Jeffrey Stout

Jeffrey Lee Stout (born September 11, 1950) is an American religious studies scholar and Professor Emeritus of Religion at Princeton University. He is associated with the departments of Philosophy and Politics, the Center for the Study of Religion, and the Center for Human Values. His works focus on the possibility of ethical discourse in a religiously pluralistic society. He served as president of the American Academy of Religion in 2007. Stout graduated from Brown University in 1972 and obtained his Doctor of Philosophy degree in 1976 from Princeton University, where he has remained as Professor of Religion. He was also former chair of the Committee for Film Studies at Princeton. His best-known books, *Ethics After Babel* (1989) and *Democracy and Tradition* (2003), both received the American Academy of Religion Award for Excellence. His book *Blessed Are the Organized: Grassroots Democracy in America* (2010) takes an ethnographic turn. He received Princeton University’s Graduate Mentoring Award (2009) and the President’s Award for Distinguished Teaching (2010). He retired in July 2018. Stout delivered Gifford Lectures in May 2017 on "Religion Unbound: Ideals and Powers from Cicero to King." He champions the "moral tradition of democracy" and has been influenced by Richard Rorty and Robert Brandom, aligning with American pragmatism.