This page provides an overview of my research and teaching interests. For a complete list of my scholarly work, teaching, and service, please refer to my full CV.
Areas of Specialization
Medieval and Renaissance Philosophy and Philosophical Theology (Jewish, Islamic, and Christian traditions)
Dante studies
Cusanus studies
Areas of Interest
Global Traditions of Ancient Philosophy (esp., Greco-Roman, Levantine, Indian, and Chinese traditions)
Moral Agency and Free Will Skepticism
Critical Theory and Hermeneutics
Spinoza
Pre-Modern History of Science
Monism and Panpsychism
Selected Publications
(for complete list, please see full CV)
Mystical Theology and Renaissance Platonism in the Time of Cusanus, co-edited with Sean Hannan, Joshua Hollmann, and Michael Moore, Studies in the History of Christian Traditions, vol. 201. Leiden: E. J. Brill, 2023.
Reviewed: (1) Garcia, B. (2025). Renaissance Quarterly 78(1), 281-283. (2) Leroux, G. (2024). RELIER, 31(1).
Nicholas of Cusa and Times of Transition, co-edited with Thomas Izbicki and Donald Duclow, Studies in the History of Christian Traditions, vol. 188. Leiden: E. J. Brill, 2018.
Reviewed: (1) Halff, M. (2020). Renaissance Quarterly, 73(3), 1076-1077. (2) Mellon, J. G. (2020). The Sixteenth Century Journal 51(2), 533-535
“Beatrice’s Provocative Perspective on Freedom and Moral Responsibility in the Divine Comedy.” In “Make It New: The Many Dantes of the Twenty-First Century,” edited by Maria Luisa Ardizzone. Special Issue, Studj romanzi. Nuova serie 19 (2023): 17-46.
“Intellectual Virtues and Attention to Kairos in Maimonides and Dante” in The Edinburgh Critical History of Medieval and Renaissance Philosophy, edited by Richard Lee and Andrew Lazella, 234-248. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2020.
“Faith as Poiesis in Nicholas of Cusa’s Pursuit of Wisdom” in Nicholas of Cusa in Ages of Transition, edited by Thomas Izbicki, Jason Aleksander, and Donald Duclow, 197-218. Leiden: E. J. Brill, 2018.
Public Engagement
Aleksander, Jason and Filippo Gianferrari, “A Philosopher’s Guide for Getting Out of Hell: Dante’s Divine Comedy,” for Wanna Talk Philosophy? public events series, San Jose Public Library, July 30, 2025
Aleksander, Jason and John Bugbeee, “Paradiso 4: Freedom, Truth, and Violence Against the Will,” in Canto per Canto: Talking with Dante in Our Time YouTube series, curated by NYU Italian Studies and Casa Italiana Zerilli-Marimò in cooperation with The Dante Society of America, 2021
Aleksander, Jason and Arielle Saiber, “Dante as Poet and Philosopher,” in Reason and Beauty in the Renaissance webinar series, curated by the Lumen Christi Institute, University of Chicago, in collaboration with the American Cusanus Society 2020
Courses Taught
Ancient Philosophy (global traditions)
Medieval and Renaissance Philosophy
Human Nature and the Meaning of Life
Philosophy and Literature
Seminars/Special Topics:
Dante’s Divine Comedy
The Philosophy of Nicholas of Cusa
The Timaeus and Medieval Neoplatonism
Spinoza’s Ethics
Myths and Concepts of Human Fallenness in Literature, Philosophy, and Religion
The Emerging Conception of a “Global Community” in the Middle Ages