Mark Lilla
Encyclopedia
Mark Lilla is an essayist and historian of ideas
at Columbia University
in New York City
.
A frequent contributor to the New York Review of Books, the New Republic
, and the New York Times, he is best known for his books The Reckless Mind: Intellectuals in Politics and The Stillborn God: Religion, Politics, and the Modern West. After holding professorships at New York University
and the Committee on Social Thought
at the University of Chicago
, he joined Columbia University
in 2007 as Professor of the Humanities. He lectures widely and has delivered the Weizmann Memorial Lecture in Israel
, the Carlyle Lectures at Oxford University, and the The MacMillan Lectures on Religion, Politics, and Society at Yale University
.
in 1956. After briefly attending Wayne State University
Lilla graduated from the University of Michigan
in 1978 with a degree in economics
and political science
. While attending Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government
he began writing journalism, and after graduating in 1980 with a Master of Public Policy
, he became an editor of the public policy quarterly The Public Interest
, where he remained until 1984. Returning to Harvard, he worked with sociologist Daniel Bell
and political theorists Judith Shklar and Harvey Mansfield
, receiving his PhD
in Government in 1990. He is married to the artist Diana Cooper and his daughter, Sophie Marie Lilla, was born in 1994.
, especially regarding politics and religion. His first book, G.B. Vico: The Making of an Anti-Modern examines an early figure in the European Counter-Enlightenment
, and has an affinity with the works of Isaiah Berlin
. (With Ronald Dworkin
and Robert B. Silvers
, he edited the memorial volume, The Legacy of Isaiah Berlin in 2001). In the 1990s he wrote widely on twentieth-century European philosophy, editing with Thomas Pavel
the New French Thought series at Princeton University Press, and writing The Reckless Mind, a meditation on the "philotyrannical" bent of twentieth-century continental philosophy. In recent years he has concentrated on theology and politics, publishing a wide-ranging study of modern political theology
, The Stillborn God, based on the Carlyle Lectures delivered at Oxford University in 2003. The book was named one of the "100 best books of the year" by The New York Times Book Review and one of the 150 best books of the year by Publisher's Weekly
Intellectual history
Note: this article concerns the discipline of intellectual history, and not its object, the whole span of human thought since the invention of writing. For clarifications about the latter topic, please consult the writings of the intellectual historians listed here and entries on individual...
at Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
.
A frequent contributor to the New York Review of Books, the New Republic
The New Republic
The magazine has also published two articles concerning income inequality, largely criticizing conservative economists for their attempts to deny the existence or negative effect increasing income inequality is having on the United States...
, and the New York Times, he is best known for his books The Reckless Mind: Intellectuals in Politics and The Stillborn God: Religion, Politics, and the Modern West. After holding professorships at New York University
New York University
New York University is a private, nonsectarian research university based in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...
and the Committee on Social Thought
Committee on Social Thought
The Committee on Social Thought is one of several PhD-granting committees at the University of Chicago. It was started in 1941 by historian John Ulric Nef along with economist Frank Knight, anthropologist Robert Redfield, and University President Robert Maynard Hutchins.The committee is...
at the University of Chicago
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890...
, he joined Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
in 2007 as Professor of the Humanities. He lectures widely and has delivered the Weizmann Memorial Lecture in Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
, the Carlyle Lectures at Oxford University, and the The MacMillan Lectures on Religion, Politics, and Society at Yale University
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
.
Biography
Mark Lilla was born in Detroit, MichiganDetroit, Michigan
Detroit is the major city among the primary cultural, financial, and transportation centers in the Metro Detroit area, a region of 5.2 million people. As the seat of Wayne County, the city of Detroit is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan and serves as a major port on the Detroit River...
in 1956. After briefly attending Wayne State University
Wayne State University
Wayne State University is a public research university located in Detroit, Michigan, United States, in the city's Midtown Cultural Center Historic District. Founded in 1868, WSU consists of 13 schools and colleges offering more than 400 major subject areas to over 32,000 graduate and...
Lilla graduated from the University of Michigan
University of Michigan
The University of Michigan is a public research university located in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the United States. It is the state's oldest university and the flagship campus of the University of Michigan...
in 1978 with a degree in economics
Economics
Economics is the social science that analyzes the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. The term economics comes from the Ancient Greek from + , hence "rules of the house"...
and political science
Political science
Political Science is a social science discipline concerned with the study of the state, government and politics. Aristotle defined it as the study of the state. It deals extensively with the theory and practice of politics, and the analysis of political systems and political behavior...
. While attending Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government
John F. Kennedy School of Government
The John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University is a public policy and public administration school, and one of Harvard's graduate and professional schools...
he began writing journalism, and after graduating in 1980 with a Master of Public Policy
Master of Public Policy
The Master of Public Policy , one of several public policy degrees, is a master's level professional degree that provides training in policy analysis and program evaluation at public policy schools. The MPP program places a focus on the systematic analysis of issues related to public policy and the...
, he became an editor of the public policy quarterly The Public Interest
The Public Interest
The Public Interest was a quarterly public policy journal founded by established New York intellectuals Daniel Bell and Irving Kristol in 1965. It was a leading neoconservative journal on political economy and culture, aimed at a readership of journalists, scholars, and policy makers...
, where he remained until 1984. Returning to Harvard, he worked with sociologist Daniel Bell
Daniel Bell
Daniel Bell was an American sociologist, writer, editor, and professor emeritus at Harvard University, best known for his seminal contributions to the study of post-industrialism...
and political theorists Judith Shklar and Harvey Mansfield
Harvey Mansfield
Harvey Claflin Mansfield, Jr. is the William R. Kenan, Jr. Professor of Government at Harvard University, where he has taught since 1962. He has held Guggenheim and NEH Fellowships and has been a Fellow at the National Humanities Center; he also received the National Humanities Medal in 2004 and...
, receiving his PhD
PHD
PHD may refer to:*Ph.D., a doctorate of philosophy*Ph.D. , a 1980s British group*PHD finger, a protein sequence*PHD Mountain Software, an outdoor clothing and equipment company*PhD Docbook renderer, an XML renderer...
in Government in 1990. He is married to the artist Diana Cooper and his daughter, Sophie Marie Lilla, was born in 1994.
Writings
The recurring theme of Lilla's writings is the contested heritage of the modern EnlightenmentAge of Enlightenment
The Age of Enlightenment was an elite cultural movement of intellectuals in 18th century Europe that sought to mobilize the power of reason in order to reform society and advance knowledge. It promoted intellectual interchange and opposed intolerance and abuses in church and state...
, especially regarding politics and religion. His first book, G.B. Vico: The Making of an Anti-Modern examines an early figure in the European Counter-Enlightenment
Counter-Enlightenment
"Counter-Enlightenment" is a term used to refer to a movement that arose in the late-18th and early-19th centuries in opposition to the 18th century Enlightenment...
, and has an affinity with the works of Isaiah Berlin
Isaiah Berlin
Sir Isaiah Berlin OM, FBA was a British social and political theorist, philosopher and historian of ideas of Russian-Jewish origin, regarded as one of the leading thinkers of the twentieth century and a dominant liberal scholar of his generation...
. (With Ronald Dworkin
Ronald Dworkin
Ronald Myles Dworkin, QC, FBA is an American philosopher and scholar of constitutional law. He is Frank Henry Sommer Professor of Law and Philosophy at New York University and Emeritus Professor of Jurisprudence at University College London, and has taught previously at Yale Law School and the...
and Robert B. Silvers
Robert B. Silvers
Robert Benjamin Silvers is an American editor who has served as editor of The New York Review of Books since 1963. According to a 2007 Vanity Fair article, "Jason Epstein's assessment of Silvers as 'The most brilliant editor of a magazine ever to have worked in this country' has been 'shared by...
, he edited the memorial volume, The Legacy of Isaiah Berlin in 2001). In the 1990s he wrote widely on twentieth-century European philosophy, editing with Thomas Pavel
Thomas Pavel
Thomas Pavel is a literary theorist, critic, and novelist currently teaching at the University of Chicago.- Biography :...
the New French Thought series at Princeton University Press, and writing The Reckless Mind, a meditation on the "philotyrannical" bent of twentieth-century continental philosophy. In recent years he has concentrated on theology and politics, publishing a wide-ranging study of modern political theology
Political theology
Political theology or public theology is a branch of both political philosophy and practical theology that investigates the ways in which theological concepts or ways of thinking underlie political, social, economic and cultural discourses....
, The Stillborn God, based on the Carlyle Lectures delivered at Oxford University in 2003. The book was named one of the "100 best books of the year" by The New York Times Book Review and one of the 150 best books of the year by Publisher's Weekly
External links
- New York Review of Books - Collection of books and articles authored by Lilla
- Columbia University - Lilla's current Columbia University homepage
- The Immanent Frame - Discussion of Lilla's The Stillborn God at The Immanent FrameThe Immanent FrameThe Immanent Frame is a collective on secularism, religion, and the public sphere. Established in conjunction with projects on at the Social Science Research Council , an independent not-for-profit research organization founded in 1923 and located in New York City, it is the first SSRC blog to...
, a blog of the Social Science Research CouncilSocial Science Research CouncilThe Social Science Research Council is a U.S.-based independent nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing research in the social sciences and related disciplines... - Essay on Lilla and the Straussians
- CNTV (China National Television) - CNTV interview on The Reckless Mind and other writings, June 17, 2010. Essay adapted from The Stillborn God: Religion, Politics and the Modern West.