Ben entered the doctoral program in 2016 after studying at Bard College and Humboldt Universität zu Berlin. He received his B.A. from Bard College in 2015, with a joint major in philosophy and German Studies. His thesis explored Hermann Hesse’s mediation of the Schopenhauerian and Nietzschean worldviews in Siddhartha. Current research interests include: Goethe, Realism, and post-Kantian philosophy (specifically Schopenhauer, Nietzsche, Hegel, and Heidegger).
