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Home: Our Faculty: Brooklyn College Faculty:

Catherine Kemp

Assc Professor   Department: Philosophy   Location: 3315 Boylan Hall   Phone: 718-951-5000 x6213   Fax: 718-951-4675   Email:

I come to Brooklyn College from the philosophy departments at Penn State and the University of Colorado at Denver. I'm currently working on a book about the empiricism of David Hume. I'm also a pre-law adviser for the College. Thinking about going to law school? Start here: http://www.lsac.org/ http://www.equaljusticeworks.org/resources Education: J.D., University of Texas School of Law - 1996 (Law, with honors) Ph.D., S.U.N.Y. Stony Brook - 1995 (Philosophy. Dissertation: The Importance of 'Mere Conception' in David Hume's Theory of Belief.) M.A., S.U.N.Y. Stony Brook - 1990 (Philosophy) B.A., Earlham College - 1987 (Philosophy. College Honors, Phi Beta Kappa) Areas of Expertise: Philosophy of Law Modern Philosophy Books and Publications Review: Fred Wilson, The External World and Our Knowledge of It, Hume Studies. (Books and Publications: Forthcoming Publications) 2009 Review: Frederic Kellogg, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., Legal Theory, and Judicial Restraint, Philosophical Inquiry. (Books and Publications: Forthcoming Publications) 2009 Review: Ryan Nichols, Thomas Reid's Theory of Perception, Hume Studies, vol. 33, no. 2. (Books and Publications: Other Article) 2008 "Contrariety in Hume" New Essays on David Hume, Emilio Mazza and Emanuele Ronchetti, eds., (Milan: FrancoAngeli, 2007). (Books and Publications: Chapter) 2007 Review: Feminist Interpretations of David Hume, ed. Anne Jaap Jacobsen, Hypatia, vol. 20, no. 1 (2005), pp. 206-209. (Books and Publications: Other Article) 2005 "Our Ideas in Experience: Hume's Examples in 'Of scepticism with regard to our senses'" The British Journal of the History of Philosophy, vol. 13, no. 3 (2004), pp. 445-470. (Books and Publications: Peer Reviewed Article) 2004 "Experience Matters: Indifference and Determination in Hume's Treatise" Journal of Speculative Philosophy, vol. 16, no. 4 (2002), pp. 243-255. (Books and Publications: Peer Reviewed Article) 2002 "Law's Inertia: Custom in Logic and Experience" Studies in Law, Politics, and Society, vol. 25 (2002), pp. 135-149. (Books and Publications: Peer Reviewed Article) 2002 Co-editor, Habermas and Pragmatism_ (Routledge, 2002). (Books and Publications: Edited Book) 2002 "The Innateness Charge: Conception and Belief for Reid and Hume" Reid Studies, vol. 3, no. 2 (2000), pp. 43-54. (Books and Publications: Peer Reviewed Article) 2000 "Two Meanings of the Term 'Idea': Acts and Contents in Hume's Treatise" Journal of the History of Ideas, vol. 61, no. 4 (2000), pp. 675-690. (Books and Publications: Peer Reviewed Article) 2000 "Habermas among the Americans: Some Reflections on the Common Law" Exploring Habermas on Law and Democracy, Symposium Issue, Denver University Law Review, vol. 76, no. 4 (1999), pp. 961-975. (Books and Publications: Other Article) 1999 "The Uses of Abstraction: Remarks on Interdisciplinary Efforts in Law and Philosophy" Coercion: An Interdisciplinary Examination of Coercion, Exploitation, and the Law, Symposium Issue, Denver University Law Review, vol. 74, no. 4 (1997), pp. 877-888. (Books and Publications: Other Article) 1997 Awards, Honors and Fellowships PSC-CUNY 39 Research Award 2008-2009 (Grants and Fellowships) 2008 Excellence in Teaching Award, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, University of Colorado at Denver. (Awards and Honors) 2001 Dean's Achievement Award, Legal Scholarship, University of Texas School of Law, Spring 1995. (Awards and Honors) 1995 Dean's Acheivement Award, Sociology of Law, University of Texas School of Law, Fall 1994. (Awards and Honors) 1994 Dean's Achievement Award, History of American Law, University of Texas School of Law, Fall 1994. (Awards and Honors) 1994 Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums "Experience as a Cause in Hume" Conference: Reading Hume's Treatise of Human Nature, Department for the History and Philosophy of Science, Cambridge University, September 9, 2008. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2008 "Hume and Darwin: The Prehistory of Pragmatic Notions of Experience" Summer Institute in American Philosophy, University of Colorado, Boulder, July 9, 2008. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Conference Presentation) 2008 "Hume-Rousseau Reconsidered" Hume Society, Annual Meeting, University of Toronto, Ontario, July 22, 2005. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Conference Presentation) 2005 "Contrariety and the Proper Relation between 'Fancy' and 'Experiment' in Hume's Treatise" Third Annual Reid Symposium: Scottish Philosophy, Aberdeen, Scotland, July 13, 2004. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Conference Presentation) 2004 "Hume's Nature" Department of Philosophy, Pennsylvania State University, November 5, 2004. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2004 "The Michigan Decisions" SAAP at SPEP, Boston, November 6, 2003. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2003 "Hume and Reid on Mere Conception" Department of Philosophy, Colorado State University, April 30, 1999. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 1999 "Hume's Mistake in Treatise I.iv.2" Intermountain Early Modern Philosophy Seminar, University of Colorado at Boulder, April 19, 1998. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 1998 "Remarks on Jurgen Habermas' Between Facts and Norms" University of Denver College of Law, November 5, 1997. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 1997 Professional Leadership College Pre-law Faculty Advisor (joint), June 2009-present. (Professional Leadership: Organizational Leadership Position) 2009 Member, Appointments Committee, Department of Philosophy, 2009-10. (Professional Leadership: Committee Service) 2009 Member, Brooklyn College Pre-law Advisory Council (to present). (Professional Leadership: Committee Service) 2009 Participant, 37th annual meeting of the Northeast Association of Pre-Law Advisors (NAPLA), Yale Law School, New Haven, June 10-12. (Professional Leadership: Organizational Leadership Position) 2009 Representative, Northeast Pre-Law Advisors Association (NAPLA), LSAC Law School Forum, New York, October 9, 2009. (Professional Leadership: Public Service) 2009 Member, Faculty Council Committee on Undergraduate Curriculum and Degree Requirements, 2008-09. (Professional Leadership: Committee Service) 2008 Member, PSC-CUNY Grant Proposal Review Panel (Professional Leadership: Committee Service) 2008 Faculty Advisor, Philosophy of Law Major, Department of Philosophy, Brooklyn College (to present). (Professional Leadership: Committee Service) 2007 Community Activities "How to Write a Philosophy Paper," Philosophy Society, Brooklyn College, September 22, 2009. 2009 Member, Brooklyn College Chapter, Phi Beta Kappa. 2009 Other Professional Activities Member, Northeast Association of Pre-Law Advisors 2009 Referee, Hume Society (from 2007). 2008 Referee, Hume Studies (from 2007). 2008 Member, Hume Society (to present). 2005 Member, Law and Society Association (to present). 1997 Symposium in Legal Theory, University of Denver College of Law (to 2001). 1996 Member, Eastern Division, American Philosophical Association (to present). 1995