Assistant Professor of Philosophy
Research Interests
I specialize in Early Modern Philosophy and Metaphysics, but I also find Philosophy of Religion, Political Philosophy, and Renaissance Philosophy to be terribly interesting. I am particularly interested in the philosopher Benedict/Baruch/Bento de Spinoza, his historical antecedents, and his bold metaphysical views.
Furthermore, I am fascinated by wild metaphysical questions, such as:
– What is the nature of eternity?
– What does it mean to individuate a singular being?
– What is the metaphysical nature of relations?
I love investigating how the concepts and ideas developed in a different era shape the ways we understand our current world.
I am currently completing a manuscript on Baruch Spinoza’s concept of individuality and relationality, and I have an active research project on Anne Conway’s philosophy of transcendence.
You can learn more about my research on the following platforms:
Academia profile: https://vanderbilt.academia.edu/EmanueleCosta
PhilPeople profile: philpeople.org/profiles/emanuele-costa
Representative publications
“Spinoza and Scholastic Philosophy”, in Y. Melamed (ed.), Blackwell Companion to Spinoza (2021).
“Discrimination, Othering, and the Political Instrumentalizing of Pandemic Disease”, with M. Baradel (2020).
“Whole-Parts Relations in Early Modern Philosophy”, in Encyclopedia of Early Modern Philosophy and the Sciences (2021).
“Leibniz on Relations: From (Soft) Reductionism to the Expression of the Universe” (2016).
“A Systemic Spinoza: a Gateway to a Systemic Interpretation of Spinoza’s Thought” (2014).