Associate Professor

About

  • Role:

    Faculty

  • Position:

    • Associate Professor
    • Director of Communications

  • Concentration:

    • ethics
    • feminist theory
    • East Asian philosophies

  • Department:

    • Philosophy

  • Education:

    • PhD, University of Hawai'i, Manoa, 2009

Biography

Ashby Butnor has a PhD in comparative philosophy with emphases in East Asian philosophies and cross-cultural ethics, as well as a graduate certificate in interdisciplinary feminist studies from the University of Hawai’i, Manoa. Her work in philosophy is pluralistic in nature, with particular interest in issues of embodied knowing and moral cultivation. Her dissertation and subsequent work investigates the embodied dimensions of moral perception and action through a plurality of traditions, including the enactive theory of cognitive science, Buddhist philosophy, phenomenology, and feminist theory. The aim is to demonstrate the role of our embodied capacities (such as cognition, perception, affectivity, and action) in establishing moral concern and responsibilities, demonstrating ethical know-how, and promoting care for others.

Ashby’s co-edited volume, Asian and Feminist Philosophies in Dialogue: Liberating Traditions (Columbia University Press, 2014) introduces the field of feminist comparative philosophy and the growing dialogue between contemporary feminist theory and the classical texts and philosophical traditions of Asia. In establishing this newly defined field of inquiry, the volume includes a range of philosophical topics including issues in philosophy of mind, ethics, epistemology, social-political philosophy, and phenomenology.

Prior to CSU, Ashby held faculty and administrative positions at the University of Colorado Denver, Metropolitan State University of Denver, Wells College, and Ithaca College.  In addition to teaching and research, she has extensive experience in student success initiatives, including first-year seminars, learning communities, service learning, and global education. Some recent projects include a voyage with Semester at Sea, education abroad in Ghana, curricular and assessment work for the all-university core curriculum, and a seminar on Happiness for the Green & Gold initiative.

Publications

Recent Publications

"Fusion Philosophy and Epistemic Injustice" in the Journal of Chinese Philosophy. Volume 51, Issue 1, June 2024.

"Enactivism and Gender Performativity" with Matthew MacKenzie. In Feminist Philosophy of Mind, eds. Keya Maitra and Jennifer McWeeny. Oxford University Press, 2022.

Courses

  • IU 174B: Happiness

    This course explores different conceptions of happiness and a meaningful human life. We’ll begin by thinking about what happiness is and different ways it has been defined and understood, including well-being, tranquility, life satisfaction, desire fulfillment, and a balanced emotional core. We’ll also investigate what makes us happy and the roles of virtue, pleasure, wealth, success, relationships, gratitude, purpose, and spirituality in living a happy life. Our inquiry into this fundamental question will interweave wisdom from the ancient texts of Greece, India, and China with the most contemporary research in philosophy, cognitive science, psychology, and economics.

  • PHIL 170: World Philosophies

    This course offers an introduction to and critical engagement with several philosophical traditions from around the world. We will read and discuss great philosophical works from Greece, Rome, India, China, and Japan. For each tradition, we will examine its theory of reality, account of human personhood, and ethics, as well as how each proposes its philosophy as a way of life. You will be asked to sympathetically and critically engage with the material, your fellow classmates, and the professor. You will also be expected to reflect critically on the similarities and differences between these traditions, and on your own worldview.

  • PHIL 353: Feminist Philosophies

    This course begins by thinking through the concepts of oppression, gender, and the body that lay the foundation of feminist theory. We’ll take a detailed look at the concepts of intersectionality and world-traveling, including the phenomenology of the intersectional self and opportunities for resistance and coalition. We’ll conclude with a closer look at feminist epistemology and epistemic justice and examine how feminists both critique and contribute to the philosophical dialogue.

  • PHIL 360: Topics in Asian Philosophy (Zen)

    This course traces the history of the Zen Buddhist tradition—from its beginnings in India to its unique developments in China and Japan. The first section of the course will focus on fundamental Buddhist concepts, especially those unique to Zen, and some significant figures and sutras of the early tradition. The second section of the course will examine various forms of Zen practice, with an in-depth analysis of koan practice and seated meditation. We will conclude the class with the most significant early Japanese Zen philosopher, Dogen, as well as Zen understandings of existence, time, ethics, embodiment, and aesthetics.