Joseph Arel

Joseph Arel is a Part-Time Assistant Professor of Philosophy at the University of Maine. He will teach PHI 100: Contemporary Moral Problems and PHI 232: Environmental Ethics in Fall 2024. His academic focus centers on 19th and 20th Century Continental Philosophy, particularly Hegel's conceptualizations of freedom, intersubjectivity, and cultural belonging.

• Education
  • BS in Philosophy/Sociology, University of Wisconsin–La Crosse
  • MA, University of Memphis
  • PhD, University of Guelph (advisor: Dr. John Russon)

Dr. Arel's research explores:

• Self-knowledge as an intersubjective practice in Hegel's Phenomenology of Spirit
• Marriage's role in ethical self-determination
• Contingency in moral action
• Recollection in Plato/Derrida's epistemology

He founded localphilosophy.org, a public philosophy platform connecting academic discourse with community contexts. His recent publications (2023) include works on Aristotelian anthropology, Hegelian political theory, and deconstructive readings of classical texts.

Current projects examine:

• The practical implications of Hegel's recognition dialectic
• Intersubjective origins of self-consciousness
• Cultural dimensions of philosophical agency