James Mackey

About James

I have a Ph.D. in philosophy from the University of Western Ontario in London ON, Canada. I was born and raised in beautiful Victoria, BC. I work on the history of philosophy, in particular the history of ethics during the 17th century. However, I am also interested in the way the ideas I research connect with current day topics and issues. 

My doctoral research concerns the recovery of Stoicism in the 17th century. I argue that properly understanding Stoicism in this time period involves understanding Stoicism distinctly from the way we understand it today. We can do this by referencing the work of the “Neo-Stoics” who published a number of commentaries reinterpreting Stoicism in the late 16th and early 17th century. Most of my work is based around the idea that, once we recognize the different sense of “Stoicism” in these texts, we can reinterpret the way Neo-Stoicism figured into the moral philosophies of Descartes, Malebranche, Norris, Astell, Princess Elisabeth, and other 17th century thinkers.