Lucas Thorpe

Lucas Thorpe serves as Assistant Professor in the Philosophy Department at Boğaziçi University, Istanbul, with prior teaching appointments at Bilkent University and the University of St Andrews. He holds a Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania under Paul Guyer's supervision.

Education:

• Ph.D., University of Pennsylvania, USA

Research Focus: Thorpe's scholarship centers on Kantian philosophy and early modern thought, examining connections between Kant's logic, metaphysics, and ethical-political ideals like the Realm of Ends. His work reveals how Kant's pre-critical metaphysical concerns about autonomous interaction underpin mature ethical frameworks. He extensively explores moral psychology, impossible ideals, and the intelligible-empirical character distinction in Kant, while bridging historical and contemporary thought through the British realist tradition (Reid to Williamson) and Pittsburgh school (Sellars, McDowell).

Publication Trends: Recent articles demonstrate sustained engagement with Kant's epistemology and political philosophy alongside Reid's legacy, emphasizing realism in perception-action relationships and normative community foundations. Recurring themes include belief-perception dynamics, virtue ethics, and cross-tradition analyses connecting 18th-century philosophy to modern debates in experimental philosophy and political theory.

Research Leadership: Thorpe directs an ongoing BAP project (2019-) on 'Kant, Reid and Contemporary Moral Psychology', having previously led TÜBİTAK-funded work on conceptual foundations (2014-2017) and comparative political philosophy projects (2015-2018). He organizes weekly reading groups featuring prominent visitors like Timothy Williamson, fostering transnational scholarly exchange on realist epistemological traditions.

Academic Engagement: He teaches advanced seminars including 'Contemporary Kantian Ethics', 'Later Kant', and 'Knowledge and Belief', while maintaining active research on Islamist political philosophy through long-term analysis of Qutb and Aquinas.