Alexander García Düttmann is a philosopher with an interest in aesthetics and art, but also in moral and political philosophy. On more than one occasion, he has collaborated with artists. In 2004 the chamber opera Liebeslied / My Suicides, for which he wrote the libretto, and which featured music by Paul Clark and photographs by Rut Blees Luxemburg, opened at the Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA) in London.
Alexander García Düttmann studied Philosophy in Frankfurt as a student of Alfred Schmidt and a pupil of Theodor Adorno; and in Paris as a student of Jacques Derrida. After obtaining his PhD from Frankfurt, he spent two years at Stanford University as a Mellon Fellow. His first academic position in the UK was a lecturership in Philosophy at Essex University. Currently he is professor of Philosophy and Visual Culture at Goldsmiths, University of London. He has taught in Melbourne, at Middlesex University, where he was professor of Philosophy for seven years, and at New York University, where he was a visiting professor in the autumn term of 1999.
Düttmann's main achievements consist of his publications. He has published a number of authored books, many of which have been translated into several languages (English, Italian, Japanese). His most recent publication is a book called Derrida and I: The Problem of Deconstruction, published in German by Transcript Verlag (Bielefeld 2008).
Alexander Düttmann lectures internationally, and has repeatedly taught courses on art theory in Spain, especially at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona and Universidad Politècnica de València (MA Theory of Photography).
Alexander García Düttmann's research in the past few years has been focused on the philosophical problem of deconstruction, the work of Italian filmmaker Luchino Visconti, the concept of exaggeration in philosophy and Theodor Adorno’s moral philosophy.
His current research is centred around the question of participation in art and politics. His next projects will be centred around the question of the contemporary in art, the relationship between photography and philosophy and the question of immortality in contemporary philosophy.