Joseph Hamilton

Joseph Hamilton

jdh2209@columbia.edu

CV

I am a PhD Candidate in Philosophy at Columbia University. I work in the history of philosophy and ethics. My BA was in Philosophy at King’s College London, and I did an MPhil in Intellectual History at the University of Cambridge. For the 2025-2026 academic year I was a DAAD research fellow at the University of Potsdam.

My dissertation is on the concept of evil in Kant’s and Hegel’s accounts of rational agency, and what contemporary moral psychology and ethics might learn from it. In future, I hope to show its importance for political philosophy as well.

Vices I am currently thinking about include hypocrisy, conceitedness, and miserliness.

Research

  1. Under review

    A paper on Kant's concept of weakness

  2. Under review

    A paper on Fichte's account of evil and its relationship to blame

  3. In progress (comments welcome)

    Kant against Akrasia (pdf)

  4. In progress (comments welcome)

    Hegel's Concept of Forgiveness (pdf)

Teaching

Political Philosophy (pdf)     Existentialism (pdf)