About
Sean M. Costello is a doctoral candidate in Philosophy, where he is working on early modern philosophy. His dissertation is titled Early Modern Dualisms: Descartes, More, and Clarke. Tad Schmaltz is the chair of his committee.
He holds an undergraduate degree in philosophy from the University of Notre Dame and a master’s degree in ancient philosophy from the University of Oxford (Hertford College).
His current research in early modern philosophy focuses on arguments for, and defences of, substance dualism, the relation of consciousness to the mind, and accounts of individual mental states and faculties. He has explored these themes in the writings of figures such as Descartes, Henry More, Anne Conway, Samuel Clarke, and Émilie Du Châtelet. He has also done work in ancient and medieval philosophy on figures such as Plato, Aristotle, Chrysippus, and Aquinas.
Representative Publications
- 'Anne Conway on Memory'. British Journal for the History of Philosophy 31.5 (2023). 912-931. Available here.
- 'Nocturnal Vision in Plato's Timaeus'. Ancient Philosophy 44.1 (2024). 59-81. Available here.
- 'Aristotle on Light and Vision: An "Ecological" Interpretation'. Apeiron 55.2 (2022). 247-279. Available here.
AOS:
- Early Modern Philosophy
- Ancient Philosophy
AOC:
- Medieval Philosophy
- Philosophy of Mind
- Metaphysics
