Education
Ph.D. Philosophy, Columbia University, 1998
M.A. Philosophy, Columbia University, 1993
B.A. Philosophy and History of Science, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 1990
Research Interests
Early Modern Philosophy and Science (especially Leibniz and Spinoza); The Life Sciences in Early Modern Philosophy; Philosophy of Biology, Multiculturalism, Wittgenstein
Academic Appointments
2020– Head of Humanities and Arts Department, Technion, Israel Institute of Technology.
2011-17 Head of the Philosophy Department, Bar-Ilan University
2011 Philosophy Department, Bar-Ilan University: Associate Professor
2010-13 Philosophy Department, Fordham University: Associate Professor
2009 Philosophy Department, Fordham University: Assistant Professor
2006 Philosophy Department, Bar-Ilan University: Senior Lecturer
2003 Philosophy Department, Bar-Ilan University: Lecturer
1998-03 Tel-Hai Academic College, School of Humanities and Social Sciences: Lecturer
Visiting Appointments
2019 Institute for Advanced Studies, IEA, Paris
2017 The Institute for Advanced Studies, Princeton, School for Historical Studies.
2009-10 Philosophy Department, Princeton University, Visiting fellow.
2008 École Normale Supérieure, France, Invited Professor.
2007-08 Philosophy Department, Princeton University, Visiting fellow.
2004- 05 Philosophy Department, Lehigh University.
1996-97 École Normale Supérieure, France, Research Fellow.
Teaching Experience
2010-15 Bar-Ilan University: Modern Philosophy; Texts in Modern Philosophy; Philosophy; Philosophical Tales; Spinoza and Leibniz.
2011-12 Fordham University: Leibniz and Spinoza, Philosophy of Human Nature.
2009-10 Fordham University: Philosophy of Human Nature; Modern Philosophy; The Philosophy of Wittgenstein.
2008-09 Bar-Ilan University: Modern Philosophy; Texts in Modern Philosophy; Kant’s Philosophy; Wittgenstein’s Philosophy; Philosophy of Biology.
2006-07 Bar-Ilan University: Introduction to Modern Philosophy; Texts in Modern Philosophy; Reading in Kant’s First Critique; Wittgenstein’s Philosophy.
Tel-Hai Academic College: Introduction to Game Theory.
2005-06 Bar-Ilan University: Introduction to Modern Philosophy; Texts in Modern Philosophy; Multiculturalism in Israel; Leibniz’s Metaphysics.
2004-05 Lehigh University: Leibniz and Locke; Philosophical Tales.
2003-04 Bar-Ilan University: Introduction to Modern Philosophy; Texts in Modern Philosophy; Topics in the Philosophy of Biology; Leibniz’s Metaphysics.
2002-03 Bar-Ilan University: Introduction to Modern Philosophy; Texts in Modern Philosophy; Leibniz and Spinoza; The Notion of the Self in the Modern Period.
Tel-Hai Academic College: History of Science in the Modern Period; Logic, Philosophical Tales; Dialogue in Multicultural Society.
2001-02 Bar-Ilan University: Introduction to Modern Philosophy; Texts in Modern Philosophy; The Enlightenment and its Critics; Leibniz and Spinoza.
Tel-Hai Academic College: History of Science in the Modern Period; Introduction to the Philosophy of Education, Philosophical Tales.
2000-01 Bar-Ilan University: Introduction to Modern Philosophy; Texts in Modern Philosophy; The Enlightenment and its Critics.
Tel-Hai Academic College: Science and Philosophy, Philosophical Texts.
1999-00 Bar-Ilan University: Introduction to Modern Philosophy.
Tel-Hai Academic College: Introduction to Modern Philosophy; Philosophical Topics in the Theory of Evolution; Negotiation in Multicultural Society; Political Philosophy.
1998-99 Tel-Hai Academic College: History of Science in the Modern Period; Descartes, Spinoza and Leibniz; Philosophical Topics in the Theory of Evolution; Negotiation in Multicultural Society; Introduction to Greek Philosophy.
1997-8 Tel-Hai Academic College: Moral Philosophy; Political Philosophy; Philosophy of Language.
1995-96 New York University: Introduction to Philosophy.
1994-95 Columbia University: Self and Society.
1993-94 Columbia University: Elementary Logic (fall and Spring semesters).
1992-93 Columbia University, Teaching Assistant: Moral Philosophy.
1991-92 Jewish Theological Seminary, New York: Modern Hebrew.
Research Grants
2015 Internal Research Grant, Bar Ilan University (29,000 NS).
2013-16 Israel Science Foundation: 3 years Grant for “Infinity and Life” (270,000 NS).
2012 “Leibnizian Encounters with Infinity”, reviewed by the Israel Science Foundation and received a High Mark score.
2012 Fordham University Faculty Fellowship Research Grant (paid leave for the Fall).
2011 “Leibnizian Encounters with Infinity”, reviewed by the Israel Science Foundation and received a High Mark score.
2009-10 Fordham University Faculty Research Grant.
2008-11 Israel Science Foundation: 3 years Grant for “Leibniz and the Nested Structure of Living Beings.”
2006-08 Israel Science Foundation: 2 years Grant for “Advances in Gene Expression Profiling and the Conceptualization of Genotype/Phenotype Relations”.
2001 Canada Foundation: Grant to support the publication of Examining Multiculturalism in Israel.
2000 Canada Foundation: Grant to support Examining Multiculturalism in Israel.
1997-99 Tel-Hai Academic College: Several Research and Travel Grants.
1997-99 Ministry of Science, Israel: Grant for Returning Scientists.
1996-98 French Government: Scholarship for research at the ENS, France.
1997 French Government: Grant for Research during the Summer (CROUS).
1996 The Hebrew University: Post-doctoral (Lady Davis) Fellowship (declined).
1992-96 Columbia University: President’s Doctoral Fellowships.
1992 The Mellon Foundation: Summer Fellowship for Language studies.
1991 The Hebrew University: Rachel Romano Prize for Outstanding Achievement.
1990 The Hebrew University: Dean’s List.
1987-90 The Hebrew University: Scholarships for the B.A.
Professional Activities
Referee
Cambridge University Press, Oxford University Press, Polity Press, Journal for the History of Philosophy, Archiv für Geschichte der Philosophie, British Journal for the History of Philosophy, Journal of Philosophical Research, Journal of Early Modern Studies (JEMS), Iyuun.
Conference Organization
2015 The annual NYC Workshop in Early Modern Philosophy, Fordham University, March, 7-8, 2015.
2013-14 Organizing the annual NYC Workshop in Early Modern Philosophy, Fordham University, March 22-23rd (with Reed Winegar).
2012 Organizing the annual NYC Workshop in Early Modern Philosophy, at Fordham University.
2012 Nomination as board member in the Leibniz Society of North America.
2011 Organizing the 2nd NYC Workshop in Early Modern Philosophy, Fordham University, November 20-21.
2011 Organizing (with Justin Smith) The Life Sciences in Early Modern Philosophy, Princeton University, May 7-8.
2010 Initiating and organizing the 1st NYC Workshop in Early Modern Philosophy, Fordham University, February.
2008 Member of the Organizing Committee of the International Workshop on “Transformations of Lamarckism”, June, Tel-Aviv and Jerusalem.
2008 Organizing (with Justin Smith) a conference on Organisms, Corporeal Substances, and Natural machines in Leibniz, Paris, Sorbonne, March 14-15.
2006 Organizing Committee of the Annual Conference of the Israeli Association for Philosophy, February 22, responsible for an international session on Modern Philosophy.
2006 Organizing (with Lucas Thorpe) an international conference Leibniz and Kant, Bilknet University, Ankara, Turkey.
2005 Organizing Committee for the international conference Leibniz: What Kind of a Rationalist, Jerusalem and Tel-Aviv.
1999 Organizing a Conference on Multiculturalism in Israel at Tel-Hai Academic College
1999 Organizing a session on Multicultural Theory and the Israeli Society at PRAGMA99, an International Conference on Pragmatics and Negotiation at Tel-Aviv University
1998 Organizing a Conference on Science and Philosophy at Tel-Hai Academic College, published in Iyyun, 48, 1999.
Talks and Invited Lectures
* ENS Lyon: On Living Mirrors and Mites: Leibniz’s Encounter with Pascal on Infinity and the Nature of Living Things, February 5th, 2015.
* Embodiment – workshop as part of OPC volume preparations, Paris, December 12, 13, 2014.
* Leibniz Society of North America, Yale, October 18-20, 2013.
* Princeton/Bucharest Seminar in Early Modern Philosophy, Bran, July, 2013: Leibniz and Pascal.
* Israel/Mid Atlantic Seminar June, 2013: Spinoza on Agency and Necessity.
* The Actual and the Possible, British Society for the History of Philosophy Conference, Invited Speaker, University of Manchester, April 16-18, 2013.
* Leibniz Conference, Oxford University, March 16-17, 2013: Leibniz and Pascal.
* The Annual Meeting of the Israel Association for Philosophy, Bar-Ilan University, February 18th, 2013: (invited talk) Rethinking the Genotype/Phenotype Distinction.
* The sixth Annual Conference of the Leibniz Society of North America, Concordia University, Montreal, October 19-20, 2012: “What’s infinity got to do with life”?
* An International Workshop on the notion of living beings in Ancient, Early Modern, Modern & Contemporary philosophical debates, University of Zurich August 29-September 2nd: Living Being in the Early Modern Period.
* Bucharest-Princeton Seminar, June 29-July 4th, 2012: “What’s infinity got to do with life?”
* Leibniz Seminar: “Leibniz on Perception,” Sorbonne, Paris. (February 15, 2012).
* Annual meeting of the American Philosophical Association (APA), December, 27, 2011: Invited Comment on Lea F. Schweitz, “Human Uniqueness, the Species Problem, and the Image of God”.
* NY/NJ Seminar in Early Modern Philosophy: “Unity, Uniqueness and Infinity in Spinoza and Leibniz”, November, 2nd, 2011.
* IX Leibniz Kongress, Hannover, September, 26-29, 2011: Infinity in Nature and the Nature of Infinity.
* A Workshop on The Life Sciences in the Early Modern Period, Princeton University, May 7,8, 2011: Leibniz and the Logic of Life.
* The Annual meeting of the Israel HPS Society, Jerusalem, March 6, 2011: Leibniz and the Logic of Life.
* The Annual meeting of the New Israeli Association for Philosophy, the Hebrew University at Jerusalem, February 9, 2011: Leibnizian Encounters with Infinity.
* Fourth Annual Conference of the Leibniz Society of North America, 3 – 5 December 2010, University of Houston, TX: “Leibnizian Encounters with Infinity”.
* Invited talk, “Mondes, monades, sujets: Leibniz et la notion d’expression”, ‘Université Paris Ouest-Nanterre, October 28, 2010.
* Invitation to present my current research in Leibniz Seminer, at the Sorbonne, Paris, by Anne-lise Rey and Paul Rateau, October 27, 2010.
* Invited comment on Maria Roza Antonaza’s paper, Leibniz’s Theodicy Conference, Notre Dame University, September 2010.
* Mid-Atlantic Seminar in Early Modern Philosophy, Johns Hopkins University, April 18th, 2010.
* Princeton Group in Early Modern Philosophy, April 14th, 2010.
* Scottish Seminar in Early Modern Philosophy, March 5-6, 2010, Aberdeen.
* Princeton Group in Early Modern Philosophy, November, 2009.
* Invited Comment, APA Eastern Division, December, 2009 in the Early Modern Session.
* LSNA meeting, Princeton, September 2008.
* “Molecularizing Mendel,” The annual conference of the Israeli Society for History and Philosophy of Science, March 16, 2008, The Science Museum, Jerusalem (with Yaron Ramati, Zohar Yakhini, and Ayelet Shavit).
* “Leibniz on Natural and Artificial Machines”, March, 14-15, 2008, Paris.
* Presentations of 2007 Book at Princeton University (October), Columbia University (November) and ENS-lsh, Lyon (February 2008).
* Chicago Workshop in History of Modern Philosophy: “What’s Leibniz’s distinction between natural and artificial machines got to do with his view of infinity?” November 30, 2007.
* “Existence and Possibility between Leibniz and Kant.” Oxford Seminar in Early Modern Philosophy, 20-21 October, 2007.
* “Leibniz’s Comments on Spinoza’s Ethics”, Colloque international: Leibniz and Spinoza, 15-17 March 2007, Ecole Normale Supérieure – Lettres et Sciences Humaines (Lyon), France.
* Invited Comment on Ruth Garett Millikan “How Many Ways to Tell a Weasel”, Bar-Hillel Colloquium, Tel-Aviv, November 6, 2006.
* “Is Existence a Predicate and the Notion of Possibility between Leibniz and Kant”, International Conference on Leibniz and Kant, Bilknet University, Ankara Turkey August 12-24, 2006.
* “Some Analogies Between Language and Identity” Wittgenstein Symposium, Kirchberg, Austria, August 6-12, 2006.
* “Leibniz on Infinite Beings and Non-Beings”, VIII Leibniz International Congress, Hanover, July 2006.
* “Gene Expression and the Concept of Phenotype”, Annual conference of the Israel Society for History & Philosophy of Science, March 26, 2006.
* “On Names and Identity”, invited talk for the translation program at Bar-Ilan University, February, 2006.
* “Leibniz on The Greatest Being and the Greatest Number”, Midwest Seminar in Early Modern Philosophy, University of Chicago, November 12-13, 2005.
* “Leibniz’s Rationality as Intelligibility: Divine and Human”, International Conference: Leibniz: What Kind of a Rationalist, Jerusalem and Tel-Aviv, June 2005.
* “Change of Name and Change of Identity”. Lehigh University, Spring 2005: April, 24.
* Montreal Group in History of Philosophy: “Leibniz on the Greatest Being and the Greatest Number”, April, 15, 2005.
* New Israel Philosophical Association, February 17, 2005: Wittgenstein On the Scope and Formation of Internal Relations.
* “Leibniz on Nested Individuality”, University of Kentucky, February 2005.
* “Locke et Leibniz sur le composition des concepts”, University of Paris X, 2004.
* “Possibility, Agency and Individuality in the Philosophy of Leibniz”, Lecture Series at the Faculty Seminar, Lehigh university, 8-10/ 2004.
* Locke, Leibniz and Borges: Universal and Particular Concepts in the Nouveaux Essais, Nouveaux Essais Conference, The University of Montreal, October, 2004.
*”Leibniz and Russell: The Number of all Numbers and the Set of All Sets.” Leibniz and the English Speaking World, Liverpool, September, 2003.
* A Comment on Justin Smith’s “Leibniz’s on Being Embodied”, The APA, Central Division, Cleveland, April, 2003.
* “Leibniz on the Formation of Individual Concepts”, The Young Leibniz Conference, Rice University, Houston, April, 2003.
* “Agency in Nature and the Nature of Agency in Spinoza”, Journée d’Etude sur Spinoza et la Nature, May, 2002, University of Bordeau, France.
* “Leibniz on the Unity of Nested Individuals”, The Midwest Seminar in the History of Philosophy, October, 2001, University of Miami, Ohio.
* “A Prescriptive Reading of Leibniz’s Notion of the Individual and the Labyrinth of Human Freedom”, VII Leibniz’s International Congress, Berlin, September 2001.
* “Rethinking the Unit of Selection”, The Israeli Association of Philosophy, Ben-Gurion University, 17, April, 2000.
* “Leibniz on Possible Individuals”, Haifa University, 27, March, 2000.
* “Leibniz on Well-Founded Phenomena”, Columbia University, September 1999.
* “Spinoza on Activity and Necessity”, an International Conference Spinoza by 2000, Jerusalem, June 1999.
* “The Demands for Recognition and the Danger of Sterile Discussion”, PRAGMA 99, an International Conference, June 1999, Tel-Aviv.
* “The Individual’s Place in the Logical Space”, Tel Aviv University, April 1999.
* “Charles Taylor’s Notion of Personal Identity”, Multiculturalism in Israel, Tel-Hai Academic College, March 1999.
* “Leibniz’s Notion of Matter”, “Science and Philosophy” Conference, Tel-Hai Academic College, June 1998.
* “Spinoza et les normes de la logique”, March, 1998, Sorbonne, Paris.
* “Leibniz’s Notion of Possibility”, Ecole Normale Supérieure, Paris, 1998.
Ohad Nachtomy 