Contributions
Much of Sweet’s work is in the history of modern philosophy, although he uses this as a resource and a vehicle to address contemporary issues in ethical theory and applied ethics, political philosophy, and the philosophy of religion. His early essays as well as his first book focused on the British idealist philosophers of the late 19th and early 20th century, but he has published a number of papers and translations on the personalist tradition in French philosophy, particularly that of Jacques Maritain. Recent research focuses on philosophical debates in the 20th century in South Africa and India, and the challenges of the migration of philosophical texts and traditions across cultures.
The focus of several of Sweet’s articles and books in political philosophy is on the theme of rights and obligations. Much of this has been historical – providing substantial and novel reassessments of British idealists such as Bernard Bosanquet but also of Maritain (who, Sweet argues, converge on a number of significant points). Sweet’s view is that these traditions provide a basis for a liberal, but non-individualistic, political philosophy. He gives a brief account of a positive theory of idealist ethics in his Introductory essay to his edited volume on The Moral, Social, and Political Philosophy of the British Idealists (2009), and he defends a broadly Maritainian view of dignity and human rights in a number of recent essays.
Sweet’s contributions to the philosophy of religion are developed over two single authored, one co-authored, and several edited books. His focus is on the epistemology of religion and the nature of religious belief. Sweet argues that much of the debate in the Anglo-American traditions concerning the relation of faith and reason is based on assumptions concerning the meaning and truth of religious beliefs – assumptions which he traces to the early 17th century. Sweet argues that these accounts misrepresent or misunderstand what religious belief is, and that a more accurate account of religious belief (which requires recognizing both the descriptive and expressive character of religious beliefs), and a broadly coherentist theory of truth can be used to address a number of contemporary issues in the philosophy of religion, such as the relation of religion and science.
Sweet travels extensively, and regularly lectures or teaches in East Asia, India, and Western Europe. He has been a major contributor to the international programmes of the Council for Research and Values in Philosophy and of the World Union of Catholic Philosophical Associations and the Istituto Internazionale Jacques Maritain (of which he is currently President).
He is currently the Editor of Philosophy, Culture, and Traditions and an Editor of Collingwood and British Idealism Studies. He has also been Editor of Etudes maritainiennes / Maritain Studies (1994–2006) and Bradley Studies (2005).
His work has been published in Castilian, Chinese, English, French, Gallego, German, Italian, Persian, Polish, and Vietnamese.
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