Most underrated philosopher of the week

Following last week's pick, I am staying with philosophers funded by Utah tax-payers. This week's pick, Charlie Huenemann, teaches at Utah State. (Full disclosure: Charlie may have been the first person ever to invite me to give a philosophy department lecture unrelated to a job-search.) Charlie is a versatile historian of philosophy, who is best known for his work on Spinoza and Nietzsche, but has also published on Tom Stoppard and Ernst Mach. (He, thus, fits the criteria for this category.) The cover to his recently self-published (and quirkily moving) book, Nietzsche: Genius of the Heart, ought to win some prize for best philosophy-book-cover.

I am a big fan of Charlie's (Leibnizian) deflationary interpretation of Spinoza's view of ordinary human existence (we *are* the *shadows* in the Cave). (Not surprisingly much of Charlie's work circles around the Delphic Oracle's injunction.) One of my favorite pieces by Charlie is his  provocatively titled "Why not to Trust Other Philosophers" (2004 APQ).

Charlie has a cute blog. He also helps run the Utah State philosophy blog. I learned from his CV, that Charlie was a Phi Beta Kappa in college--our community is ennobled by his engagement.