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===Personal honours ===
===Personal honours ===
Gaita was elected a fellow of the [[Australian Academy of the Humanities]] in 2002.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Fellow Profile: Raimond Gaita |url=https://humanities.org.au/fellows/fellow-profile/?fellow_id=143 |access-date=2024-05-04 |website=Australian Academy of the Humanities |language=en-AU}}</ref><ref name=cv/>
*2002: Fellow of the [[Australian Academy of the Humanities]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=Fellow Profile: Raimond Gaita |url=https://humanities.org.au/fellows/fellow-profile/?fellow_id=143 |access-date=2024-05-04 |website=Australian Academy of the Humanities |language=en-AU}}</ref><ref name=cv/>
⚫
*2009: [[Doctor Honoris Causa]], [[University of Antwerp]], Belgium, "for his exceptional contribution to contemporary moral philosophy and for his singular contribution the role of the intellectual in today's academic world".<ref name=cv/>

*2011: [[Festschrift]], edited by [[Christopher Cordner]] of the University of Melbourne: ''[[Philosophy, Ethics, and a Common Humanity: Essays in Honour of Raimond Gaita]]'' ([[Routledge]])<ref name=cv/>
⚫
In 2009, the [[University of Antwerp]] awarded Gaita the degree of [[Doctor Honoris Causa]] "for his exceptional contribution to contemporary moral philosophy and for his singular contribution the role of the intellectual in today's academic world".{{cn|date=May 2024}}
*2011: International conference held by [[Flinders University]], [[Adelaide]]: A ''Sense for Humanity: The Ethical Thought of Raimond Gaita''<ref name=cv/>

*2014: Festschrift, edited by Craig Taylor and Melinda Graefe ,''Sense for Humanity: The Ethical Thought of Raimond Gaita'' ([[Monash University|Monash University Press]]); with contributions from conference delegates [[JM Coetzee]], [[Robert Manne]], [[Barry Hill (Australian writer)|Barry Hill]], English poet and playwright [[Nick Drake (poet)|Nick Drake]] (who wrote the [[screenplay]] for ''Romulus, My Father''<ref >{{cite web | title=Nick Drake | website=Cape Farewell | date=10 September 2021 | url=https://www.capefarewell.com/nick-drake/ | access-date=30 May 2024}}</ref>), and others.<ref name=cv/>
In 2011, [[Routledge]] published ''[[Philosophy, Ethics, and a Common Humanity: Essays in Honour of Raimond Gaita]]''.{{cn|date=May 2024}} Also in 2011, [[Flinders University]] held a conference in Gaita's honour: A ''Sense for Humanity: The Ethical Thought of Raimond Gaita'', which was published as a book of the same title in 2014 by Monash University Press.{{cn|date=May 2024}}


== Personal life ==
== Personal life ==

Revision as of 08:27, 30 May 2024

Raimond Gaita
Born
Raimund Gaita

(1946-05-14) 14 May 1946 (age 78)
Dortmund, Westphalia, Germany
Notable workRomulus, My Father
SpouseYael Gaita
EraContemporary philosophy
Main interests
Moral philosophy

Raimond "Rai" Gaita (born Raimund Gaita; 14 May 1946) is a German-born Australian philosopher and writer, best known for his 1998 biography about his early life, titled Romulus, My Father. He was foundation professor of philosophy at the Australian Catholic University, and professor of moral philosophy at King's College London.

Early life and education

Raimond Joseph Gaita[1] (born Raimund) was born in Dortmund, Westphalia, Germany, on 14 May 1946, to a Yugoslav-born Romanian father, Romulus Gaiță (28 December 1922 – May 1996) and a German mother, Christine ("Christel") Anna Dörr (16 November 1928 – 1958).[2] In Germany, from 1942 to 1945, Romulus was employed as a smith and metal worker.[2] The Gaita family migrated to Australia from Yugoslavia[3] in April 1950, just before Raimond turned four.[4]

The family lived in an isolated shack in the Victorian countryside. His father, along with his father's best friend Pantelimon Hora,[5] were strong moral influences during his childhood. His mother suffered from an undiagnosed mental illness, which caused her to be promiscuous, and she started a relationship with Hora's brother. Raimund was exposed to several traumas as a child, including the suicide of his mother in 1958.[3]

He attended Baringhup Primary School, St. Patrick's College, Ballarat and Melbourne High School in Melbourne, graduating in 1963. In 1968 he graduated from the University of Melbourne (BA Hons, Philosophy), before earning an MA (First Class Honours) there in 1972.[1]

In 1983 he received a PhD from the University of Leeds in England.[1]

Career

Academia

From 1970 to 1972 Gaita lectured in philosophy, Melbourne Teachers' College, and the following year moved to England and started work as a tutor at Leeds University, which he did until 1975. From 1976 he lectured at the University of Kent at Canterbury, before being appointed to King's College London in 1977, a position he maintained for 12 years until 1999.[1]

During this time, he was appointed Foundation Research Professor of Philosophy at the Institute of Advanced Research at the Australian Catholic University (ACU) in 1993, a title he retained 1998, becoming Foundation Professor of Philosophy, at ACU from 1999 until 2011. Also from 1999 to 2011, he was Professor of Moral Philosophy at King's College London London.[1]

In 2012 he was appointed emeritus professor of moral philosophy at King's College London, as well as professorial fellow in the Melbourne Law School and at the Faculty of Arts at the University of Melbourne.[6] TFrom 2019, he has been Honorary Professorial Fellow at Melbourne Law School.[1]

He regards philosophy as a vocation rather than a career.[5]

Writing

The story of his childhood and the lives of Gaita's family members and close friends is told in his memoir Romulus, My Father. He wrote it over a few weeks after Gaita gave the eulogy at his father's funeral, and after its publication in 1998 it became an instant bestseller.[3]

He has also written many books and articles on moral philosophy.[6]

Other activities

As a public intellectual, Gaita has contributed to public debate about reconciliation, collective responsibility, the role of morality in politics, the Holocaust, genocide, crimes against humanity, and educational topics.[6]

Awards and recognition

Books

Romulus My Father won the Nettie Palmer Prize for Non-Fiction in the Victorian Premier's Literary Award, and was shortlisted for the Queensland Premier's Literary Awards for Contribution to Public Debate, the Braille Book of the Year, and the National Biography Award. It was nominated by the New Statesman, London, as one of the best books of 1999 and, in 2000, by The Australian Financial Review as one of the ten best books of the decade.[citation needed]

After a lot of persistence on the part of Roxburgh, the story was made into a a feature film of the same name in 2007 by Richard Roxburgh. Robert Connolly and John Maynard produced the film, Eric Bana played Romulus, and Kodi Smit-McPhee, then aged nine, was selected to play the young Raimund – a role for which he won the AACTA Award for Best Young Actor.[3]

A Common Humanity: Thinking about Love and Truth and Justice was nominated by The Economist as one of the best books of 2000.[6]

The Philosopher's Dog was shortlisted for the New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards, 2003 and The Age Book of the Year, 2003.[6] It was nominated by the Kansas City Star as one of the ten best books of 2005.[citation needed]

Personal honours

Personal life

Rai is married to Yael Gaita, and each of them have two daughters from prior marriages. One of his step-daughters is step-daughter Michelle Lesh, and one of his daughters is Katerina. In 2004 Rai and Yael bought land in central Victoria, not far from where he lived as a child, and Raimund found that the move brought back memories of the pain he suffered as a child.[3]

Gaita was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease in late 2021, but continues to live a life governed by his moral convictions. He has been on climate change rallies in Melbourne with Katerina, despite the discomfort of pouring rain, in an act of civil disobedience with Extinction Rebellion.[3]

Quote

Gaita said in 2024:[3]

For me to be a moral philosopher is basically to try to understand what this strange thing we call morality is. Ours is a society in which we discuss things. And I think of that as the deepest form of hope.

Bibliography

Books

  • Gaita, Raimond, ed. (1990). Value and understanding : essays for Peter Winch. London: Routledge.
  • — (1991). Good and evil : an absolute conception. London: Macmillan.
  • — (1998). Romulus, my father. Melbourne: Text Publishing.
  • A Common Humanity: Thinking about Love and Truth and Justice, Melbourne: Text Publishing, 1999; London & New York: Routledge, 2000.
  • The Philosopher's Dog, Melbourne: Text Publishing, 2002.
  • Why the War Was Wrong (ed.), Melbourne: Text Publishing, 2003.
  • Breach of Trust: Truth, Morality and Politics, Melbourne: Black Inc., 2004.
  • Good and Evil: An Absolute Conception, Revised edition, London & New York: Routledge 2004.
  • Gaza: Morality, Law and Politics (ed.), Perth: University of Western Australia Press, 2010.
  • Essays on Muslims and Multiculturalism (ed.), Melbourne: Text Publishing, 2011.
  • Singing For All He's Worth: Essays in Honour of J. G. Rosenberg, Alex Skovron, Raimond Gaita and Alex Miller (eds.), Sydney: Picador, 2011.
  • After Romulus, Melbourne: Text Publishing, 2011.
  • 'Who's Afraid of International Law' (ed. with Gerry Simpson), Monash University Publishing, 2017
Translated editions
  • Other editions and translations of The Philosopher's Dog
    • The Philosopher's Dog, London: Routledge, 2003.
    • The Philosopher' Dog: Friendship with Animals, New York: Random House, 2003.
    • De Hond Van De Filosoof, Amsterdam: Ambo/Anthos, 2003.
    • Der Hund des Philosophen, Berlin: Rogner & Bernhard, 2003.
    • Filozofun Köpeği, Istanbul: Dost Kitabevi Yayınları, 2005.
    • Tokyo, Shuei-Sha, 2005.
    • Ha-Kelev shel ha-filosof, Jerusalem: The Attic, 2005.
    • Il cane del filosofo, Genoa: Il Melangola, 2007.
    • O Cão do Filósofo, Cruz Quebrada (Portugal): Casa das Letras, 2007.
    • O Cão do Filósofo, São Paulo: Difel, 2011.
    • 철학자의 개, Korea, Dolbegae Publishers, 2017
  • Other editions and translations of Romulus My Father
    • Romulus, My Father, London: Review, 2000.
    • Romulus, Mi Padre, Barcelona: Ediciones Del Bronce, 2001.
    • Romuls, Mein Vater, Salzburg and Hamburg, Salzburg and Vienna: Residenz Verlag, 2001
    • Romulus, mijn vader, Amsterdam: Ambo, 2004.
    • Avi, Romulus, Jerusalem: Carmel, 2008.
    • Romulus, Mio Padre, Rome: Elliot Edizioni, 2011.
    • Moj ojciec Romulus, Warsaw: Czarne 2013
    • Romulus, My Father, Korea, Dolbegae Publishers 2019

Essays

  • Gaita, Raimond (December 1995). "Remembering the Holocaust : absolute value and the nature of evil". Quadrant. 39 (12): 7–15.[9]
  • — (May 1996). "Remorse and the depiction of evil". Turnings of Attention. Quadrant. 40 (5): 33–36.[10]
  • — (July–August 1996). "Romulus Gaita". Turnings of Attention. Quadrant. 40 (7–8): 22–25.[11]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "CV". Raimond Gaita. 1 January 2023. Retrieved 30 May 2024.
  2. ^ a b "Digital Item Page Gallery: A12025, 724-726: Gaita Romulus born 28 December 1922; Christine born 6 November 1928; Raimund [Raimond] born 14 May 1946". National Archives of Australia. Archived from the original on 28 August 2016. Retrieved 28 August 2016.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Spring, Tracey (18 May 2024). "The Moral Philosopher". ABC News. Compass. Retrieved 20 May 2024.
  4. ^ "Digital Item Page Gallery: B78, Yugoslavian/Gaita Christine: Gaita Christine – Nationality: Yugoslavian – Arrived Melbourne per General M L Hersey 27 April 1950". National Archives of Australia. Archived from the original on 7 November 2018. Retrieved 28 August 2016.
  5. ^ a b "About". Raimond Gaita. 19 December 2022. Retrieved 30 May 2024.
  6. ^ a b c d e "Professor Raimond Gaita". Melbourne Law School. 16 August 2023. Retrieved 30 May 2024.
  7. ^ "Fellow Profile: Raimond Gaita". Australian Academy of the Humanities. Retrieved 4 May 2024.
  8. ^ "Nick Drake". Cape Farewell. 10 September 2021. Retrieved 30 May 2024.
  9. ^ Text of the 1995 John Henry Newman Lecture, delivered at Mannix College, Monash University.
  10. ^ Extract from a public lecture, "Scepticism, moralism and the depiction of evil : reflections on the Demindeko debate", delivered at the University of Tasmania, Hobart, 10 May 1996.
  11. ^ Eulogy delivered at the funeral of Romulus Gaita, 13 May 1996.

Further reading

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