Associate Professor Melissa Merritt

My Expertise

Immanuel Kant (ethics, aesthetics, epistemology and metaphysics)

Ethics and Moral Psychology

History of Philosophy (esp. early modern European, and ancient Greek and Hellenistic)

Keywords

ancient Greek and Roman philosophy

history of philosophy

kant

Fields of Research (FoR)

History of philosophy, Philosophy, Ethical theory, Aesthetics

Biography

Melissa Merritt is a philosopher working primarily on the history of ethics. Her book, Kant on Reflection and Virtue (Cambridge University Press, 2018), examines how the Kantian idea of virtue is rooted in an account of the essentially reflective nature of the rational mind. Her current research examines the influence of Stoic philosophy on Immanuel Kant, particularly in ethics and moral psychology -- and from this historical foundation aims...view more

My Grants

Australian Research Council (ARC), Future Fellowship: "Reason, Value, and Virtue: Assessing the Stoic Legacy in Kantian Ethics" (FT180100494, AU$850,525), 2018-2022.

Australian Research Council (ARC), Discovery Project, Chief Investigator: "Enlightened Judgment: Reflection and Cognitive Virtue in Kant’s Critical Philosophy" (DP130100172, AU$135,000), 2013-2015.

My Qualifications

B.A. Yale University; Ph.D. University of Pittsburgh

My Awards

2022 Winner of the Annette Baier Essay Prize for "Kant and Stoic Affections" (Canadian Journal of Philosophy, 2021), Australasian Association of Philosophy

2019 Winner of the North American Kant Society Book Prize for Kant on Reflection and Virtue (Cambridge University Press, 2018)

2019 Dean's Research Award for Best Monograph for Kant on Reflection and Virtue (Cambridge University Press, 2018), UNSW Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (now ADA)

2005 Winner of the Review of Metaphysics Dissertation Essay Competition for "Science and the Synthetic Method of the Critique of Pure Reason" (Review of Metaphysics, 2004)

My Research Supervision

Supervision keywords

Areas of supervision

History of philosophy (especially Kant, early modern European, and ancient Greek, Hellenistic and Roman); ethical theory; moral psychology; aesthetics.