John Martis SJ lectures in Philosophy at Pilgrim Theological College, and in Spirituality at the Jesuit College of Spirituality. He holds a BSc (Hons, UWA), BTheol (Melbourne College of Divinity), and PhD (Comparative Literature and Cultural Studies, Monash University). He is an ordained member of the Society of Jesus (Jesuits).
Following doctoral studies on the poststructuralist philosopher Philippe Lacoue-Labarthe, John published Philippe Lacoue-Labarthe: Representation and Loss of the Subject (Fordham UP, 2005) as the first monograph on this intricate and complex thinker; John’s research has subsequently continued in subjectivity, most recently with Subjectivity as Radical Hospitality: Recasting the Self, with Augustine, Descartes, Marion and Derrida (Lexington, 2017). From a base at the former Jesuit Theological College at Parkville, within the United Faculty of Theology and the MCD (subsequently, UD), he pursued research during overseas Visiting Scholar stints at Notre Dame University, IN (2004) and Loyola University Chicago (2008, 2012, 2014). He held the Donald I. Maclean Chair at St Joseph’s University (Philadelphia, 2015).
John has continued to teach undergraduates and postgraduates at Pilgrim Theological College, emphasising a cognisance of the relationship of philosophy to faith, in a range of philosophical areas (effectively, everything “from Plato to Postmodernism”): the relation between Philosophy and Theology, Greek philosophy, modern philosophy, proofs for God’s existence, epistemology, hermeneutics, and postmodernism in its relationship to religious faith. He supervises research students whose interests intersect with his own areas of expertise in poststructural thought, including poststructural subjectivity. His teaching at the Jesuit College of Spirituality offers a philosophical contextualistion of elements of the Spiritual Exercises of St Ignatius Loyola.
In his Jesuit ministerial capacity, John continues to be invited to lead the eucharist at Melbourne schools, and likewise to offer parish relief for celebrants on weekends, while being a monthly Sunday celebrant at an Eastern Suburbs parish. He is on the governing board of an aged care community serving otherwise homeless men, originated by Mother Teresa in the mid-70s in Melbourne’s northwest.
University Appointments
- HDR Supervisor (Pilgrim Theological College)
Adjunct Lecturer (Catholic Theological College)