Jason Stanley
Biography
Jason Stanley is a philosopher, whose work ranges over philosophy of language, epistemology, linguistics, cognitive science, and social and political philosophy. Jason is the Bissell-Heyd Chair in American Studies in the Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy, and also has an appointment in the Department of Philosophy. In addition to his position at the Munk School, he is a Distinguished Professor at the Kyiv School of Economics. Before coming to the University of Toronto in 2025, he held positions as a Professor of Philosophy at Yale University (2013-2025), Rutgers University (2004-2013), The University of Michigan (2000-4), and Cornell University (1995-2000).
The author of seven books and dozens of scholarly articles in multiple disciplines, Jason won the American Philosophical Association Book Prize in 2007 for his book Knowledge and Practical Interests (Oxford University Press, 2005), and the Prose Award in Philosophy for his 2015 book, How Propaganda Works (Princeton University Press, 2015). In addition to his academic work, Jason writes for a broader audience on the themes of authoritarianism, propaganda, free speech, mass incarceration, and democracy, most frequently for The New York Times, The Guardian, and Project Syndicate. Jason has also published in The Washington Post, Die Zeit, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Folha de São Paulo, El Pais and many other outlets across the world. A New York Times bestselling author, Jason’s work has been translated into over 30 languages.
Stanley is a member of the Justice Collaboratory at Yale Law School, a fellow of the African American Policy Forum, and serves on the advisory board of the Prison Policy Initiative.
Select publications
- Erasing History: How Fascists Rewrite the Past to Control the Future, published in September, 2024 with One Signal Publishers, a division of Simon and Schuster.
- The Politics of Language, co-authored with David Beaver, with Princeton University Press, was published in November, 2023, the product of almost a decade of work rewriting the foundations of the theory of meaning.
- How Fascism Works: The Politics of Us and Them (Penguin Random House, 2018). It has been translated into twenty two languages.
- How Propaganda Works, was published by Princeton University Press in May, 2015. It was the winner of the 2016 PROSE award for the subject area of philosophy, and has been translated into five languages. 100% of the proceeds from the sale of this book go to the Prison Policy Initiative. Please consider donating to this organization, which fights mass incarceration in the United States.
- Know How, was published in 2011, also with OUP.
- Language in Context, also OUP, was published in 2007.
- Knowledge and Practical Interests published in 2005 by Oxford University Press. It was the winner of the 2007 American Philosophical Association book prize.