Bio


I did my undergraduate work at Amherst and went on to graduate school at Princeton. Since then I've taught at Harvard, UCLA, The University of Pennsylvania, The University of Michigan, Berkeley, and Stanford. I resumed my graduate career a little while back -- from a distance, as it were -- receiving the PhD in 2005.

I'm married to another philosopher, Krista Lawlor.

My interests continue to center in aesthetics, but they have spilled over into pretty much every branch of philosophy at one time or another.

Wittgenstein, Culture and Value, 34: Im Rennen der Philosophie gewinnt, wer am langsamsten laufen kann. Oder: der, der das Ziel zuletzt erreicht. (In philosophy the race is to the one who can run slowest — the one who crosses the finish line last.) I'm not sure I believe this, but it's a comforting thing to read.

Academic Appointments


  • Associate Professor (Teaching), Philosophy

Administrative Appointments


  • Acting Assistant Professor, Harvard University (1974 - 1976)
  • Instructor, University of California, Los Angeles (1976 - 1979)
  • Acting Assistant Professor, University of Pennsylvania (1979 - 1981)
  • Visiting Instructor, Princeton University (1981 - 1982)
  • Visiting Instructor, University of Michigan (1982 - 1984)
  • Visiting Assistant Professor, University of Michigan (1984 - 1994)
  • Adjunct Assistant Professor, University of Michigan (1994 - 1999)
  • Visiting Assistant Professor, Ohio State University (1997 - 1997)
  • Adjunct Assistant Professor, University of California, Berkeley (1999 - 2000)
  • Lecturer, University of California, Berkeley (2002 - 2002)
  • Adjunct Associate Professor, Stanford University (2001 - 2002)
  • Lecturer, Stanford University (2002 - 2005)
  • Adjunct Assistant Professor, Stanford University (2005 - 2008)
  • Associate Professor of Philosophy, Stanford University (2008 - Present)

Boards, Advisory Committees, Professional Organizations


  • Member, American Philosophical Association
  • Member, American Society for Aesthetics
  • Member, North American Kant Society
  • Editorial Board Member, The Philosophers' Imprint (2001 - Present)
  • Member, Program Committee, Pacific Division, American Philosophical Association (2009 - 2012)

Program Affiliations


  • Modern Thought and Literature
  • Philosophy and Literature

Professional Education


  • Ph.D., Princeton University (2005)
  • M.A., Princeton University (1973)
  • B.A., Amherst College (1969)

2023-24 Courses


Stanford Advisees


All Publications


  • On Getting to Know a State or Process Better: Wittgenstein and the Philosophy of Mind Wittgenstein and the Philosophy of Mind Hills, D. edited by Ellis, J., Guevara, D. Oxford University Press. 2012: vii - xxxviii
  • Metaphor Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy Hills, D. edited by Zalta, E. 2011
  • Objects of Metaphor (Book Review) PHILOSOPHICAL REVIEW Book Review Authored by: Hills, D. 2009; 118 (1): 134-138
  • Drawing distinctions: The varieties of graphic expression. (Book Review) JOURNAL OF AESTHETICS AND ART CRITICISM Book Review Authored by: Hills, D. 2007; 65 (2): 235-238
  • Problems of Paraphrase: Bottom's Dream Baltic International Yearbook of Cognition, Logic, and Communication Hills, D. 2007
  • Metaphor The Encyclopedia of Philosophy Beardsley, M. edited by Borchert, D. M. Detroit Macmillan Reference. 2005; 2
  • Entry on 'Art Representation' The Encyclopedia of Philosophy Hills, D. edited by Borchert, D. M. Detroit Macmillan Reference. 2005; 2
  • Review of Metaphor in Context Philosophical Review HIlls, D. 2002; 3: 473 - 478
  • Review of Richard Wollheim on the Art of Painting: Art as Representation and Expression Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews Hills, D. 2002
  • Aptness and Truth in Verbal Metaphor Philosophical Topics Hills, D. 1997; 25 (1): 117-153
  • Mental Representations and Languages of Thought Readings in the Philosophy of Psychology Hills, D. edited by Block, N. J. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. 1981: 11–20
  • SIMPLICITY - SOBER,E (Book Review) PHILOSOPHICAL REVIEW Book Review Authored by: Hills, D. 1977; 86 (4): 595-603