Sean Kelsey works on ancient philosophy, especially Plato and Aristotle. He joined the faculty in 2025, receiving his BA from Thomas Aquinas College (1992) and his PhD in Philosophy from Princeton University (1997). Before coming to Chicago he had permanent appointments at Iowa State University (1997-98), UCLA (1998-2009), and the University of Notre Dame (2009-2025).
Selected Publications
Newman on the indefectibility of certitude: prolegomena to critical appraisal. In F. Aquino and J. Milburn, Newman and Contemporary Philosophy (Routledge, forthcoming), 63-83.
On Generation and Corruption II 11. In P. Dimas, A. Falcon, and S. Kelsey (eds.), Aristotle, On Generation and Corruption Book II. Introduction, Translation, and Interpretative Essays (Cambridge, 2022), 243-57.
Mind and World in Aristotle’s De Anima (Cambridge, 2021).
Limited government in Plato’s Republic. Philosophia 47 (2017), 50-70.
Empty words. In D. Ebrey (ed.), Theory and Practice in Aristotle’s Natural Science (Cambridge 2015), 199-216.
Truth and value in Plato’s Republic. Philosophy 88 (2013), 197-218.
Physics 199a8-12. Apeiron 44 (2011), 1-12.
Hylomorphism in Aristotle’s Physics. Ancient Philosophy 30 (2010), 107-24.
The argument of Metaphysics vi 3. Ancient Philosophy 24 (2004), 119-34.
Aristotle’s definition of nature. Oxford Studies in Ancient Philosophy 25 (2003), 59-87.
Recent Courses
PHIL 21727 Plato and his Predecessors
A close reading of Plato’s Hippias Major, Protagoras, and Gorgias. (A)
PHIL 55806 Aristotle’s Metaphysics Book Theta
A close reading of Aristotle’s Metaphysics Θ, along with Jonathan Beere’s Doing and Being. (III)
PHIL 25104/35104 Aristotle’s De Anima
A careful study of Aristotle’s De Anima in its entirety. (B)