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Katharina Nieswandt, Ph.D.

Thesis supervisor Accepting inquiries

  • Professor, Philosophy

Thesis supervision details

Supervised program: Philosophy (MA)

Research areas: Ethics, Political Theory, Philosophy of the Social Sciences

Contact information

Email:

katharina.nieswandt@concordia.ca

Availability:

Published on Moodle.

Websites:

PhilPapers
ORCID

CV:

View Katharina Nieswandt's CV

Biography

Education

Postdoc:  Stanford University, Center for Ethics in Society, 2016
Ph.D. (Philosophy):  University of Pittsburgh, 2015
Magister Artium (Philosophy):  Universität Trier, 2009
Diplom (Psychology):  Universität Trier, 2008

Research

Areas of Specialization

Meta- and normative ethics, political theory, philosophy of the social sciences

Areas of Competency

Applied ethics, philosophy of law

Topics

Professor Nieswandt is a closeted Hegelian who has written a lot about Anscombe  Her new book argues that, without government, you cannot even be a person, which sounds sad but is only logical, given your human nature. Even though #PoliticalConstitutivism has yet to catch on, Amazon recommends that you preorder the book, just to be safe.

Current

Director of stream "Society" at GRIN (Groupe de recherche sur la normativité).

Books

Monograph

Katharina Nieswandt (2025): The Good Life and the Good State: A Neo-Aristotelian Theory of Government. Anthem Press, London and New York: 150 pages.

Editorship and Translation

Katharina Nieswandt & Ulf Hlobil (eds.) (2014). G.E.M. Anscombe: Aufsätze. Herausgegeben, übersetzt und mit einer Lektürehilfe von Katharina Nieswandt und Ulf Hlobil. Nachwort von Anselm W. Müller.  [G.E.M. Anscombe: Papers. Edited, translated and with a study guide by KN and UH. With an afterword by AWM.]  Suhrkamp, Berlin: 400 pages.

Reviews by:

Dominik Perler (2014, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung)

Christian Kietzmann (2015, Philosophische Rundschau)

Wolfgang Hellmich (2016, Philosophisches Jahrbuch)

Papers

Articles in Journals (Double-Anonymized Review)

To access the official publication, click on the links below.  Postprints of all papers can be downloaded from PhilPapers.

Katharina Nieswandt (2024): Instrumental Rationality in the Social Sciences. Philosophy of the Social Sciences: 54(1): 46–68.
Follow-up:  Katharina Nieswandt (2025): Reply to Moehler. Philosophy of the Social Sciences: 55(3): 270–279.

Heather Maranges; Maxine Iannuccilli; Katharina Nieswandt; Ulf Hlobil & Kristen Dunfield (2023): Brilliance Beliefs, Not Mindsets Explain Inverse Gender Gaps in Philosophy and Psychology.  Sex Roles: 89: 801–817.

Heather Maranges; Maxine Iannuccilli; Katharina Nieswandt; Ulf Hlobil & Kristen Dunfield (2023): What Determines Feelings of Belonging and Majoring in an Academic Field? Isolating Factors by Comparing Psychology and Philosophy. Current Research in Behavioral Sciences 4: article 100097.

Ulf Hlobil & Katharina Nieswandt (2019): Do the Virtues Make You Happy? Philosophical Inquiries 7(2): 181–202.

Katharina Nieswandt (2019): Beyond Frontier Town: Do Early Modern Theories of Property Apply to Capitalist Economies? Ethical Theory and Moral Practice 22(4): 909–923.

Ulf Hlobil & Katharina Nieswandt (2019): Foot without Archilles' Heel. Philosophia 47(5): 1501–1515.

Katharina Nieswandt & Ulf Hlobil (2018):  Virtues for the Imperfect.  The Journal of Value Inquiry 53(4): 605–625.

Katharina Nieswandt (2018): What Is Conventionalism about Moral Rights and Duties? Australasian Journal of Philosophy 97(1): 15–28.

Katharina Nieswandt (2017): Anscombe on the Sources of Normativity. The Journal of Value Inquiry 51(1): 141–163.

Katharina Nieswandt (2016): Do Rights Exist by Convention or by Nature? Topoi 35(1): 313–325.

Ulf Hlobil and Katharina Nieswandt (2016): On Anscombe’s Philosophical Method. Klēsis: Revue Philosophique 35: 180–198.
Reprint in: John Haldane (2019): The Life and Philosophy of Elizabeth Anscombe (St. Andrews Studies in Philosophy). Imprint Academic: Exeter, 42–61.

Articles in Collections and Journal Special Issues (Editor Review)

To access the official publication, click on the links below.  Postprints of all papers can be downloaded from PhilPapers.

Katharina Nieswandt (2024): Must I Honor Your Convictions? On Laura Valentini's Agency-Respect View. In: Julian Culp (ed.): Analyse & Kritik 46(1): 51–65.

Katharina Nieswandt (2023): Should Intro Ethics Make You a Better Person? In: Christian Kietzmann (ed.): Teleological Structures in Human Life: Essays for Anselm W. Müller. Routledge, Milton and New York: 113–134.

Katharina Nieswandt (2022): Life and Other Basic Rights in Anscombe. In: Roger Teichmann (ed.): The Oxford Handbook of Elizabeth Anscombe. Oxford University Press, New York: 308–323.

Katharina Nieswandt (2021): Basic Income, Automation and Merit. In: Keith Breen and Jean-Philippe Deranty (eds.): Whither Work? The Politics and Ethics of Contemporary Work. Routledge, Milton and New York: 102–119.

Katharina Nieswandt (2019): Authority and Interest in the Theory of Right. In: David Plunkett, Scott Shapiro & Kevin Toh (eds.): Dimensions of Normativity: New Essays on Metaethics and Jurisprudence. Oxford University Press, Oxford: 315–334.

Katharina Nieswandt (2017): Grammatik und Funktion: Peter Geach. In: Martin Hähnel (ed.): Der aristotelische Naturalismus: Ein Handbuch. Metzler: Stuttgart, 163–174.
Translation in: Martin Hähnel (ed.) (2020) Aristotelian Naturalism: A Research Companion. Springer, Dordrecht: 183–193.

Other Publications

Book Review

To access the official publication, click on the links below.  Postprints of all papers can be downloaded from PhilPapers.

Katharina Nieswandt (2022): Clare Mac Cumhaill & Rachael Wiseman's "Metaphysical Animals: How Four Women Brought Philosophy Back to Life." Zeitschrift für Ethik und Moralphilosophie 5(2): 231–235.

Katharina Nieswandt (2019): James Doyle's "No Morality, No Self: Anscombe’s Radical Skepticism." Ethics 130(1): 102–106.

Popular Press

Katharina Nieswandt (2021): Gender Ratio in Philosophy: An Interview with Katharina Nieswandt.  The American Philosophical Association, December 1, 2021.

Katharina Nieswandt (2021): Gender Ratio in Philosophy: An Inferential-Statistical Model of Possible Determinants.  The Canadian Philosophical Association, November 8, 2021.

Katharina Nieswandt (2016): Basic Income after Automation? That's Not How Capitalism Works! The Conversation, October 6, 2016.  (Click here for radio interview.)

Teaching

Graduate Seminar in Value Theory

The topic changes every year and is usually related to the professor's current research. The department website lists a description of the current topic under course offerings.

  • Recent topics: Hegel on the State, Schmitt's "Concept of the Political" in Context, Anscombe's Moral Philosophy, Political Perfectionism and Property Rights.
  • The course number varies by topic, e.g., PHIL 486/615, 430/621 or 440/626.

Regularly Taught Classes

Please note that the syllabi below are for information purposes only; they are not necessarily the most recent version.  The version that is binding for enrolled students is available through Moodle.  The department website lists current course offerings.

Introduction to Ethics
  • Introductory lecture
  • PHIL 232, Syllabus

Philosophy of Human Rights
  • Introductory lecture
  • PHIL 241, Syllabus
Values and Biotechnology
  • Advanced Seminar
  • PHIL 429/529/629, Syllabus

Supervision

Master and Postdoctorate

Professor Nieswandt regularly supervises graduate students in Concordia's philosophy master's program as well as postdoctoral fellows hired through GRIN and other funding schemes. (For a list of supervisees, please see CV.)
  • If you would like to pursue an MA at Concordia, please apply to the program.  Admission and funding allocation happen through the philosophy graduate studies committee, not individual supervisors.  For questions, please contact the program director at philosophy.gpd@concordia.ca.
  • Funded postdoctoral positions, if available, are advertised on PhilJobs.
  • If you intend to apply for a postdoc funding scheme for individuals, such as Banting, and you are looking for a faculty host, please email your pitch.

Doctorate

Concordia's philosophy department does not offer a doctoral program, and professors do not individually hire doctoral students.  For Concordia's Humanities PhD program, a list of faculty available for supervision can be found on their website.

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