Faculty

Regular Faculty

Jeff Behrends

jbehrends@fas.harvard.edu

Senior Research Scholar and Associate Senior Lecturer on Philosophy

Research Interests: Practical Normativity, Moral Epistemology, Ethics of AI

Jeff Behrends joined the department in 2016, after completing his PhD at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and then teaching for three years at Illinois State University. He has...

Selim Berker

sberker@fas.harvard.edu

Alford Professor of Natural Religion, Moral Philosophy, and Civil Polity

Research Interests: Ethics, Epistemology, Metaphysics

Selim Berker is Alford Professor of Natural Religion, Moral Philosophy, and Civil Polity in the Department of Philosophy. A lapsed physicist, Berker started his graduate training in physics before...

Cheryl Chen

ckchen@fas.harvard.edu

Senior Lecturer on Philosophy

Research Interests: Epistemology, Philosophy of Mind, Metaphysics, and Philosophy of Religion

Cheryl Chen received her Ph.D. in philosophy from UC Berkeley and taught at Bryn Mawr College before coming to Harvard in 2006. She works mainly in epistemology...

Edward J. Hall

ehall@fas.harvard.edu

Director of Undergraduate Studies

Norman E. Vuilleumier Professor of Philosophy

Research Interests: Metaphysics, Epistemology, and Philosophy of Science

I work on a range of topics in metaphysics and epistemology that overlap with philosophy of science. (Which is to say: the best topics in metaphysics and epistemology.) Are there...

Reier Helle

rhelle@fas.harvard.edu

Assistant Professor of Philosophy

Research interests: Ancient Greek and Roman Philosophy, Metaphysics, Early Modern Philosophy, Philosophy of Action

Reier Helle received his Ph.D. from Yale University in 2020. His primary research focus is ancient Greek and Roman philosophy, and he has a...

Zoë Johnson King

zjohnsonking@fas.harvard.edu

John L. Loeb Associate Professor of the Humanities

Associate Professor of Philosophy

Research Interests: Ethics, Epistemology, Metaethics (esp. Moral Psychology)

In crudest summary, I write about being a good person in a bad and confusing world. Most of my work falls within what I call non-ideal moral psychology, by which I mean that I am...

Sean Kelly

sdkelly@fas.harvard.edu

Teresa G. and Ferdinand F. Martignetti Professor of Philosophy

Harvard College Professor

Dean of Arts and Humanities

Research Interests: Post-Kantian European philosophy (esp. Phenomenology and Existentialism), Philosophy of Mind, Philosophy of Perception, Philosophy of Literature

Sean Kelly earned an Sc.B. in Mathematics and Computer Science and an M.S. in Cognitive...

Peter Koellner

koellner@fas.harvard.edu

Walter Beverly Pearson Professor of Modern Mathematics and Mathematical Logic

Professor of Philosophy

Research Interests: Mathematical Logic, Set Theory, and the Philosophy of Mathematics

Peter Koellner joined the department in 2003 after receiving his Ph.D from MIT. His main areas of research are mathematical logic - primarily set theory - and the...

Samantha Matherne

smatherne@fas.harvard.edu

Professor of Philosophy

On Leave AY25-26

Research Interests: Kant, Phenomenology, Neo-Kantianism, Aesthetics, Perception

Samantha Matherne’s primary research interests lie in exploring the reciprocal relationship between perception and aesthetics. She approaches these issues largely through a...

Jeffrey McDonough

jkmcdon@fas.harvard.edu

Department Chair

Young J. Lee and Young Ju Rhee Professor of Philosophy

Director of the Harvard History of Philosophy Workshop

Research Interests: Early Modern Philosophy, Philosophy of Science, Medieval Philosophy, Metaphysics, and Epistemology

Jeffrey McDonough joined the department in 2005 after receiving his Ph.D. from the University of California, Irvine. His primary areas of...

Bernhard Nickel

bnickel@fas.harvard.edu

Professor of Philosophy

On Leave AY25-26

Research Interests: Philosophy of Language, Philosophy of Science, Philosophy of Mind, Metaphysics

Bernhard Nickel’s research centers in the philosophy of language, working on the semantics of natural language. He is particularly interested in how...

Parimal G. Patil

ppatil@fas.harvard.edu

Wales Professor of Sanskrit

Professor of Religion and Indian Philosophy

On Leave AY25-26

Research Interests: History of Philosophy in India, Buddhist Philosophy, Old and New Epistemologists, Epistemology, Metaphysics, Philosophy of Religion, Sanskrit Aesthetics

I work on a wide range of topics in Sanskrit philosophy, though I am particularly...

Mark Richard

richard4@fas.harvard.edu

Director of Graduate Studies

Professor of Philosophy

Research Interests: Philosophy of Language, Social Philosophy, Philosophical Logic, Metaphysics, and Epistemology.

Professor Mark Richard joined the Department in the Fall of 2010; previously he was the Lenore Stern Professor in the Humanities and Social...

Susanna Rinard

susannarinard@fas.harvard.edu

Professor of Philosophy

Research Interests: Epistemology, Philosophy of Science, and Formal Epistemology

The goal of Susanna Rinard's research is to determine what we should believe—in science, philosophy, and everyday life—and how probability can be used to model rational belief...

Gina Schouten

gschouten@fas.harvard.edu

Professor of Philosophy

Research Interests: Political Philosophy, Ethics, Feminist Philosophy, Philosophy of Education

I received my PhD from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, after which I taught at Illinois State University for three years before coming to Harvard. My...

Amartya Sen

asen@fas.harvard.edu

Thomas W. Lamont University Professor

Research Interests: Economics and Economic Theory, Ethics, Political Philosophy, Philosophy of Law

Amartya Sen is Thomas W Lamont University Professor, and Professor of Economics and Philosophy, at Harvard University and was until 2004 the Master of...

Tommie Shelby

tshelby@fas.harvard.edu

Caldwell Titcomb Professor of African and African American Studies and of Philosophy

Lee Simpkins Family Professor of Arts and Sciences

On Leave AY25-26

Research Interests: social and political philosophy, history of black political thought, philosophy of race, and social theory

Tommie Shelby received his B.A. from Florida A & M University (1990) and Ph.D. from the University of Pittsburgh (1998). Prior to...

Susanna Siegel

ssiegel@fas.harvard.edu

Edgar Pierce Professor of Philosophy

Research Interests: Philosophy of Mind, Epistemology, Political Philosophy

Susanna Siegel received her PhD from Cornell University. Her books The Contents of Visual Experience (2010) and The Rationality of Perception (2017) were both published by Oxford...

Alison Simmons

asimmons@fas.harvard.edu

Samuel H. Wolcott Professor of Philosophy

Research Interests: Philosophy of Mind, Philosophy of Perception, Early Modern Philosophy

Alison Simmons received her Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania in 1994. The bulk of her teaching is in early modern philosophy, natural philosophy, and...

Lucas Stanczyk

stanczyk@fas.harvard.edu

Associate Professor of Philosophy

On Leave AY25-26

Lucas Stanczyk works on topics at the intersection of political philosophy and political economy. His book manuscript develops a theory of justice in production. His other research and teaching is focused on ethical problems in global energy policy, and...

Quinn White

pqwhite@fas.harvard.edu

Assistant Professor of Philosophy

Research Interests: Ethics, Metaethics, Applied Ethics, Metaphysics

Quinn did his undergraduate work at Yale and received his Ph.D. from MIT in 2019. His work explores the ethics of interpersonal relationships and of love. You can find his personal website...

W. Hugh Woodin

woodin@math.harvard.edu

Professor of Philosophy and of Mathematics

Research Interests: Logic and Foundations of Mathematics, Philosophy of Logic, Philosophy of Mathematics, Set Theory

Affiliated Faculty

Danielle Allen

James Bryant Conant University Professor

Director of Edmond J Safra Center for Ethics

Danielle Allen is James Bryant Conant University Professor and Director of the Edmond and Lily Safra Center for Ethics . She is a professor of political philosophy, ethics, and public policy. She is also a seasoned nonprofit leader, democracy advocate...

Eric Beerbohm

beerbohm@fas.harvard.edu

Professor of Government

Eric Beerbohm is Alfred and Rebecca Lin Professor of Government and Faculty Affiliate in the Department of Philosophy at Harvard University. He serves as Faculty Director of the Edmond & Lily Safra Center for Ethics, Faculty Dean at Quincy House, and...

Gennaro Chierchia

chierch@fas.harvard.edu

Haas Foundations Professor of Linguistics

Department of Linguistics

Gennaro Chierchia has spent his intellectual life studying how meaning takes shape in language. A common thread in his work is the idea/claim/speculation that a logic (a way of drawing inferences) spontaneously grows and latches on to the syntactic...

Ryan Doerfler

rdoerfler@law.harvard.edu

Professor of Law

Harvard Law School

Ryan Doerfler’s research focuses on the role of the judiciary within a democratic system. His recent work includes a critical reassessment of the embrace of judicial review within the liberal legal tradition and an analysis of the relationship between...

Benjamin Eidelson

beidelson@law.harvard.edu

Professor of Law

Harvard Law School

Benjamin Eidelson is a Professor of Law and Affiliate Professor of Philosophy at Harvard University. He is a scholar of public law and issues at the intersection of law and philosophy, with research and teaching interests cutting across constitutional law...

Khaled El-Rouayheb

kel@fas.harvard.edu

Professor of Islamic Intellectual History

Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations

Research Interests: Arabic Philosophy, Islamic Philosophical Theology, History of Logic

Khaled El-Rouayheb is a Professor of Islamic Intellectual History at the Department of Near Eastern Languages & Civilizations at Harvard University. His research...

Peter Galison

pgardner@fas.harvard.edu

Joseph Pellegrino University Professor

Department of the History of Science

Director, Collection of Historical Scientific Instruments

Research Interests: History and Philosophy of Physics, History and Philosophy of Environment, Theoretical approaches to History of Science

The central component of Peter Galison's work involves the exploration of twentieth century microphysics (atomic...

Peter E. Gordon

pgordon@fas.harvard.edu

Amabel B. James Professor of History

Department of History

Research Interests: Critical Theory, the Frankfurt School (Adorno, Habermas), Existentialism, Modern French and German Social Thought

Peter E. Gordon is the Amabel B. James Professor of History, Faculty Affiliate in the Department of Germanic Languages and...

Christopher Lewis

clewis@law.harvard.edu

Assistant Professor of Law

Harvard Law School

My research is about how the law (especially the criminal law) can be more fairly and efficiently administered in response to social and economic inequality. Before joining the law school faculty, I was a Junior Fellow at the Harvard Society of Fellows. I...

Mathias Risse

mathias_risse@harvard.edu

Berthold Beitz Professor in Human Rights, Global Affairs and Philosophy

Harvard Kennedy School

Mathias Risse is Lucius N. Littauer Professor of Philosophy and Public Administration and Director of the Carr Center for Human Rights Policy at Harvard University. His work primarily addresses questions of global justice ranging from human rights...

Michael Rosen

mrosen@gov.harvard.edu

Professor of Government

Department of Government

Michael Rosen is a professor of political theory in the Government Department and has worked on a wide variety of topics in philosophy, social theory and the history of ideas. He is particularly interested in 19th and 20th century European philosophy and...

Stuart Shieber

shieber@seas.harvard.edu

James O. Welch, Jr. and Virginia B. Welch Professor of Computer Science

Stuart Shieber is a computer scientist whose primary research area is computational linguistics, the study of natural language from the standpoint of computer science. Research in the field pursues both scientific and engineering goals, undergirded by...

Associated Faculty

Jacob Barandes

jacob_barandes@harvard.edu

Senior Preceptor in Physics

I work in philosophy of physics, broadly construed. I'm especially interested in quantum foundations, the classical limit, the philosophy of (space)time, the metaphysics of laws, the nature of probability and causation, and the formal and logical...

Lecturers and Postdoctoral Fellows

Remei Capdevila Werning

rcapdevilawerning@fas.harvard.edu

Lecturer on Philosophy

Allston Burr Resident Dean of Harvard College, Winthrop House

Research interests: Aesthetics, philosophy of architecture, philosophical issues of preservation and geoheritage

Remei Capdevila Werning received her Ph.D. from the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, and a SMArchS in History, Theory, and Criticism of...

Huzeyfe Demirtas

hdemirtas@fas.harvard.edu

Postdoctoral Fellow in Embedded EthiCS

My primary research interests are moral responsibility, free will, ethics of AI, and applied ethics (esp. environmental ethics). I'm also interested in metaphysics of causation.

I was born in Turkey and am a dual citizen of Turkey and the United States. I...

Matthew Kopec

mkopec@fas.harvard.edu

Program Director and Lecturer, Embedded EthiCS

Matt is the Program Director for Embedded EthiCS@Harvard, an educational program that embeds short modules on the ethical and social implications of computing technologies into courses across Harvard's CS curriculum. He holds an MA from Virginia Tech...

Quyen Pham

vulequyenpham@fas.harvard.edu

Lecturer in Philosophy

Research interests: Metaphysics, Social Philosophy, Philosophy of Gender, Philosophy of Race Quyen Pham received her PhD in Philosophy from the University of Southern California in 2024. Her primary interests lie in the intersection between metaphysics...

Michael Pope

mpope@fas.harvard.edu

Postdoctoral Fellow in Embedded EthiCS

Michael is a postdoc in the Embedded EthiCS program. His primary research interests lie at the intersections of epistemology, applied ethics, and philosophy of science. He is particularly interested in the nature and normativity of trust and...

Seth Robertson

srobertson@fas.harvard.edu

Assistant Director of Undergraduate Studies

Lecturer in Philosophy

Research Interests: Ethics, Moral Psychology, History of Ethics, and Early Chinese Philosophy

Seth Robertson received his PhD in 2019 from the University of Oklahoma. He was a Dissertation Research Fellow at the Institute for the Study of Human...

Emeritus/a Faculty

Warren Goldfarb

goldfarb@fas.harvard.edu

Walter Beverly Pearson Professor of Modern Mathematics and Mathematical Logic, Emeritus

Research Interests: Mathematical Logic, Development of Analytic Philosophy, Philosophical Logic, and Metaphysics

Warren Goldfarb, W. B. Pearson Professor of Modern Mathematics and Mathematical Logic, received his A.B. and Ph.D. from Harvard and has been on...

Christine M. Korsgaard

christine_korsgaard@harvard.edu

Arthur Kingsley Porter Research Professor of Philosophy, Emeritus

Research Interests: Moral Philosophy and its history, Practical Reason, Agency, Personal Identity, and Human/Animal Relations

Christine M Korsgaard (PhD Harvard, 1981) works on moral philosophy and its history, practical reason, agency, personal identity...

Richard Moran

moran@fas.harvard.edu

Brian D. Young Professor of Philosophy, Emeritus

Research Interests: Philosophy of Mind, Moral Psychology, Aesthetics, Philosophy of Literature, later Wittgenstein

Professor Richard Moran received his Ph.D. from Cornell in 1989 and began teaching at Princeton, coming to Harvard in 1995. His interests...

Thomas M. Scanlon

scanlon@fas.harvard.edu

Alford Professor of Natural Religion, Moral Philosophy, and Civil Polity, Emeritus

Research Interests: ethics, history of ethics, theories of justice and equality, and political philosophy

T.M. Scanlon is Alford Professor of Natural Religion, Moral Philosophy, and Civil Polity. He received his B.A. from Princeton in 1962 and his Ph.D...

Gisela Striker

striker@fas.harvard.edu

Walter C. Klein Professor of Philosophy and of the Classics, Emerita

Professor Striker holds a joint appointment with the Department of Classics. She was born and educated in Germany (Dr. Phil., University of Göttingen). She taught philosophy at Göttingen from 1971-1986, at Columbia University from 1986 to 1989, and at...