View source for Biography:Peg O'Connor

{{Short description|American philosopher}}
{{Infobox philosopher
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|name             = Peg O'Connor
|birth_name       = Margaret O'Connor
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|birth_place      = United States
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|main_interests   = Feminist philosophy, moral philosophy, Wittgenstein, [[Medicine:Addiction|addiction]]
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|institutions     = [[Organization:Gustavus Adolphus College|Gustavus Adolphus College]], [[Organization:University of Connecticut|University of Connecticut]], Moorhead State University, [[Organization:University of Minnesota|University of Minnesota]]
|influences       = [[Biography:Ludwig Wittgenstein|Ludwig Wittgenstein]]
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'''Peg O'Connor''',<ref name="Congress">{{cite web|url=http://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n2001093365.html|title=O'Connor, Peg, 1965-|publisher=Library of Congress|quote=(Peg O'Connor) info. from pub. (Margaret O'Connor, Gustavus Adolphus Coll., St. Peter, Minn.;|access-date=11 September 2014}}</ref> is a Professor of Philosophy and Gender, Women, and Sexuality Studies as well as Chair of the Department of Philosophy at [[Organization:Gustavus Adolphus College|Gustavus Adolphus College]].<ref name=bio>{{cite web|title=Peg O'Connor - Faculty &#124; Profiles|url=https://gustavus.edu/profiles/poconnor|publisher=Gustavus Adolphus College}}</ref> Her present research interests include two separate but intersecting strains: [[Biography:Ludwig Wittgenstein|Wittgenstein]]'s approach to ethics, and the philosophy of addiction.<ref name=bio/>  She also contributes to public discourse about her areas of interest through contributing to popular media, especially around philosophical issues surrounding addiction, and has actively spoken out about issues of gender equity facing the field of philosophy.

==Education and career==
O'Connor earned her bachelor's degree from [[Organization:Wesleyan University|Wesleyan University]] in 1987, and her master's and doctorate in philosophy from the [[Organization:University of Minnesota|University of Minnesota]] in 1993 and 1996, respectively.<ref name=cv/> Her doctoral thesis focused on Wittgensteinian [[Philosophy:Moral realism|moral realism]].<ref name=cv/> While pursuing her doctorate, O'Connor also acted as an instructor of philosophy at the University of Minnesota from 1994 to 1995, and an instructor of philosophy at Moorhead State University from 1995 to 1996.<ref name=cv/>  After completing her doctorate, O'Connor accepted a position as Visiting Assistant Professor of Philosophy at [[Organization:Gustavus Adolphus College|Gustavus Adolphus College]] from 1996 to 1999, before accepting a position as Assistant Professor of Women's Studies at Gustavus Adolphus.<ref name=cv/> She was raised to Associate Professor in 2003, and to full Professor in 2007 in both Philosophy and Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies.<ref name=cv/> O'Connor has also acted in several administrative capacities, including becoming Chairperson of the Department of Philosophy at Gustavus Adolphus in 2011, and serving as director of Gustavus Adolphus's Women's Studies Program from 1999 to 2004 and again from 2004 to 2011.<ref name=cv/>

==Research areas==
O'Connor's present research interests include two separate but intersecting strains: [[Biography:Ludwig Wittgenstein|Wittgenstein]]'s approach to ethics, and the philosophy of addiction.<ref name=bio/> She has also written extensively about issues involving gender equity and harassment, sexuality, abuse, and oppression.<ref name=bio/>

==Publications==
O'Connor has published two books, and is working on a third.<ref name=cv/><ref name=hp>{{cite news|last=Morris|first=Tom|title=Interview With a Philosopher: Aristotle and Wittgenstein Walk Into a Bar -- Philosophy and Addiction|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/tom-morris/philosophy-and-addiction_b_999933.html|access-date=16 February 2014|newspaper=Huffington Post|date=12 October 2011}}</ref> She has also edited a pair of books, contributed a number of book and encyclopedia chapters, and published a number of journal articles.<ref name=cv/>

O'Connor's first book, published in 2002, was titled ''Oppression and Responsibility: A Wittgensteinian Approach to Social Practices and Moral Theory'', and drew on a primarily Wittgensteinian framework to articulate various forms of political oppression (focusing on forms she views as primarily invisible because their existence relies on rarely questioned assumptions,) and to put forward a theory of moral responsibility.<ref name=ndpr>{{cite journal|last=Tanesini|first=Alessandra|title=Oppression and Responsibility: a Wittgensteinian approach to social practices and moral theory (review)|journal=Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews|date=10 February 2003|url=https://ndpr.nd.edu/news/23267-oppression-and-responsibility-a-wittgensteinian-approach-to-social-practices-and-moral-theory/|access-date=16 February 2014}}</ref> Her second book, published in 2008, was titled  ''Morality and Our Complicated Form of Life: Feminist Wittgensteinian Metaethics'' and opposed both realist and antirealist positions to metaethics, suggesting instead a Wittgensteinian approach that she refers to as "felted contextualism."<ref name=ndpr2>{{cite journal|last=Hekman|first=Susan|title=Morality and Our Complicated Form of Life: Feminist Wittgensteinian Metaethics (review)|journal=Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews|date=6 October 2008|url=http://ndpr.nd.edu/news/23780-morality-and-our-complicated-form-of-life-feminist-wittgensteinian-metaethics/|access-date=16 February 2014}}</ref>

O'Connor's third book will explore issues of addiction and recovery through the lens of philosophy.<ref name=hp/> In an interview on her book, she states: "Addicts are frequently very philosophical; we tend to be armchair thinkers. Addicts struggle with issues of self-identity, self-knowledge and self-deception, the nature of God, existential dilemmas, marking the line between appearance and reality, free will and voluntariness, and moral responsibility. These are prompted by acute instances of self-examination and reflection about how to live well."<ref name=hp/>

O'Connor also maintains a blog on Psychology Today that deals with the philosophy of addiction, contributes to the {{wipe|New York Times}}' Opinionator and The Stone blogs about similar topics, and co-maintains the [[Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy]]'s article about topics in feminism.<ref name=cv>{{cite web|last=O'Connor|first=Peg|title=Curriculum Vitae|url=https://gustavus.edu/campus/files/70920007/o'connor-cv-october-2013.docx|access-date=16 February 2014}}</ref>

== Selected bibliography ==

=== Books ===
* {{cite book | last1 = O'Connor | first1 = Peg | last2 = Scheman | first2 = Naomi |  title = Feminist interpretations of Ludwig Wittgenstein | publisher = Pennsylvania State University Press | location = University Park, Pennsylvania | year = 2002 | isbn = 9780271021980 }}
* {{cite book | title = Oppression and responsibility a Wittgensteinian approach to social practices and moral theory | last = O'Connor | first = Peg | publisher = Pennsylvania State University Press | year = 2002 | isbn = 9780271023465 | location = University Park, Pennsylvania }}
* {{cite book | last1 = O'Connor | first1 = Peg | last2 = Heldke | first2 = Lisa | title = Oppression, privilege, and resistance: theoretical perspectives on racism, sexism, and heterosexism | publisher = McGraw-Hill | location = Boston | year = 2004 | isbn = 9780072882438 }}
* {{cite book | title = Morality and our complicated form of life: feminist Wittgensteinian metaethics | last = O'Connor | first = Peg | publisher = Pennsylvania State University Press | year = 2008 | isbn = 9780271033808 | location = University Park, Pennsylvania }}
* O'Connor, Peg (2016). Life on the rocks: finding meaning in addiction and recovery. Las Vegas, NV: Central Recovery Press. {{ISBN|1942094027}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
* [https://gustavus.edu/profiles/poconnor Profile page: Peg O'Connor] Gustavus Adolphus College, St. Peter's, Minnesota

{{subject bar|portal1= Biography |portal2= Feminism |portal4= Sexuality |portal5= Philosophy |portal6= United States }}


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