Philosophy matters. And students know why.
Founded on the belief that philosophy matters, Simpliciter aims to amplify the voices of the newest generation of philosophers, and present a fresh perspective on the fundamental questions that have challenged us for millennia.
Why Simpliciter?
1. Dedicated editing team. Our editing team is composed of Brandeis University undergraduates, who have studied under a highly-ranked philosophy department. We strive to give constructive feedback and to work closely and productively with authors whose submissions are accepted.
2. Putting student works on the map. Too often quality undergraduate work in philosophy flies under the radar. In addition to a standard single-PDF format, we plan to host each accepted article on an individual webpage, and use search engine optimization to enhance the likelihood that each author's work is appreciated by a wider audience.
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3. Spring conference. While our journal is necessarily selective, a larger number of submissions may be accepted to speak at our conference (to be held in the spring or summer of 2024) and discuss philosophy with other accepted authors.
Our Team
Joseph Pendleton
President
Joey is a senior majoring in Philosophy and Environmental Studies. He is interested in moral philosophy, especially animal ethics and consequentialism, and also "enjoys" reading Wittgenstein. Outside of philosophy he is interested in public health, and likes to read and listen to music.
Sadie Giddings
Treasurer
Sadie is a sophomore majoring in Philosophy and Environmental Studies, and minoring in Studio Art. Her philosophical interests include applied ethics, aesthetics, epistemology, and political philosophy. When she isn't struggling through Kant, she enjoys art and hiking.
Qiyuan Feng
Editor-in-Chief
Qiyuan is a senior double-majoring in Philosophy and Computer Science. His unfortunately wide interests in this subject include Philosophy of Language, Philosophy of Computing, Metaphysics, Philosophy of Mind and Political Philosophy, all of which Qiyuan hopes can one day be used to improve his boxing skills.
Ray Xie
Managing Editor
Ray is a sophomore double-majoring in philosophy and history. His interests in philosophy include metaphysics, history of philosophy, existentialism, and Hegel's philosophy (he thinks). Besides this, he enjoys gaming and jazz music.
Professor Jordan Kokot
Faculty Advisor
Jordan is a Visiting Assistant Professor in Philosophy at Brandeis University and a recent PhD from Boston University. He specializes in the ethics of technology, social and political philosophy, the philosophy of art, and phenomenology. His current research is focused on the ethical, political, and phenomenological issues generated by the meteoric rise of modern digital and biomedical technologies. He focuses the ways that VR and XR technologies manipulate normative affordance structures within a broader techno-capital context, and how cyborg technologies (e.g., brain-computer interface like Neuralink) play into pernicious forms of ableist political “cure aesthetics.” He is also a co-curator of the multimedia art and literature journal, field|guide (book / IG ).
Stewart Huang
Graduate Student Advisor
Stewart received his BA/MA from Brandeis University. His philosophical interests are in metaphysics, philosophy of language, and philosophy of religion, specifically on the topic of fictional characters and the ontological argument for God’s existence. Outside of philosophy, he plays (way too many) video games like Elden Ring and the Resident Evil games. He also uploads gameplay to his YouTube channel.