosophy of psychoanalysis.

Professor Reginster's research focuses on issues in ethics, moral psychology, and philosophy of mind in 19th and 20th century continental philosophy. He has written a number of articles on Nietzsche, Schopenhauer, 19th century ethics, and Sartre. His first book, The Affirmation of Life. Nietzsche on Overcoming Nihilism (Harvard Press) appeared in 2006. He has also written on Freud and issues in contemporary psychoanalytic psychiatry.

Professor Reginster's research has focused primarily on issues in ethics, metaethics, and moral psychology in 19th century German philosophy. He has published a number of articles on Nietzsche and on 19th century ethics. His book, The Affirmation of Life, offers a comprehensive interpretation of Nietzsche's ethical thought, which includes substantial new interpretations of central themes in it, as well as of central aspects of Schopenhauer's ethical thought. He is currently working on two new books: The Will to Nothingness proposes a new interpretation of the type of critique of morality Nietzsche develops in his landmark work, On the Genealogy of Morality; The Elusiveness of Fulfillment offers a comprehensive examination of the ethical thought of Arthur Schopenhauer.
Professor Reginster's research interests also include the topics of identity and intersubjectivity, particularly in psychoanalytic theory and 20th century Continental philosophy. In this connection, he has written papers on Sartre, Freud, and 20th century psychoanalysis.

See Awards and Honors

• “Authenticity in Psychoanalysis” in Authenticity (Oxford Concepts Series), T. Carman ed. (Oxford University Press, forthcoming).
• “Compassion and Selflessness in Nietzsche and Schopenhauer” in Sympathy (Oxford Concepts Series), E. Schiessel ed. (Oxford University Press, forthcoming).
• “Art and Affirmation” in Nietzsche on Art and Life, D. Came ed. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, forthcoming).
• “Honesty and Curiosity in Nietzsche’s Free Spirit” in Journal of the History of Philosophy, LI/3, (2013), pp. 441-463.
• “The Psychology of Christian Morality” in The Oxford Nietzsche Handbook, K. Gemes and J. Richardson eds. (Oxford University Press, 2013), pp. 701-726.
• "Three Views of Otherness" in Pastoral Psychology (special issue), 62/4 (2013), pp. 437-449.
• “Autonomy and Selfhood as the Basis of Morality” in The Cambridge History of Philosophy in the Nineteenth Century (1790-1870), A. Wood & S. Hahn eds. (Cambridge University Press, 2012), pp. 387-433.
• “Schopenhauer, Nietzsche, Wagner” in A Companion to Schopenhauer, B. Vandenabeele ed. (Wiley-Blackwell, 2012), pp. 349-366.
• “Compassion and Selflessness” in Nietzsche, Naturalism, and Normativity, C. Janaway & S. Robertson eds. (Oxford University Press, 2012), pp. 160-182.
• “Nietzsche” in The International Encyclopedia of Ethics (Blackwell Publishers, 2012).
•  “Replies to My Critics” in International Studies in Philosophy, 43/1 (2012), pp. 130-143.
• “The Genealogy of Guilt” in Essays on The Genealogy of Morals, S. May ed. (Cambridge University Press, 2011), pp. 56-77.
• "Knowledge and Selflessness: Schopenhauer and the Paradox of Reflection" in European Journal of Philosophy, 16/2 (2008), pp. 251-272.
• “Social Externalism and Solipsism” in Interpersonal Perspectives and Knowledge, The Modern Schoolman (special edition: Seventh Henle Conference in the History of Philosophy), LXXXIV/2 & 3 (2007), pp. 171-184.
• "Nietzsche on Pleasure and Power" in Philosophical Topics 33/2 (2007), pp. 161-191.
• "Le regard et l'aliénation dans L'Etre et le Néant" in Revue Philosophique de Louvain, 105/3 (2007), pp. 398-427.
• "Nietzsche's 'New Happiness': Longing, Boredom, and the Elusiveness of Fulfillment" in Philosophic Exchange, 37 (2007), pp. 17-40.
• The Affirmation of Life. Nietzsche on Overcoming Nihilism (Harvard University Press, 2006).
• "Happiness as a Faustian Bargain" in Daedalus, 133/2 (2004), pp. 52-59.
• "What is a Free Spirit?" in Archiv für Geschichte der Philosophie, Bd. 85 (2003), pp. 51-85.
• "The Problem of Perspectivism" in Philosophy and Phenomenological Research, LXII/1 (2001), pp. 217-233.
• "Nietzsche's 'Revaluation' of Altruism" in Nietzsche-Studien. Jubiläumsband 29 (2000), pp. 199-219.
• "Nietzsche on Selflessness and the Value of Altruism" in The History of Philosophy Quarterly, 17/2 (2000), pp. 177-200.
• "Perspectivism, Criticism and Freedom of Spirit" in The European Journal of Philosophy, 8/1 (2000), pp. 40-62.
• "Nietzsche on Ressentiment and Valuation" in Philosophy and Phenomenological Research LVII/2 (1997), pp. 281-305.

• Laurance S. Rockefeller Fellowship, Princeton University Center for Human Values, 1997-8
• John Rowe Workman Award for Excellence in Teaching in the Humanities (Brown University) 1998
• National Humanities Center Fellowship, 1999-2000
• Edith Goldthwaithe Miller Faculty Research Fellowship, Pembroke Center (Brown University), 2000-1
• Cogut Center for the Humanities Fellowship (Brown University), 2007
• Chesler-Mallow Senior Faculty Research Fellowship, Pembroke Center (Brown University), 2007-8
• Erikson Scholarship, Erikson Institute, Austen Riggs Center, Stockbridge, MA, 2010

• American Philosophical Association
• North American Nietzsche Society
• Boston Psychoanalytic Society and Institute, Affiliate Scholarship, 2004-5
• Erikson Institute, Austen Riggs Center, Stockbridge, MA, Council of Scholars
• Program for Ethical Inquiry, Brown University

Professor Reginster's regular courses include an introductory course to philosophy Existentialism and advanced courses on 19th Century German Philosophy, 20th Century Continental Philosophy, Nietzsche, and Philosophy and Psychoanalysis. He also has taught seminars on Kant, Schopenhauer, Nietzsche, as well as on identity and intersubjectivity. He is currently preparing a new course on the philosophy and psychology of happiness in collaboration with Psychology Professor Joachim Krueger.