Prof. Dr. Sebastian Bender

Personal Information

Sebastian Bender’s teaching and research focuses on early modern philosophy. It is primarily concerned with the metaphysics, epistemology, and philosophy of mind of this era. His work deals with figures such as Francisco Suárez, René Descartes, Nicolas Malebranche, Arnold Geulincx, Baruch de Spinoza, Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, Anne Conway, John Locke, Margaret Cavendish, George Berkeley, David Hume, Catharine Trotter Cockburn, and Immanuel Kant.

Previously, he was junior professor for the history of philosophy at Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, lecturer at the philosophy department at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, and visiting lecturer at Rice University in Houston.

During the winter term 2025/26, he is fellow at the Human Abilities Centre for Advanced Studies in the Humanities in Berlin.

Selected Publications

1. "Not So Simple! Primitive Concepts and the Threat of Spinozism in the Pre-Critical Kant." Analysis (early view).

2. "Descartes's Argument for Modal Voluntarism." Inquiry 68.7 (2025): 2085-2109.

3. "Powers and Abilities in Early Modern Philosophy." ed. together with Dominik Perler. New York: Routledge (2024).

4. “Spinoza on the Essences of Singular Things.” Ergo 9.10 (2023): 1-24.

5. “Localizing Violations of the Principle of Sufficient Reason—Leibniz on the Modal Status of the PSR.” Journal of Modern Philosophy 4.1 (2022): 1-20.

6. “Hume’s Deep Anti-Contractarianism.” Hume Studies 47.1 (2022): 103-129.

7. “Anne Conway’s Metaphysics of Change.” History of Philosophy Quarterly 39.1 (2022): 21-44.

8. “Leibniz and the ‘petites réflexions’.” Archiv für Geschichte der Philosophie 102.4 (2020): 619-645.

9. “Is Leibniz's Principle of the Identity of Indiscernibles Necessary or Contingent?” Philosophers’ Imprint 19.42 (2019): 1-20.

10. "Leibniz’ Metaphysik der Modalität." Berlin: De Gruyter (2016).