I work on a range of topics in feminist philosophy, social metaphysics, history of philosophy, and German Idealism, and am particularly interested in reconstructing the network of 18th- and 19th-century female philosophers within the history of philosophy.
Lou Andreas-Salomé authored numerous works in diverse forms exploring the female way of life. She lived an unconventional lifestyle for the time—attended university, married Friedrich Carl Andreas, did not focus on raising children and taking care of the family, and pursued goals outside of being a wife—and likewise maintained unconventional views on Woman and womanhood. She did not campaign for women’s rights or become heavily involved in the political sphere. Rather, she was deeply invested in understanding Woman’s psychology and biology, the way Woman forms and maintains a self, as well as how female biology and social expectations impact this self. The literature surrounding Salomé and these views provides rigorous accounts of Woman in terms of her psychology, sexuality, biology, metaphysical nature, and her relation to art and religion. Missing from this conversation is how Salomé’s Woman becomes emancipated: the freedom that comes with her internal and external goals. My aim in this paper is to begin closing this gap: to understand what is required for the emancipation of a self (in the first instance) and an individualized Woman (in the second). Salomé’s essentialist and existentialist accounts of Woman complicate this question of emancipation. Though she steadfastly saw herself as operating outside of anything directly political—as in, she did not concern herself with rights—a discussion of Salomé’s metaphysics of gender suggests that an account of a ‘self’ and ‘Woman’ requires an account of freedom. Salomé’s view of the emancipation of women reveals that genders are social statuses within a hierarchical structure, not just biological categories.
The novel follows the journey of Marianne—affectionately nicknamed ‘Ma’—as her youngest daughter, Sophie, decides to move abroad after finishing high school. The reader follows Cita (the oldest daughter), Dr. Tomasow (Marianne’s therapist), and Aunt Ottilie (Marianne’s sister) through a few emotional Christmas days. Each character ponders motherhood, womanhood, marriage, family, and more as Sophie comes to her decision and shares it with her family. By the end, Marianne transforms from a woman dependent on a man and family relations into a self-sufficient woman who chooses to be a mother and can confidently reject a marriage proposal.
The aim of this paper is merely to establish four main possible endings of Hildgund, to then open up a subsequent discussion of a more informed nature about the relevant implications in terms of the opportunities for and ability of women to shape their destiny. Following the work in the first section of this paper, I closely examine the crucial question posed above (“Can one revoke superior power?”) in its second section, thus narrowing down which of the four endings best aligns with the text; I analyze and evaluate what the text reveals about self-determination, agency, and free will. Finally, in this paper’s third section, I consider issues pertaining to gender and how these inform the conclusions reached in previous sections. My aim is not to use an interpretation of Günderrode’s views developed in more explicitly philosophical texts to interpret the literary text. Rather, my aim is to have the literary text—Hildgund—front and center and to defend rather than interpret the explicitly philosophical texts on the basis of a careful interpretation of the literary text. The first section takes a more philosophical-literary approach: which ending does the text prefer? I rule possible endings more internally—based on what in the narrative speaks against or for an interpretation of its ending. The second two sections step away from any strict literary analysis: which strictly philosophical matters must we square away for this ending to obtain? Again, the philosophical is not primarily used as evidence to defend one ending of the play; rather, it is in question and depends on our reading of the play.
Angela Davis and Audre Lorde are central figures in Black feminist thought, yet they are still too rarely examined within the disciplinary boundaries of philosophy itself. Often approached through lenses of political activism, literature, or cultural critique, both thinkers have nonetheless articulated complex and sustained philosophical positions—particularly concerning subjectivity, power, and liberation—that demand fuller recognition within the history of philosophy. Even just the multi-axis framework, as opposed to the single-axis framework that dominates their philosophy of the self—and what the emancipation of the self requires—reveals their rigorously philosophical work. Davis and Lorde’s contributions are vital to understanding the freedom and unfreedom of Woman. Notably, both spent significant time in Germany, where German-language philosophy focused on freedom and the self influenced their intellectual development. Yet this transatlantic connection remains insufficiently addressed. This project aims to complement—rather than replace—their established profiles as activists and poets by foregrounding their intellectual contributions to philosophy, especially regarding questions of identity, freedom, and the self.
This project addresses the evident similarities and differences (arising from what appear to be direct challenges to the works put forth by German women philosophers) between the two groups of women regarding their critiques of the condition of woman, lebensphilosophie, and their conceptions of a woman’s (whole and total) self. I aim to address gaps in the literature on how women philosophers learn from one another, challenge one another, and collectively advance philosophical inquiry into the condition of Woman and Womanhood. In particular, I aim to illuminate the overlooked connections between epistemic oppression, intersectional feminism, and hermeneutical power, central to Black feminist thought, as well as empathy, care, and self-sufficiency, central to German feminist thought. I also aim to bring attention to the transcontinental dialogue that transcends space and time, which has largely been silenced.
Furthermore, I aim to address the ways in which philosophical literature’s silence extends beyond content to the form and genre of writing. Women philosophers from both groups often rely on fiction and autobiographical genres, which have excluded them from philosophical inquiry and confined their work to literary analysis. Archival work and subsequent philosophical (in addition to literary) analysis on this front would begin filling in the missing information. To advance the literature on this front, I seek answers to questions including the following: What contact is there between Black and German women philosophers? How are their aesthetic forms similar, and how do they differ? Why? What role does identity play in this? What are the similarities and differences between their critiques of the condition of Woman and Womanhood?
The writings of women philosophers are not always cast in strictly philosophical form. Instead, they encompass a wide range of aesthetic forms—poetry, fragments, dramas, letters, and diaries. Because these works appear in literary rather than conventional philosophical forms, they are often absorbed into the literary canon and excluded from the philosophical one. Yet these texts undeniably contain philosophical arguments: fiction, for instance, becomes a stage on which ideas are articulated, revised, and tested. This presents a dilemma: how should we use literary, philosophical, and historical analysis to arrive at the philosophical insights these texts offer? Each discipline brings its own methodological demands and canonically grounded assumptions about how to approach aesthetic forms. How can we analyze these writings without subordinating the literary to the philosophical, or the philosophical to the literary? And how should the author’s historical position—particularly as a marginalized figure—shape our (philosophical) understanding of their work?
Research Assistant for the DAAD-funded project titled "European Societal Challenges in German Culture: Exploring Ageing and Climate Change in Tandem" (2025-2026) at The University of Limerick's Modern Languages and Linguistics department.
The research team, comprising sixteen researchers from Ireland, the UK, Germany, and Austria, explores cultural responses to current societal challenges, with particular focus on population ageing and climate change. In media across Europe, population ageing is often depicted as a ‘burden narrative’, couched in metaphors of natural disaster such as the ‘silver tsunami’. At the same time, the impending climate catastrophe is often presented as a generational war.
Accordingly, this project seeks to analyze how both challenges are intertwined in German cultural representations in a comparative European context and explore how far they confirm or challenge binary opposition based on chronological age. In addition to a symposium, a book publication featuring co-authored chapters, and a website with an open-access database, the project will include a series of readings, roundtables, and a creative competition for undergraduate students.