Dr. Thomas De Koninck is an internationally-known philosopher and one of Canada’s leading academics. He has an M.A. Lit. Hum. from Oxford and a PhD from Laval University, and is currently professor emeritus at Laval University in Québec where, before his 2015 retirement, he taught for decades and served as Dean of the Faculty of Philosophy. A scholar, humanist and author, his work bears significantly on issues essential to the betterment of society. Dr. De Koninck is perhaps best known for his studies on human dignity and for his writings in the philosophy of education. He has authored works that have received international acclaim, including De la dignité humaine, for which he won the Le Prix La Bruyère of the Académie française, the first Canadian to have received this award, and La nouvelle ignorance et le problème de la culture. His reputation as a scholar is equally matched by his reputation as a teacher, and he is known to generations of students as a mentor and guide. He has supervised an extraordinary number of masters and doctoral theses. Over the past 40 years, he has supervised 19 ‘licence’ theses, 158 MA theses and 59 doctoral theses. Dr. De Koninck is a Rhodes Scholar and a recipient of an Alexander von Humboldt-Stiftung Fellowship. He has received numerous awards, including being elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada. An active member and past president of the Canadian Philosophical Association, he is also a member of the Order of Canada and an Officer of the Ordre des Palmes Académiques de France.
