Sanem Soyarslan

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Bio

I am an Associate Professor of Philosophy at NC State University. After receiving my D.S.U. (Diplôme Supérieur d’Université) in political science (2000) from Université Panthéon-Assas (Paris II) and my M.A. in philosophy (2005) from Boğaziçi University in my native Istanbul, I earned my Ph.D. in philosophy (December 2011) at Duke University. Before arriving in Raleigh in Fall 2013, I taught at Boston University for two years as a Visiting Assistant Professor of Philosophy.

I was the recipient of the NC State College of Humanities and Social Sciences Outstanding Junior Faculty Award in the Humanities in 2020.

Website

http://ncsu.academia.edu/SanemSoyarslan

Office Hours

• Mon: 11:45 a.m. – 12:45 p.m.
  Wed: 11:45 a.m. – 12:45 p.m.

Research Publications

Soyarslan, S. (forthcoming), “Spinoza’s Changing Views on Humility Explored Through a Cartesian Lens” in Justin Steinberg (ed.) Oxford Philosophical Concepts: Humility, A History, Oxford University Press.

Soyarslan, S. (2021), “Spinoza’s Account of Blessedness Explored Through an Aristotelian Lens,” Dialogue: Canadian Philosophical Review / Revue canadienne de philosophie, https://doi.org/10.1017/S001221732100010X.

Soyarslan, S. (2020) “From Humility to Envy: Questioning the Usefulness of Sad Passions as a Means towards Virtue in Spinoza’s Ethics,” European Journal of Philosophy, 28:1, pp. 33-47.

Soyarslan, S. (2019) “Two Ethical Ideals in Spinoza’s Ethics: The Free Man and The Wise Man,” Journal of the American Philosophical Association, 5:3, pp. 357-370.

Soyarslan, S. (2018) “Spinoza’s Critique of Humility in the Ethics, The Southern Journal of Philosophy, https://doi.org/10.1111/sjp.12292 

Soyarslan, S. (2016) “The Distinction between Reason and Intuitive Knowledge in Spinoza’s Ethics,” European Journal of Philosophy 24 (1), pp. 27-54.

Soyarslan, S. (2014) “The Susceptibility of Intuitive Knowledge to Akrasia in Spinoza’s Ethical Thought,” British Journal for the History of Philosophy 22, pp. 725-747.

Soyarslan, S. (2014) “From Ordinary Life to Blessedness: The Power of Intuitive Knowledge in Spinoza’s Ethics,” in Matthew Kisner and Andrew Youpa (eds.) Essays on Spinoza’s Ethical Theory, Oxford University Press: Oxford, pp. 236-257.

Translation from French to Turkish: Balibar, Etienne. (2004) Spinoza ve Siyaset (Spinoza et la Politique), Otonom Publishing, Istanbul.

Area(s) of Expertise

I work in the history of early modern philosophy, with a particular emphasis on Spinoza. In addition to early modern philosophy, I have an ongoing interest in ancient ethical theories, especially Aristotle’s. I am also interested in the history of ethics in general, with a comparative emphasis on ancient and modern ethical theories. I work on projects which, broadly construed, lie at the intersection of early modern philosophy and history of ethics.