Dr. Alexandra Newton
Wissenschaftliche Assistentin am Lehrstuhl Geschichte der Philosophie
Institut für Philosophie Universität Leipzig Beethovenstraße 15 04107 Leipzig Germany Office: +49 341 9735772 alexandra.newtonuni-leipzig.de

Curriculum Vitae

Education

Ph.D., Philosophy, University of Pittsburgh; December 2010

Magister (M.A.), Philosophy and German Literature, Universität Tübingen, Germany (includes B.A. equivalent) summa cum laude; February 2003; Masters’ thesis title: Spinoza on Individuals and Individuation

Research year in philosophy at the Sorbonne IV, Paris, France (2002-2003)

Areas of Specialization

Kant, History of Modern Philosophy

Areas of Competence

Ancient philosophy (esp. Aristotle), German Idealism, Epistemology, Philosophy of Mind

Positions Held

Assistant Professor (wissenschaftliche Assistentin), Universität Leipzig, since Oct. 2010

Dissertation

Title: Kant on Logical Form
Committee: Stephen Engstrom and John McDowell (Co-Chairs), Robert Brandom, Nicholas Rescher, Karl Schafer, Sebastian Rödl

My dissertation develops an interpretation and defense of Kant’s pure general logic based on his novel conception of the intellect as a spontaneous and self-conscious capacity to judge. Kant’s logic is reinstated both as a source of insights into the logical form of concepts, judgments, and inferences, and as a self-standing science that is foundational for the rest of his philosophy.

Awards and Fellowships

SIAS Summer Institute (“The Second Person”) Travel and Lodging Stipend
National Humanities Center, NC, USA (2011) and Wissenschaftskolleg, Berlin, Germany (2012)

Dean’s Tuition Scholarship
University of Pittsburgh, 08/2010 – 12/2010

Research Grant, Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst (DAAD)
Universität Heidelberg 2009 – 2010

Graduate Student Travel Stipend, North American Kant Society Pacific Group Meeting
San Diego, 2009

Anna Margaret and Mary Sloan Dissertation Fellowship
University of Pittsburgh, 2009 (awarded to one female graduate student in philosophy every two years)

Arts & Sciences Graduate Fellowship
University of Pittsburgh, 2007 – 2008

Arts & Sciences Graduate Fellowship
University of Pittsburgh, 2005 – 2006

Baden-Württemberg Scholarship
Universität Konstanz, 05/2004 – 09/2004

Andrew Mellon Pre-Doctoral Fellowship
University of Pittsburgh, 2003 - 2004

Publications

“Kant on the Logical Origin of Concepts”, forthcoming in: European Journal of Philosophy.

“The Form of Aesthetic Judgment”, forthcoming in: The Proceedings of the XI. International Kant Congress.

Translation: Kant’s Cosmopolitan Theory of Law and Peace, by Otfried Höffe. Cambridge University Press, 2006.

Work in Progress

            “How is Kant’s General Logic Normative for Thinking?”
            “Kant on Testimony and Communication”
            “Kant on the Form of Aesthetic Judgment”
            “Aristotle on Substance as a Cause of Being”

Presentations

“Kant on Aesthetic Judgment”, II. International Kant Workshop on Aesthetics, University of Leipzig 01/2012
“Kant on Concepts”, Pacific APA, San Diego, 04/2011
“Kant on the Logical Origin of Concepts”, Conference on Form and Matter in Aristotle and Kant, University of Chicago, 03/2011
“Concepts and Apperception”, I. International Kant-Workshop on Concepts and Intuition, University of Leipzig, 02/2011
“The Form of Aesthetic Judgment”, Kant-Kongress, Pisa, 05/2010
Comments on a paper by Lucy Allais, “A Priori Concepts and ‘Relation to an Object’”; Pacific APA, San Francisco, 04/2010
“Kant on Concepts”, Dissertation Seminar, University of Pittsburgh 03/2009 (chair: Robert Brandom)
“Kant on Logical Form”, North American Kant Society (NAKS) Pacific Group Meeting, San Diego, 10/2009 (Winner of the Graduate Student Travel Award)
“Kant on Judgment”, Dissertation Seminar, University of Pittsburgh 2009 (chair: Robert Brandom)
“The Form of Aesthetic Judgment”, University of Notre Dame Graduate Student Conference (Keynote speaker: Robert Brandom); 2009
“Aristotle on Predication and Cause of Being”, Ancient Philosophy Workshop, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Mexico/University of Texas at Austin, Mexico City, 03/2009
“Kant on Pleasure as a Kind of Judging”, conference on Aesthetics at the Ernst-Bloch Zentrum, Ludwigshafen, Germany, 2008
„Ein nicht-hybrides Erkenntnisvermögen“, Philosophy Colloquium, University of Tübingen, 2007
“Aristotle on the Cause of Being in Z17”, Student-Faculty Colloquium, University of Pittsburgh, 2006
“Seinsursache in Aristoteles”, Philosophy Colloquium, Universität Heidelberg, 2006
“Sellars über Selbstbewusstsein”, Philosophy Colloquium, Universität Tübingen, 2006
“Kant’s Critical Reading of Leibniz’s Account of Identity and Individuation”, Conference on Identity: Ontological Perspectives at the Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, 2005

Teaching Experience

Independently at the Universität Leipzig (in German):
Kantian Aesthetics, Bachelor course Fall 2010-2011
Kant’s Critique of Pure Reason, Masters course Fall 2010-2011
Kantian Ethics, Bachelor course Spring 2011
Rationalism, Bachelor course Fall 2011-2012
Kant’s Critique of the Power of Judgment, Masters course Fall 2011-2012
Introduction to Epistemology: Testimony (in English), Bachelor course Spring 2012
Kant’s Logic, Masters course Spring 2012

Independently at the University of Pittsburgh:
Logic, 2008
Introduction to Philosophy, 2009
History of Modern Philosophy, 2009

As a Teaching Assistant at the University of Pittsburgh:
Minds and Machines, 2004
Logic, 2005
Concepts of Human Nature, 2006
Political Philosophy, 2007
History of Ancient Philosophy, 2008

Academic Service

Profession: Reviewer for Kantian Review

Conference Organizer: III. International Kant Workshop: Logic and Self-Consciousness (Speakers: Patricia Kitcher, Sebastian Rödl, Tobias Rosefeldt, Timothy Rosenkoetter, Andrea Kern, Ian Blecher, Thomas Land, and Alexandra Newton)

Conference Organizer: II. International Kant Workshop: The Purposelessness of Beauty (Speakers: Rachel Zuckert, Fiona Hughes, Andrea Kern, Alexandra Newton)

Referee, University of Pittsburgh/CMU Graduate Student Conference (2004–2010)

Library Services for Graduate Students in Philosophy, University of Pittsburgh (2004-2005)

Coursework [* indicates audit.]

At the University of Pittsburgh:
Leibniz (N. Rescher)
Early Modern Philosophy of Science (J.E. McGuire)
Metaphysics and Epistemology (J. McDowell)
Ethics (K. Setiya)
Metaphysics* (C. Dorr)
Philosophy of Science (P. Griffiths)
Studies in Hellenistic Philosophy* (J. Allen)
Frege  (M. Wilson)
Hegel* (R. Brandom)
Kant’s Critique of Pure Reason (S. Engstrom)
Descartes (P. Machamer, J.E. McGuire)
Aristotle’s Philosophy of Science (J. Lennox and A. Gotthelf)
Advanced Logic (A. Gupta)
Empiricism and Experience* (A. Gupta)
Topics in Philosophy of Language – Sellars* (R. Brandom)
Topics in Epistemology: Sellars (J. McDowell)
Independent Study* (J. McDowell)
Plato*  (J. Moss)
Kant* (N. Rescher)
Analytic Philosophy* (T. Ricketts)
Kant – Critique of Pure Reason* (S. Engstrom)
Contemporary Philosophical Naturalism* (R. Brandom)
Self-Consciousness* (S. Rödl)
Hegel* (J. McDowell)
Wittgenstein*  (J. McDowell)
Political Philosophy* (M. Thompson)
Kant on Judgment* (S. Engstrom)
Kant on Judgment Cont.* (S. Engstrom)
Making it Explicit* (R. Brandom)
Studies in Aristotle* (J. Allen)
Epistemology – Perception* (J. McDowell)
Kantian Ethics* (S. Engstrom)
Hegel* (R. Brandom)
Topics in Contemporary Philosophy*  (A. Gupta)

Ancient Greek Reading Group* (with J. Allen, A. Gotthelf, R. Polansky)
Kant Reading Group* (with S. Engstrom)

As a Visiting Scholar, New York University (Fall, 2005)
Truth* (H. Field)
Contextualism and Relativism* (C. Wright and P. Boghossian)

Languages

German (fluent)
French (good reading, writing, and speaking knowledge)
Spanish (good reading and speaking knowledge, basic writing knowledge)
Ancient Greek (good reading knowledge, some writing knowledge)
Latin (basic reading knowledge)

References

Stephen Engstrom (engstrompitt.edu), dissertation committee chair
     Professor of Philosophy, University of Pittsburgh
John McDowell (jmcdowelpitt.edu), dissertation committee co-chair
     Distinguished University Professor of Philosophy, University of Pittsburgh
Robert Brandom (rbrandompitt.edu)
     Distinguished Professor of Philosophy, University of Pittsburgh
Sebastian Rödl (sebastian.roedlunibas.ch)
     Professor of Philosophy, University of Basel, Switzerland
Karl Schafer (schaferkpitt.edu), Teaching Mentor
     Assistant Professor, University of Pittsburgh

Mai 2012