Main research project

My research interests lie in phenomenology and existentialism, with a special interest in the affective phenomena, i.e. the notion of facticity and the ontological and epistemic value of emotions in that tradition. My current research project at the University of Cyprus is entitled “A New Model for Mindfulness”. The project juxtaposes aspects of Martin Heidegger’s philosophy with aspects of Stoic philosophy vis-à-vis their competing theories of emotion.

Stoic ‘mindfulness’ is the modern legacy of Cypriot philosophy, which began around 300BC when Zeno of Citium founded the Stoa. Mindfulness has been embraced by professional mental health bodies, because it helps in alleviating negative emotions, such as anxiety. Stoic philosophy is regulated by the stoic ideal of the “good life” – a life of reason, devoid of passions. It considers emotions and psychological disturbances as arising from wrongheaded cognitive appraisals: emotions are “errors of judgment”. I aim to develop a phenomenological reappraisal of Stoic mindfulness and offer an alternative model of “mindfulness”, drawing inspiration from the philosophy of Martin Heidegger. In this context, I aim to clarify Heidegger’s theory of emotions, which I provisionally call “affective realism”. For Heidegger, emotions are not cognitive appraisals. Instead, they are necessary conditions for cognitive appraisals, forming the basis of the capacity to judge as well as to perceive. Emotion is not a problem that needs to be dissolved, rather it is an essential feature without which no human life as we know it can arise and sustain itself. For more on the research project’s aim and objectives, click here.

Other Research

I also have a few other research interests. I am working on Heidegger’s interpretation of the phenomenology of Edmund Husserl, as well as certain neo-Kantian philosophers such as Heinrich Rickert. I am also interested in the way Aristotle and St Augustine affected Heidegger’s early work. I am also researching the possible overlaps between Heidegger’s early work and the work of Georg Lukács, as well as the ways Heidegger has affected the thought of Louis Althusser. I am also working on Luce Irigaray’s most recent work. I am especially concerned with her attempt to create a new ontology via a critical engagement with the work of Nietzsche, Heidegger and Hegel.