Congratulations to EWU McNair Scholar Richard Murphy for completing his McNair Summer Research Internship! He worked with mentor Professor Tom Hawley, PhD on his summer 2023 research, “Economics Over All: How Neoliberalism Creates Exclusivist Moralities in an Age of Responsibilization”. Richard’s research was presented August 16, 2023 at the McNair Summer Research Symposium.
Pulling from Wendy Brown, Richard argues “Neoliberal homo-economicus disables consideration of the human ability to create values that sustain reciprocal moral obligations. This paper argues that Neoliberal rationality exacerbates group distinctions and forestalls moral considerations through a cheapened concept of human existence that takes form as Neoliberal homo-economicus. Additionally, the paper addresses potential solutions as well as implications of potential more robust ideas of what it means to be human”. As a former Vice President of the Philosophy Club and the current President of the International Affairs Community at EWU, Richard recognizes the utility of taking interdisciplinary approaches to our most sophisticated and pressing issues of the 21st Century.
Richard, who is currently applying to PhD programs in both Political Theory and Philosophy, is interested in utilizing a blended philosophical approach – that pulls from the likes of W.E.B. Du Bois, John Dewey and Michel Foucault – to critically analyze our current political and philosophical conceptions on theories of knowledge and morality. Richard’s goal is to obtain a PhD in Political Philosophy so that he might one day become a professor himself, hoping to hold on to his fascination of discussing and pondering these critically important questions while still getting paid to do it.
