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Sonya Özbey is an Associate Professor in the Department of Philosophy at the University of Michigan. Her research primarily focuses on early Chinese thought and its connections to modern philosophy. She examines philosophical concepts and the rhetorical tools that thinkers from various historical periods have deployed to interpret and shape social worlds. Her book, "Beasts: Humans, Animals, Spinoza, Zhuangzi," published by Oxford University Press in 2024, explores the distinctions between humans and animals as articulated in the ancient Chinese text, the Zhuangzi, and in the works of the 17th-century European philosopher, Benedict de Spinoza. Özbey’s work engages with contemporary debates surrounding these distinctions and seeks to uncover the intersections between humanness, animality, solidarity, and social order as contingent on categories like gender and ability. She has contributed articles and chapters that delve into themes of personhood, the dynamics of compliance and defiance in Zhuangzi, and cross-species communication. Her scholarly outputs reflect a commitment to cross-cultural comparative philosophy and aim to illuminate the rich historical narratives informing present-day philosophical discussions.
Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science