prof. dr. Wim Drees

Bio

Willem B. Drees is professor of philosophy of the humanities at Tilburg University. I am working on a book on the nature and relevance of the humanities; see also my 2015 inaugural address Naked Ape or Techno Sapiens? The Relevance of Human Humanities. I served as dean of the Tilburg School of Humanities and Digital Sciences from 2015 until 2018. Earlier work includes Religion and Science in Context: A Guide to the Debates  (Routledge, 2010), Religion, Science and Naturalism (Cambridge UP, 1996), and Beyond the Big Bang: Quantum Cosmologies and God (Open Court, 1990). I served as the editor of Zygon: Journal of Religion and Science  (2008-2018), professor of philosophy of religion and ethics at Leiden University (2001-2014), and dean of its school of religious studies and vice-dean for education of its school of humanities.

Expertise

Philosophy of religion, philosophy of the humanities, religious studies, religion and science.

2019, Spring: CTI Distinguished Fellow in the Humanities, Princeton, USA.

2018: chair of a research assessment committee for Utrecht University (Religious Studies, and Islam and Arabic Studies)

2018: elected member, Koninklijke Hollandsche Maatschappij der Wetenschappen (Royal Holland Society of Sciences and Humanities).

1989, 1994: Doctorates in religious studies (Groningen) and in philosophy (VU, Amsterdam).

Fulbright Scholarships (1987-'88; 1993), Prize of the Legatum Stolpianum, Leiden University (1994), and the Prins Bernhard Fonds Prize by a  jury Hollandsche Maatschappij der Wetenschappen (1993).

Teaching

Religion and Economics, an elective for  the Liberal Arts and Sciences Program of University College Tilburg, jointly with J.O. Prüfer, TiSEM; September-October 2019.

History of Modern Philosophy, for premaster students philosophy (Fall 2019) and for Bachelor philosophy and premaster students (Spring 2020)

Philosophy of Religion and Secularization (Fall 2019), an elective for master students philosophy

Applied ethics, contributions to a course for bachelor students philosophy (Fall 2019).

Courses

• Philosophy of Religion and Secularization
• Applied Ethics (Ethics 3)
• History of Modern Philosophy
• History of Modern Philosophy
• Religion and Economics

Top publications

1. Naked Ape or Techno Sapiens? - The Relevance of Human Humanities

   Drees, W. B. (2015). Naked Ape or Techno Sapiens? The Relevance of Human Humanities. Tilburg: Tilburg University.

2. Science, Values and Loves - Theologies as Expressive Constructions

   Drees, W. B. (2017). Science, Values and Loves: Theologies as Expressive Constructions. Theology and Science, 15(3), 249-259.

3. Religious naturalism and its near neighbors - some live options

   Drees, W. B. (2018). Religious naturalism and its near neighbors: some live options. In D. A. Crosby, & J. A. Stone (Eds.), The Routledge Handbook of Religious Naturalism (pp. 19-30). London: Routledge.

4. Humans, Humanities, and Humanism in an Age of Science

   Drees, W. B. (2016). Humans, Humanities, and Humanism in an Age of Science. In A. B. Pinn (Ed.), Humanism and Technology: Opportunities and Challenges (pp. 15-30). (Studies in Humanism and Atheism). Palgrave Macmillan.

5. God, Humanity and the Cosmos - Challenging a Challenging Textbook

   Drees, W. B. (2018). God, Humanity and the Cosmos: Challenging a Challenging Textbook. Zygon: Journal of Religion and Science, 53(3), 887-896.