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

Professor Reginster's research focuses on issues in ethics, moral psychology, and philosophy of mind in late modern and contemporary philosophy. In addition to many articles on these issues in the 19th century 20th century, he has published two books, The Affirmation of Life. Nietzsche on Overcoming Nihilism (Harvard Press, 2006) and The Will to Nothingness (Oxford University Press, 2021), with a third forthcoming, Ressentiment (Cambridge University Press). His current research is in the philosophy of the emotions, with particular emphasis on the social emotions, such as shame, resentment, envy, and love, and the existential emotions, such as boredom.

My research has focused primarily on issues in ethics, metaethics, and moral psychology in 19th century and contemporary philosophy. I have a longstanding interest in the philosophy of well-being--including happiness and meaningfulness--in 19th century philosophy (especially Schopenhauer and Nietzsche), in which I have published many articles and a book, The Affirmation of Live (Harvard University Press, 2006). I am also interested in issues in metaethics and moral psychology in the same period, including both Freudian and post-Freudian psychoanalytic theory. In addition to several papers, I have published a book on the metaethical and moral psychological underpinnings of Nietzsche's famous critique of Christian morality, The Will to Nothingness (Oxford University Press, 2021). My current research is in the philosophy of the emotions, with a particular emphasis on the social emotions, such as shame and resentment, as well as envy and love, and the existential emotions, such as boredom and anxiety. In addition to several articles on these topics, I have a nearly completed book, Ressentiment (Cambridge University Press). In preparation are several papers on shame, as well as another book, The Aim of Revenge, which explores the nature and motivation of revenge. 

Books

•  The Affirmation of Life. Nietzsche on Overcoming Nihilism (Harvard University Press, 2006), 312 pp.
  • Japanese translation (Hosei University Press, 2020)
  • Chinese translation (East China Normal University Press)
• The Will to Nothingness. An Essay on Nietzsche’s On the Genealogy of Morality (Oxford University Press, 2021), 202 pp.
  • Persian translation (Shabkhiz Press, 2023)
• Ressentiment (Cambridge University Press, forthcoming)

Selected articles

• “Nietzsche on Ressentiment and Valuation” in Philosophy and Phenomenological Research Vol. LVII, No. 2 (June 1997), pp. 281-305.
  • Reprinted in Portuguese translation in Estudos Nietzsche
• “Perspectivism, Criticism and Freedom of Spirit” in The European Journal of Philosophy, Volume 8, No. 1 (April 2000), pp. 40-62.
• “Nietzsche on Selflessness and the Value of Altruism” in The History of Philosophy Quarterly, Volume 17, No. 2 (April 2000), pp. 177-200.
• “Nietzsche’s ‘Revaluation’ of Altruism” in Nietzsche-Studien. Jubiläumsband 29 (2000), pp. 199-219.
• “What is a Free Spirit? Nietzsche on Fanaticism” in Archiv für Geschichte der Philosophie, Vol. 1/2003, pp. 51-85.
• “Happiness as a Faustian Bargain” in Daedalus Vol. 133, No. 2 (January 2004), pp. 52-59.
• “Nietzsche’s ‘New Happiness.’ On Longing, Boredom, and the Elusiveness of Fulfillment” in Philosophic Exchange, No. 37 (2007), pp. 17-40.
• “Le regard et l’aliénation dans L’être et le néant” in Revue Philosophique de Louvain, Tome 105, No. 3 (August 2007), pp. 398-427.
• “Nietzsche on Pleasure and Power” in Philosophical Topics, Vol. 33, No. 2 (Fall 2007), pp. 161-191.
• “The Will to Power and the Ethics of Creativity” in Nietzsche and Morality, B. Leiter & N. Sinhababu ed. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007), pp. 32-56.
• “Knowledge and Selflessness: Schopenhauer and the Paradox of Reflection” in European Journal of Philosophy, Vol. 16, No. 2 (August 2008), pp. 251-272.
• “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), 387-433.
• “Compassion and Selflessness” in Nietzsche, Naturalism, and Normativity, C. Janaway & S. Robertson eds. (Oxford University Press, 2012), 160-182.
  • Reprinted in revised from as “Sympathy in Schopenhauer and Nietzsche” in Sympathy. A History, E. Schliesser ed. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2015), 254-285.
• “Honesty and Curiosity in Nietzsche’s Free Spirit” in Journal of the History of Philosophy LI/3 (July 2013), pp. 441-464.
  • Reprinted (with revisions) as “Nietzsche’s Free Spirits: Honesty, Curiosity, and the Spirit of Inquiry” in Just Curious About Curiosity: Toward New Philosophical Explorations of the Epistemic Desire to Know, M. Papastephanou ed. (Cambridge Scholars, 2019, 86-104).
• “Three Views of Otherness” in Pastoral Psychology (special issue, “Psychology and the Other”) 62/4 (August 2013), pp. 437-450.
• “Art and Affirmation” in Nietzsche on Art and Life, D. Came ed. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2014), 14-38.
• “Nietzsche, Proficiency and the (New) Spirit of Capitalism” in Journal of Value Inquiry 49/3, 2015, pp. 453-477.
• “Schopenhauer and Freud on Self-Knowledge as Freedom” in Self-Knowledge, U. Renz ed. (Oxford UP ‘Concepts’ Series, 2016, 223-239).
• “The Will to Power” in The Nietzschean Mind, P. Katsafanas ed. (Routledge, 2018, 105-120).
  • Reprinted (with additions) as “The Will to Power as Psychological Concept” in Journal of Dialectics of Nature (2017) 39/6: 107-123 (Bejing, China)
• “Resignation” in Schopenhauer’s The World as Will and Representation: A Critical Guide, J. Norman & Alistair Welshman eds. (Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2021).
• “Ressentiment, Power, and Value” in Nietzsche on Morality and Affirmation, D. Came ed. (Oxford University Press, 60-80).
  • “Ressentimento, poder e valor” appeared in Cadernos Nietzsche, June 2016, 37/1, 44-70.
• “Morality and the Affects” in Journal of Nietzsche Studies, 52/2 (2021), 185-208
• “The Need for Certainty” in Fanaticism and the History of Philosophy, Paul Katsafanas ed. (Routledge, 2023, 177-196).
• “The Promise of Friendship” in Friendship: Philosophical Explorations, Jessica Moss & Andrew Huddleston eds. (Routledge, 2026), 226-238.
• “Boredom” in Reason and Relevance. Philosophy for Today, Steven Hales ed. (Hackett, forthcoming).

• 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, 2011
• John Findlay Visiting Professorship, Boston University, 2023-24

• 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