
SAMANTHA MATHERNE
GARDNER COWLES ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF THE HUMANITIES
DEPARTMENT OF PHILOSOPHY
HARVARD UNIVERSITY
about

I work primarily on Immanuel Kant, Post-Kantian traditions (especially Phenomenology and Neo-Kantianism), and Aesthetics. I'm interested in the relations between perception, cognition, and aesthetics, as well as the pervasive role imagination plays in our lives.
In my most recent book, Seeing More: Kant's Theory of Imagination I develop a systematic interpretation of Kant's theory of what imagination is and how it shapes our theoretical, practical, and aesthetic activities (Oxford University Press, forthcoming in 2024). I have also written the volume on the Neo-Kantian Ernst Cassirer for the Routledge Philosophers Series (Routledge; amazon).
I am currently exploring the neglected work of the early 20th-century German philosopher, Edith Landmann-Kalischer, and I have edited the first English translation of her work: Edith Landmann-Kalischer: Essays on Art, Aesthetics, and Value (translated by Daniel Dahlstrom, in Oxford's New History of Philosophy Series, 2023)
I participate in two projects oriented around rethinking the history of philosophy: Extending New Narratives and History of Women Philosophers and Scientists.