Melina Garibovic received her PhD in Philosophy from the University of Chicago in 2023. She works in philosophy of mind, metaphysics and epistemology, though she also has interests in moral psychology, phenomenology, and aesthetics. Her dissertation, "The Reality of Persons," proposes a way to rethink the traditional problem of other minds, and introduces a solution to the problem that draws on phenomenological empathy. Building on that, her current research focuses on our understanding and knowledge of other persons, and the significance this sort of understanding has for our lives.
Recent Courses
PHIL 28505 Existentialists and Mystics
This will be a course on philosopher and novelist Iris Murdoch’s Existentialists and Mystics. We will read excerpts from Murdoch’s text alongside key figures with whom she engages: Jean-Paul Sartre, Simone Weil, and Plato. (B)
At least one prior philosophy course is strongly recommended.
PHIL 28108 The Works of Edith Stein
This will be a course on works by the philosopher Edith Stein. We will read excerpts from Alasdair Macintyre’s Edith Stein: A Philosophical Prologue, as well as Stein’s work on our knowledge of other minds and studies toward a philosophy of being. (B)
At least one prior philosophy course is strongly recommended.
PHIL 23540 Other Minds
This will be a course on the problem of other minds. We will try to understand what the problem is supposed to be by considering two formulations of it. One formulation is epistemological and has to do with how we can know (1) that there exist others like oneself, and (2) about those particular others. Another formulation is conceptual and concerns the question of where one gets the idea of another subject. Readings will be from philosophy addressing these topics.
PHIL 29902 Senior Seminar II
Students writing senior essays register once for PHIL 29901, in the Autumn Quarter, and once for PHIL 29902, in the Winter Quarter. The Senior Seminar meets for two quarters, and students writing essays are required to attend throughout.
Consent of Director of Undergraduate Studies. Required and only open to fourth-year students who have been accepted into the BA essay program.
PHIL 29901 Senior Seminar I
Students writing senior essays register once for PHIL 29901, in the Autumn Quarter, and once for PHIL 29902, in the Winter Quarter. The Senior Seminar meets for two quarters, and students writing essays are required to attend throughout.
Consent of Director of Undergraduate Studies. Required and only open to fourth-year students who have been accepted into the BA essay program.
PHIL 29200-02/29300-02 Junior/Senior Tutorial
Topic: Self and Other
In this course we consider three questions about other minds in relation to the self. First, we will try to understand the threat of solipsism--what does entertaining the thought of being the only minded being in existence amount to? How must one think of oneself and the kind of mind one has if there are no other minds? Second, we consider the question of how it is possible to have thought about other minds; or, what the difference is between thought about, for instance, inanimate objects, and thought about other human beings. What explains that our ability to distinguish these doesn't seem to be something learned? What does that tell us about the kind of mind we have? Third, we examine the basis for saying that others have certain beliefs, desires, and emotions. How do we go about making these psychological ascriptions to others? Are these attributions limited by our own experiences? How might one's understanding of others' attitudes contribute to one's self-conception? Through these three topics we will investigate what reflection on our understanding of other minds means for our understanding of ourselves.
Meets with Jr/Sr section. Open only to intensive-track and philosophy majors. No more than two tutorials may be used to meet program requirements.