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Benjamin Norris

@benjaminnorris.bsky.social

560 followers 340 following 410 posts

Philosopher for hire. AOS: German Idealism, Contemporary Continental. AOC: Modern Philosophy, History of Philosophy, Social and Political Philosophy. Author of Schelling and Spinoza: Realism, Idealism, and the Absolute.

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Benjamin Norris @benjaminnorris.bsky.social · Oct 7

Schelling and Spinoza: Realism, Idealism, and the Absolute.

sunypress.edu/Books/S/Sche...

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Benjamin Norris @benjaminnorris.bsky.social · 10h

Got invited to participate in something pretty cool so I'm back on that weirdness.

"Among other visitations, the iridescent flash assumes the shape of a siren" (476).

Gabriel Catren's "Pleromatica" picture with other books and a beer.

Benjamin Norris @benjaminnorris.bsky.social · 1d

I'm begging you to stop using a blurry close-up of this dude's face for all of these articles.

Benjamin Norris @benjaminnorris.bsky.social · 2d

I'm so beat! 2 hours in traffic, 3 classes back to back of an hour and fifteen minutes each, followed immediately by an hour and fifteen minute talk.

Huge thanks to the students and faculty at Rowan for comments and questions on my paper. Other than the traffic I loved every minute.

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Benjamin Norris @benjaminnorris.bsky.social · 2d

5 pm today!

Benjamin Norris @benjaminnorris.bsky.social · 13d

I'm doing a thing at Rowan on October 8th. If you're in the area and want to hear me talk about miracles and the politics of sufficient reason in Spinoza and Schelling come by!

Benjamin Norris @benjaminnorris.bsky.social · 4d

I've started experimenting with using individual sized dry erase boards in my Ethics class in an attempt to keep students more engaged throughout the session. Has anyone else tried this? Got any tips?

Benjamin Norris @benjaminnorris.bsky.social · 6d

I miss Interfolio. Navigating all these individual university websites is a pain.

Benjamin Norris @benjaminnorris.bsky.social · 7d

Finally finished it. Honestly a bit of a slog but the chapters were mercifully short. I was disappointed by Nail's lack of engagement with German idealism (e.g. Hegel too thought of matter as matter in motion and Schelling also deployed the image of a stream and its eddies as a model for nature).

Benjamin Norris @benjaminnorris.bsky.social · 24d

Started reading Thomas Nail's "Theory of the Earth". So far it's a bit out there. It kind of reminds me of DeLanda's "A Thousand Years of Nonlinear History" but on a much larger scale.

"Our earth is not a ground, but a tiny metastable region of an unstable and dying universe" (23).

"Theory of the Earth" by Thomas Nail pictured with a beer.

Benjamin Norris @benjaminnorris.bsky.social · 7d

I feel like a bunch of dem politicians read that Chris Hayes book and thought they could just stop there.

Benjamin Norris @benjaminnorris.bsky.social · 8d

Maybe I'm dumb. But what exactly are the above mentioned topics? Both "western philosophy" and "broadly"?

Benjamin Norris @benjaminnorris.bsky.social · 8d

My toxic trait is that I think watching enough "Life Below Zero" could prepare more the parts of this job that I am absolutely unqualified to perform.

Benjamin Norris @benjaminnorris.bsky.social · 10d

I feel like "open broadly construed" needs to be a new AOS/AOC in philosophy job postings.

Benjamin Norris @benjaminnorris.bsky.social · 10d

My review of Kirill Chepurin's wonderful book "Bliss Against the World: Schelling, Theodicy, and the Crisis of Modernity" is now available online.

I hope you enjoy. Kirill's book was a pleasure to read and hopefully I was able to capture some of that.

Symphilosophie @symphilosophie.bsky.social · 10d

Preprints of four new book reviews have just been published on our website!! symphilosophie.com/preprints-20...

1). Schelling on Trial: On Kirill Chepurin’s Bliss Against the World: Schelling, Theodicy, and the Crisis of Modernity (Oxford UP, 2025).

Review essay @benjaminnorris.bsky.social

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Benjamin Norris @benjaminnorris.bsky.social · 11d

I think it was one exit before Ben Franklin bridge. Honestly it's a bit of a blur.

Benjamin Norris @benjaminnorris.bsky.social · 11d

I676 East. The cop said "yeah this happens here all the time" and I wanted to yell "don't you think that's a problem!?!??!"

Benjamin Norris @benjaminnorris.bsky.social · 11d

I was excited to teach Aristotle on wonder and book 1 of Kant's Groundwork today but the universe (and the disastrous Philadelphia highways) had other plans for me. I'm all good, but the car looks pretty messed up. Versa vs. tractor trailer = no more Versa.

Benjamin Norris @benjaminnorris.bsky.social · 11d

"Absolute Dialetheism:
Hegel, Schelling and the End of Alterity" by Greg Moss (@philosophermoss.bsky.social) has a cover and it looks great! Very excited for this one.

May 2026

edinburghuniversitypress.com/book-absolut...

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Benjamin Norris @benjaminnorris.bsky.social · 12d

The workshop was great. Very much looking forward to sharing my paper with everyone once it's finally all finished.

Also, despite being there for less than 48 hours, Chicago is awesome. Hadn't been in over a decade but I really enjoyed it.

Benjamin Norris @benjaminnorris.bsky.social · 15d

Turns out there’s a poster with all the info. I had no idea.

Benjamin Norris @benjaminnorris.bsky.social · 12d

If you're into early 2000s anti-capitalist rap, "I Phantom" by Mr. Lif is pretty hard to top (in my opinion).

"The purpose of our life is just to serve the economy
They misinform our minds to paint a picture of harmony"
(Live From the Plantation)

Vinyl cover of "I Phantom" by Mr. Lif pictured on top of record player.

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Benjamin Norris @benjaminnorris.bsky.social · 13d

I'm doing a thing at Rowan on October 8th. If you're in the area and want to hear me talk about miracles and the politics of sufficient reason in Spinoza and Schelling come by!

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Benjamin Norris @benjaminnorris.bsky.social · 15d

Turns out there’s a poster with all the info. I had no idea.

Benjamin Norris @benjaminnorris.bsky.social · 15d

Off to Chicago for a workshop on monism, ethics, and politics. Giving a version of my monism and miracles paper. Looking forward to the feedback.

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Benjamin Norris @benjaminnorris.bsky.social · 17d

"If the opposite of pro is a con then look beyond this
The opposite of congress must be progress"

Cage "Grand Ol’ Party Crash"

Benjamin Norris @benjaminnorris.bsky.social · 19d

I've gotta say based on the number of job listings I've seen so far, this is going to be a pretty brutal year for philosophers looking for work. But hey, at least everything is getting more expensive at the same time.

Benjamin Norris @benjaminnorris.bsky.social · 21d

Rewatching "The Ninth Gate". A charming movie about a man looking for a book.

Benjamin Norris @benjaminnorris.bsky.social · 21d

Proofs!!! I'm very excited to share this one with you all. Huge thanks to Kirill and @symphilosophie.bsky.social.

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