Sebastian Bender
Since October 2016, Sebastian Bender is a Lecturer (Wissenschaftlicher Mitarbeiter) at the chair for theoretical philosophy at Humboldt University in Berlin. He did his Magister Artium (M.A.) at Humboldt and then wrote a dissertation on Leibniz's conception of modality. While a doctoral student, he received a scholarship from the DFG project “Transformations of the Mind: Philosophical Psychology 1500-1750” and spent one year at Yale University in New Haven. After the dissertation, he was a postdoc at the excellence cluster Topoi as well as a Visiting Lecturer at Rice University in Houston, Texas. In early 2020, he spent two months as a research fellow at the University of Groningen. His research focuses on early modern philosophy (especially rationalism). He also has strong interests in metaphysics (especially the topics of modality, causation, and persistence), ancient and medieval philosophy, Immanuel Kant, philosophy of mind, and philosophy of law. He currently works on a project on early modern theories of causation as well as on several papers dealing with early modern philosophy (authors include Spinoza, Conway, Leibniz, Berkeley, Hume, and Kant).
Career and Education
Academic Positions
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since 10/2016 |
Lecturer (Wissenschaftlicher Mitarbeiter) at Humboldt University |
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08/2015-05/2016 |
Visting Lecturer at Rice University (Houston, TX) |
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11/2014-07/2015 and 07/2016-09/2016 |
Postdoctoral Fellow at the Excellence Cluster Topoi at Humboldt University |
Research Stays
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01/2020-02/2020 |
Research Stay at University of Groningen (Netherlands) |
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09/2012-06/2013 |
Visting Assistant in Research at Yale University (New Haven, CT) |
Education
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05/2015 |
Dissertation Defense (Thesis Title: Leibniz's Metaphysics of Modality) |
| 2011-2014 | Dissertation Stipend from the Leibniz Prize Project “Transformations of the Mind: Philosophical Psychology 1500-1750” |
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06/2011 |
Magister Artium (M.A.) at Humboldt University (Thesis Title: The Principle of Continuity and Animal Consciousness in Leibniz) |
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2005-2011 |
Student in Philosophy (major), Musicology (1st minor), and History (2nd minor) at Humboldt University |
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2005 |
Abitur (high school degree) at Albert-Einstein-Gymnasium in Schwalbach am Taunus (Hessen) |
Publications
Books
Causation and Cognition in Early Modern Philosophy. Edited together with Dominik Perler. New York: Routledge (2020). For further information click here.
Leibniz' Metaphysik der Modalität. Berlin & Boston: De Gruyter (2016). For further information click here.
Articles
"Hume und der Liberalismus." Forthcoming in Archiv für Rechts- und Sozialphilosophie.
"Descartes's Argument for Modal Voluntarism." Inquiry (early view).
"Spinoza on the Essences of Singular Things." Ergo 9.10 (2022): 1-24.
"Localizing Violations of the Principle of Sufficient Reason in Leibniz - Leibniz on the Modal Status of the PSR." Journal of Modern Philosophy 4.1 (2022): 1-20.
"Anne Conway's Metaphysics of Change." History of Philosophy Quarterly 39.1 (2022): 21-44.
"Hume's Deep Anti-Contractarianism." Hume Studies 47.1 (2022): 103-129.
"Perception: Reductivism and Relationalism." Medieval and Early Modern Epistemology: After Certainty (Volume 17: Proceedings of the Society for Medieval Logic and Metaphysics). Ed. by A. Hall, G. Klima, M. Klein. Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing (2020): 37-46.
"Leibniz and the 'petites réflexions'." Archiv für Geschichte der Philosophie 102.4 (2020): 619-645.
"Berkeley on Causation, Ideas and Necessary Relations." In: Sebastian Bender & Dominik Perler (eds.): Causation and Cognition in Early Modern Philosophy. New York: Routledge (2020): 295-316.
"Introduction: Causation and Cognition in Early Modern Philosophy." (together with Dominik Perler). In: Sebastian Bender & Dominik Perler (eds.): Causation and Cognition in Early Modern Philosophy. New York: Routledge (2020): 1-17.
"Is Leibniz's Principle of Identity of Indiscernibles Necessary or Contingent?" Philosophers' Imprint 19.42 (2019): 1-20.
"On Worlds, Laws and Tiles—Leibniz and the Problem of Compossibility." In: Gregory Brown & Yual Chiek (eds.): Leibniz on Compossibility and Possible Worlds. Dordrecht: Springer (2016): 65-90.
"'Si omnia possibilia existerent…'—Why Leibniz Denies That All Possibles Can Exist." History of Philosophy Quarterly 33.3 (2016): 215-236.
"Interpreting Leibniz's Modal Language." In: Wenchao Li (Hrsg.): “Für unser Glück oder das Glück anderer”. Vorträge des X. Internationalen Leibniz-Kongresses. Hannover, 18.–23. Juli 2016. Hildesheim, Zürich, New York: Georg Olms (2016): 439-449.
"Reflection and Rationality in Leibniz." In: Jari Kaukua & Tomas Ekenberg (eds.): Subjectivity, Selfhood and Agency in the Arabic and Latin Traditions. Dordrecht: Springer (2016): 263-275.
"Von Menschen und Tieren—Leibniz über Apperzeption, Reflexion und conscientia." Zeitschrift für Philosophische Forschung 67.2 (2013): 214-241.
Reviews
Maria Rosa Antognazza (ed.). The Oxford Handbook of Leibniz. New York: Oxford (2018). In: British Journal for the History of Philosophy 28.1 (2020): 204-207. Review.
Michael V. Griffin. Leibniz, God and Necessity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press (2013). In: Archiv für Geschichte der Philosophie 97.2 (2015): 265-269. Review.
Outreach
"Was genau machen eigentlich PhilosophiehistorikerInnen?" Praefaktisch – Ein Philosophieblog (July 2019).
Current Research Projects
Causation and Containment. An Essay in Early Modern Metaphysics (book project)
Powers and Abilities in Early Modern Philosophy (planned edited volume; together with D. Perler)
Kants modalitätstheoretischer Gottesbeweis und der Spinozismus (paper, in German)
Kant's Possibility Proof and the Principle of Complete Determination (paper)
Is Anne Conway a Monist? (paper)
Descartes's Argument for Modal Voluntarism (paper)
From Moral to Modal Voluntarism: Descartes on the Status of Eternal Truths (paper, commissioned for Varieties of Voluntarism, ed. by S. Schierbaum & J. Müller, Routledge)
Recent and Upcoming Talks
"Kant's Possibility Proof and the Principle of Complete Determination" GAP.11, HU Berlin (September 2022)
"Kant's Possibility Proof and the Principle of Complete Determination" Colloquium for Theoretical Philosophy, HU Berlin (May 2022)
"Is Anne Conway a Monist?" Annual Conference of the British Society for the History of Philosophy, University of Edinburgh (April 2022)
"Humes Kritik an der Vertragstheorie" XXV. Kongress der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Philosophie, University of Erlangen (September 2021)
"Is Anne Conway a Monist?" New Voices: Early Modern Women on Knowledge, University of Paderborn (July 2021)
"From Moral to Modal Voluntarism. Descartes on the Status of Moral Truths" Varieties of Voluntarism in Medieval and Early Modern Ethics, University of Würzburg (July 2021)
"Monismus bei Anne Conway" Talk at University of Hamburg (June 2021)
"Hume’s Empiricist Anti-Contractarianism" Talk in a Zoom group on early modern philosophy (August 2020)
"Descartes’s Argument for Modal Voluntarism" Talk at the Via Moderna, Universität Groningen (February 2020)
"Conway on Species and Essences" Medieval Philosophical Gatherings, HU Berlin (December 2019)
"Rationalismus und Theismus bei Leibniz" Talk at Friedrich-Alexander-Universität in Erlangen (November 2019)
"Divine Essence and Finite Essences in Early Modern Philosophy" The Modal-Explanatory Nexus: A Dialogue between the Contemporary and the Early Modern Era, HU Berlin (August 2019)
"Conway on Species and Essences" Scottish Seminar in Early Modern Philosophy X, University of St. Andrews (May 2019)
"Leibniz on the Modal Status of the PSR" PSR Conference, University of Hamburg (March 2019)
"Spinoza on Essence and Modality" GAP.10 - Zehnter Kongress der GAP, University of Cologne (September 2018)
"Berkeley on Causation, Cognition, and Volition" Causation and Cognition in Early Modern Philosophy, HU Berlin (June 2018)
"Spinoza on Essence and Modality" Nordic Workshop in Early Modern Philosophy, University of Helsinki (May 2018)
"Comments on Robert Pasnau's After Certainty" Workshop at Sorbonne Université, Paris (March 2018)
"Author meets Critics Session on my book Leibniz' Metaphysik der Modalität" Séminaire Descartes, École Normale Supérieure, Paris (February 2018)
"Spinoza on Essence and Modality" Talk at Rice University, Houston, TX (Januar 2018)
"Is Leibniz's Principle of Identity of Indiscernibles Necessary or Contingent?" Colloquium at the Chair of Theoretical Philosophy, HU Berlin (Januar 2018)
"Spinoza on Essence and Modality" (Aristotelian) Possibilities and Necessities, Tutzing (Juli 2017)
"Leibniz and Kant on Representation and Minds" (with Till Hoeppner) Colloquium at the Chair of Theoretical Philosophy, HU Berlin (June 2017)
"The Modal Status of Leibniz's Principle of Identity of Indiscernibles" Leibniz on Mind and Metaphysics, Humboldt University, Berlin (June 2017)
"Leibniz and the Puzzle of Independence" Nature, Mind, and Action in Leibniz, University of Turku (June 2017)
"Leibniz and Kant on Representation and Minds" (with Till Hoeppner) The Finnish-Hungarian Seminar in Early Modern Philosophy, University of Turku, Finland (May 2017)
"Localizing Violations of the Principle of Sufficient Reason—Leibniz on the Modal Status of the PSR" Colloquium at the Chair of Classical German Philosophy, HU Berlin (December 2016)
"Leibniz and Kant on Representation and Minds" (with Till Hoeppner) Halle Seminar in Early Modern Philosophy, Martin-Luther-Universität Halle (November 2016)
"Interpreting Leibniz's Modal Language" X. Internationaler Leibniz-Kongress, Leibniz-Universität Hannover (July 2016)
"Leibniz's Rationalist Account of Persistence" From Love to the Infinite. Workshop on Early Modern Philosophy, HU Berlin (July 2016)
"Leibniz's Rationalist Account of Persistence" Spinoza-Leibniz Workshop: Lessons from, and for, Philosophy's History, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI (April 2016)
"Rationalism and Theism" Talk at the Center for Thomistic Studies, University of St. Thomas, Houston, TX (April 2016)
"Leibniz on the Modal Status of the Principle of Sufficient Reason" Harvard History of Philosophy Workshop, Harvard University, Boston, MA (March 2016)
"Leibniz and Possible Worlds" Talk at Brandeis University, Boston, MA (March 2016)
"The Modal Status of Leibniz's Principle of Identity of Indiscernibles" Wednesday Lunchtime Talk Series, Rice University, Houston, TX (February 2016)
"Localizing Violations of the Principle of Sufficient Reason—Leibniz on the Modal Status of the PSR" The History of Philosophy Roundtable, University of California San Diego (January 2016)
Teaching
At Humboldt University
| Winter 2022/23 | HS Early Modern Theories of Causation |
| Winter 2022/23 | PS Introduction to Early Modern Philosophy |
| Summer 2022 | HS From the Pre-Critical to the Critical Kant (syllabus, in German) |
| Summer 2022 | PS The Philosophy of Spinoza (syllabus, in German) |
| Summer 2020 | HS Social Contract Theory (syllabus, in German) |
| Summer 2020 | PS Women in the History of Philosophy: 17th & 18th Century (syllabus, in German) |
| Winter 2019/20 | UE Writing and Argumentation (syllabus, in German) |
| Summer 2019 | HS Persistence (syllabus, in German) |
| Summer 2019 | PS David Hume's A Treatise of Human Nature (syllabus, in German) |
| Winter 2018/19 | HS Hume and Kant on Causation (syllabus, German) |
| Winter 2018/19 | PS Introduction to Early Modern Philosophy (syllabus, German) |
| Summer 2018 | HS Early Modern Theories of Modality (syllabus, in German) |
| Summer 2018 | PS Introduction to Epistemology (syllabus, in German) |
| Winter 2017/18 | HS Rationalism (syllabus, in German) |
| Winter 2017/18 | PS Personal Identity (syllabus, in German) |
| Summer 2017 | PS Proofs for the Existence of God (syllabus, in German) |
| Summer 2017 | PS Introduction to Metaphysics (syllabus, in German) |
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Winter 2016/17 |
PS Theories of Modality (syllabus, in German) |
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Winter 2016/17 |
HS British Empiricism: Locke, Berkeley, Hume (syllabus, in German) |
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Summer 2015 |
PS Introduction to Early Modern Philosophy |
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Summer 2014 |
HS The Philosophy of G. W. Leibniz (co-taught with Stephan Schmid) |
At Rice University
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Spring 2016 |
PHIL 302/502: Early Modern Theories of Causation (syllabus) |
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Spring 2016 |
PHIL 202: History of Philosophy II (Early Modern Philosophy) (syllabus) |
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Fall 2015 |
PHIL 116: Introduction to the Philosophy of Law |
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Fall 2015 |
PHIL 105: Historical Introduction to Philosophy |
Contact
Office: Unter den Linden 6, Room 3030
Email: benderse [at] hu-berlin.de
Phone: (+49) (0)30 2093 70496
Postal Address: Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Institut für Philosophie, Unter den Linden 6, 10099 Berlin, Germany
Office Hours
Office Hours: During term time my office hours are on Wednesday, 2-3pm (by appointment during the break). Please sign up per email in advance.