Professor R. Kevin Hill received his Ph.D. in philosophy in 1992 from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign and his J.D. in 2004 from Chicago-Kent College of Law. He joined the PSU faculty in 2004 and was admitted to the Illinois Bar in 2005. His interests include philosophy of law, Nietzsche, Kant, and 19th and 20th century Continental philosophy.

Since arriving at PSU, Professor Hill’s teaching, service and research activities have been considerable. He recently designed two new courses, Philosophy of Law and Existentialism, and in 2005 he received the John Eliot Allen Outstanding Teaching Award. He serves as a Pre-Law student advisor and is a founding member and Chapter Advisor to the philosophy honor society, Phi Sigma Tau, Oregon Gamma Chapter.

As a teacher Professor Hill describes himself as a tour guide, leading his students through strange and exotic lands, interpreting and translating what the local people (the philosophers) are saying to each other into the students' language, and commenting on their peculiar beliefs and customs. Another central task, in his philosophy of law class, is to promote "legal literacy" among undergraduates: so much of our society is shaped by legislators and judges, and yet for most, the world of law is largely mysterious, misrepresented and misunderstood. By demystifying this world of law, Professor Hill strives to empower his students as citizens.

Professor Hill’s research and publication activities have been extensive. The paperback edition of his book Nietzsche's Critiques: The Kantian Foundations of His Thought (Oxford University Press), was published early fall 2005 and includes PSU's name prominently on the cover. Reviews have appeared in numerous journals.

Professor Hill's recent work includes: "Nietzsche's Debt to Kantian Aesthetics in Birth of Tragedy," to appear in International Studies in Philosophy and the book chapter "The Philosophy of Sovereign Immunity," in The Law of Sovereign Immunity and Terrorism, Oxford University Press, 2006. Professor Hill gave a lecture, "From Kantian Temporality to Nietzschean Naturalism," at the University of Cambridge in September of 2005 which will appear in Nietzsche on Time and History (Walter de Gruyter). He is also a referee for the Journal of Nietzsche Studies. His new book, Nietzsche: A Guide for the Perplexed (Continuum), appeared in summer 2007.

Name: R. Kevin Hill
Title: Associate Professor of Philosophy
office: NH M427
phone: 503-725-3594
fax: 503-725-3693
email: hillrk@pdx.edu