Expert in: Marx
MACDONALD, Iain
Professeur titulaire
My research interests lie mainly in the historical tension between critical theory (mainly Adorno) and phenomenology (mainly Heidegger and Husserl), and in the historical roots of this tension. More specifically, I am interested in the role played by the concept of possibility in these 2 great traditions of European philosophy. This issue is at the heart of my research in different areas: the dialectic heritage (temporality and Hegel), practical philosophy (Marx and the possibility of emancipation, Hegel and the concept of education, Adorno and the possibility of autonomy), aesthetics (works of art as expressions of human or social potentials) and metaphysics (the concept of horizon for Husserl, modality and the priority of actuality in the history of philosophy).
Winner of the Université de Montréal university-wide Teaching Prize, 2014
Winner of the Faculty of Arts and Science Teaching Prize, Université de Montréal, 2013.