Erik Vogt studied philosophy and German philology at the University of Vienna, Austria; he received both M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Vienna, Austria. Before he arrived at Trinity in 2002, he had taught at US universities, at UK universities (such as Oxford University), and at the University of Vienna. He completed his habilitation in 2003 and was granted venia legendi for "Allgemeine Philosophie" from the Philosophy Department at the University of Vienna. He continues to supervise master's and doctoral theses at Vienna. He has also been serving as external reviewer on dissertation committees both in the US and in Europe.

His main areas of interest are contemporary German, French, Italian, and Slovenian aesthetic and political theory, as well as Austrian literature.

He is the author and (co-)editor of 23 books, as well as the author of 80+ articles and book chapters; he has also translated 11 books and 30+ articles.

His authored and (co-)edited books have engaged with the works of Theodor W. Adorno, Giorgio Agamben, Alain Badiou, Daniel Dennett, Jacques Derrida, Frantz Fanon, Michel Foucault, Philippe Lacoue-Labarthe, Mario Perniola, Jacques Rancière, Jean-Paul Sartre, Carl Schmitt, Gianni Vattimo, and Slavoj Žižek. Other books have addressed topics such as: American continental philosophy; Austrian (cultural and foreign) politics; Austrian literature (Hugo von Hofmannsthal; Thomas Bernhard; Elfriede Jelinek); Franz Kafka; philosophy of literature; the concept of monstrosity in philosophy, psychoanalysis, and literature; notions of experience in aesthetics and politics; the concept of genocide; contemporary European politics.

His current research addresses the literature and politics of Peter Handke, as well as Slavoj Žižek's writings on music, literature, and the visual arts.