Cathleen Muller
Lecturer in Philosophy
Director of Core/Liberal Studies
Bio
I am a Lecturer in Philosophy and the Director of the Core/Liberal Studies program at Marist. I started teaching full-time at Marist in 2011 and have taught a wide range of courses over the years: Philosophical Perspectives, Ethics, First-Year Seminar: Family Matters, Knowledge and Reality, Foundations of American Social Thought, and Symbolic Logic. My academic interests are similarly wide-ranging, although I am most interested in the metaphysics of fiction and how fiction and art intersect with other questions that shape our lives, such as political activism, personal identity, race, and gender. When not engaged in academic work, I enjoy reading, running, spending time with my family, playing accordion, and walking on stilts at local parades and festivals.
Education
PhD, Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2012|
MA, Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2007
MA, Philosophy, Tufts University, 2004
BA, English Literature, Swarthmore College, 2000
Research Interests/ Areas of Focus
Areas of Specialization: Metaphysics, Aesthetics, Philosophy of Language
Areas of Interest: Logic, American Philosophy, Philosophy of Gender, Philosophy of Race
Selected Publications
“Cheap Art and Creative Activism,” The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism, forthcoming 2023. https://doi-org.marist.idm.oclc.org/10.1093/jaac/kpad009
with Camelia Moczydlowski, “The Objective Value of Appreciating Beauty and Living Morally: Reply to Hooker,” Journal of Practical Ethics: April 2, 2019.
with David Sanson and Ben Caplan, "Counting Again," Grazer Philosophische Studien, 94, nos. 1-2 (2017): 69-82
"Journaling and Pre-Theoretical Discussion as Inclusive Pedagogy," AAPT Studies in Pedagogy, Volume 3: Inclusive Pedagogies (2017): 72-86.
With Ben Caplan, "Brutal Identity," Fictional Objects, ed. Anthony Everett and Stuart Brock (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2015), 174-207.
"Exercises in Empathy: Commentary on Barnbaum," Philosophy through Teaching, ed. Emily Esch, Kevin Hermberg, and Rory E. Kraft, Jr. (Charlottesville, VA: Philosophy Documentation Center, 2014), 65-69.
With Ben Caplan, "Against a Defense of Fictional Realism," The Philosophical Quarterly 64, no. 255 (April 2014): 211-224.
Selected Presentations
“Blaming Bad: Comments on Craig Agule’s ‘Rough Heroes and the Gap Between Fiction and Non-Fiction’,” American Society for Aesthetics, Eastern Division Conference, Philadelphia, PA, April 2023.
Comments on Ezra Rubenstein, “Generalism Without Dependence,” American Philosophical Association, Eastern Division Conference, Zoom, January 15, 2021.
“How to Have Fun in Your Online/Hybrid Course,” Keynote Panel on Pandemic Pedagogy, American Association of Philosophy Teachers Conference, Zoom, July 22, 2020.
Comments on Joanna Lawson “Identity and Society: What Makes You Who You Are,” American Philosophical Association, Eastern Division Conference, New York, January 10, 2020.
"Grounding Fictional Objects," Canadian Philosophical Association Annual Congress, Montreal, Quebec, June 2018.
"Gender- and Race-Bending: Does the Character Survive?", Workshop on the Metaphysics of Art and Music, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, February 2017.
"Cast of Characters: The Temptation of Realism about Characters in Theater," American Society for Aesthetics, Annual Meeting, Seattle, WA, November 2016.
"Gender- and Race-Bending: Does the Character Survive?," Bard Philosophy Club’s "Women in Philosophy" series, Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson, NY, October 2016.
with Sasha Shivers, "Thinking Critically about Critical Thinking," School of Liberal Arts Pedagogy Forum, Marist College, Poughkeepsie, NY, October 2016.
Comments on Michel-Antoine Xhignesse, "Titles Unnamed,” American Society for Aesthetics, Eastern Division, Philadelphia, PA, March 2014.
"'I'm a Real Boy!': Predication and Fictional Characters," American Philosophical Association, Central Division, Chicago, IL, February 2014.
with Henry Pratt, "The Case of the Disappearing Epaulets: An Account of Continuity Errors," American Society for Aesthetics, Annual Meeting, San Diego, CA, October 2013.
"The Relation of Puppet to Character in the Work of Bread and Puppet Theater," Fifty Years Bread & Puppet: Cheap Art and Political Theater, Boston College, Chestnut Hill, MA, September 2013.
Comments on Ira Newman, "Blue Tigers and Black Holes: Imagining Logical Impossibility in Borges' Fictional World," American Society for Aesthetics, Eastern Division, Philadelphia, PA, April 2012.
"Harry Potter and the Rescue from Realism: A Novel Defense of Anti-Realism about Fictional Characters," Faculty Research Forum, Marist College, Poughkeepsie, NY, April 2012.
Comments on Esa Diaz-Leon, "What is Social Construction?," Society for Analytic Feminism Group Session, American Philosophical Association, Central Division, Minneapolis, MN, March 2011.
"A Feminist Argument against Free Choice," Women and Society Conference, Marist College, Poughkeepsie, NY, October 2009.
“Reply to Everett’s ‘Against Fictional Realism,’” American Society for Aesthetics, Pacific Division, Pacific Grove, CA, April 2009.
