Michael Bennett McNulty

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My chief research program aims to systematize and to explain Immanuel Kant's views on the inexact sciences — chemistry, psychology, anthropology, and biology — by contextualizing his views with respect to the science of his day. More generally, I am interested in theoretical philosophy and its interplay with mathematics and natural science during the early modern and early analytic periods.

In the classroom, I aim to create inclusive learning environments in which students actively practice and develop skills of critical reasoning, argumentation, and writing.

Educational Background & Specialties

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Educational Background

B.A.: Philosophy and Mathematics, Macalester College, , 2008 -
Ph.D.: Philosophy, University of California, Irvine, , 2014 -

Specialties

Immanuel Kant
History and Philosophy of Science
History and Philosophy of Mathematics and Logic
Early Modern Philosophy

Publications

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Publications

What is Chemistry, for Kant?: De Gruyter, McNulty, Michael Bennett, Kant Yearbook, 9, 85–112, 2017.
Continuity of Change in Kant's Dynamics: Springer, McNulty, Michael Bennett, Synthese, 196, 1595–1622, 2019.
Mathematical Depth. Michael Ernst, Jeremy Heis, Penelope Maddy, James Owen Weatherall, Oxford University Press, McNulty, Michael Bennett, 2015.
Chemistry in Kant's Opus Postumum: University of Chicago Press, McNulty, Michael Bennett, HOPOS: The Journal of the International Society for the History of Philosophy of Science, 6, 64-95, 2016.
Rehabilitating the Regulative Use of Reason: Kant on Empirical and Chemical Laws: Elsevier, McNulty, Michael Bennett, Studies in History and Philosophy of Science, 54, 1-10, 2015.
Kant on Chemistry and the Application of Mathematics in Natural Science: Cambridge University Press, McNulty, Michael Bennett, Kantian Review, 19, 393-418, 2014.
The Science of the Soul and the Unyielding Architectonic: Kant Versus Wolff on the Foundations of Psychology: McNulty, Michael Bennett, The Force of an Idea: New Essays on Christian Wolff's Psychology, 2021.
Review of Watkins, Eric. Kant on Laws: McNulty, Michael Bennett, The Philosophical Review, 2021.
From General to Special Metaphysics of Nature: Marius Stan, Palgrave Macmillan, McNulty, Michael Bennett, The Palgrave Kant Handbook, 493–511, 2017.
Margaret Cavendish on the Order and Infinitude of Nature: University of Illinois Press, McNulty, Michael Bennett, History of Philosophy Quarterly, 35, 219-239, 2018.
Chemical Dissolution and Kant’s Critical Theory of Nature: De Gruyter, McNulty, Michael Bennett, Kant-Studien, 109, 537–55, 2018.
Kant on Empirical Psychology and Experimentation: De Gruyter, McNulty, Michael Bennett, Natur und Freiheit: Akten des XII. Internationalen Kant-Kongresses, 2707-2714, 2018.
Review of Thorndike, Oliver. Kant’s Transition Project and Late Philosophy: Connecting the Opus postumum and Metaphysics of Morals: McNulty, Michael Bennett, Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews, 2018.
Review of Massimi, Michela and Angela Breitenbach (eds.). Kant and the Laws of Nature: Cambridge University Press, McNulty, Michael Bennett, Kantian Review, 23, 338–43, 2018.

Awards

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Courses Taught

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Courses Taught

PHIL 8090: Seminar in History of Modern Philosophy: Kant's Anthropology
PHIL 3005W: General History of Western Philosophy, Modern Period
PHIL 8090: Seminar in History of Modern Philosophy: Kant's Philosophy of Science
PHIL 4055: Kant
PHIL 1912: Sports, Reason, and Society
PHIL 1201: Critical Reasoning
PHIL 4320: Kant's Practical Philosophy
PHIL 3601: Scientific Thought
PHIL 5601: History of Philosophy of Science