Overview
Lewis’s scholarship examines transforming conceptions of religion, society, and the individual in Western modernity, with a focus on German intellectual traditions. His contributions to the field include “Freedom and Tradition in Hegel: Reconsidering Anthropology, Ethics, and Religion” (University of Notre Dame Press, 2005); “Religion, Modernity, and Politics in Hegel” (Oxford University Press, 2011); and “Why Philosophy Matters for the Study of Religion–and Vice Versa” (Oxford University Press, 2015), along with numerous articles and book chapters that have shaped contemporary scholarly discourse.
At Cornell, Lewis is a professor of religious studies and German studies. His academic journey began at Brown University, where he earned his A.B. in religious studies, before advancing to Stanford University for his Ph.D. Before joining the faculty at Brown, he held faculty positions at the University of Iowa and Harvard University. He has also held fellowships at the University Center for Human Values and the Center for the Study of Religion, both at Princeton University.
Beyond his university leadership, Lewis has been an influential voice in the American Academy of Religion and has lent his expertise as a reviewer for the National Science Foundation.
Office Hours
TBA & by appointment
Goldwin Smith Hall, room 326
Research Focus
- German Idealism and its legacies
- Hegel
- Philosophy of religion
- Religion and politics
- Method and theory in the study of religion
Publications
Books
Why Philosophy Matters for the Study of Religion – and Vice Versa. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2015.
Religion, Modernity, and Politics in Hegel. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011.
Freedom and Tradition in Hegel: Reconsidering Anthropology, Ethics, and Religion. Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press, 2005.
Selected Articles and Book Chapters
“The Universal, the Individual, and the Novel: Hegel, Austen, and Ethical Formation.” In The Unique, the Singular, and the Individual, edited by Ingolf U. Dalferth and Raymond E. Perrier. Claremont Studies in Philosophy of Religion. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2022.
“Theory and Method and the Stakes of a Fragmented Discipline: Or, What Economics Taught Me About the Study of Religion.” Journal of the American Academy of Religion 88:4 (2020): 981-1001. doi.org/10.1093/jaarel/lfaa060
“Feeling, Representation, and Practice in Hegel’s Lectures on the Philosophy of Religion.” In The Oxford Handbook of Hegel, edited by Dean Moyar, 581-602. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2017.
“Overcoming a Stumbling Block: A Non-Traditional Hegel for Religious Studies.” Journal of Religion 95:2 (2015): 198-212.
“Hegel’s Determinate Religion Today: Foreign yet Not So Far Away.” In Religion und Religioned im Deutschen Idealismus: Schleiermacher - Hegel - Schelling, edited by Friedrich Hermanni, Burkhard Nonnenmacher, and Friedrike Shick, 211-31. Collegium Metaphysicum 13. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2015.
“Vergleichende Ethik in Nordamerika: Methodologische Probleme und Ansätze” (Comparative ethics in North America: Methodological problems and approaches). Expanded and updated edition. In Wertetraditionen und Wertekonflikte: Ethik in Zeiten der Globalisierung, edited by Gabriele Münnix, 321-35. Nordhausen: Verlag Traugott Bautz, 2013.
