Don Beith

My Focus

I approach philosophy through studying lived experience to provide critical perspectives on environmental, technological, scientific and existential issues in contemporary life. My approach to philosophy uses developmental, interspecies, cross-cultural and ethical methods. You can read more about that in my 2018 book, The Birth of Sense: Generative Passivity in the Philosophy of Merleau-Ponty, as well as articles about expression, dance, animal experience in Kafka, the ontology and ethics of biomimicry, the impacts of digital technologies, and restorative landscapes. I am currently working on two major projects, one on a radically regenerative concept of healing in health and ecology, and a second on the ways new technologies constrain our agency. I taught across Canada before coming to UMaine, and have recently organized several conferences there as the President of the Canadian Society for Continental Philosophy. In coming years, I will serve on the executive of the Society for Phenomenology and Existential Philosophy. I am the faculty advisor for the Bikepacking club, and a Fellow at the Sustainability Center. I am open to working with undergraduate and graduate students interested in sustainability, environmental justice, developmental perspectives on learning, technology and phenomenology.

More About me

Teaching philosophy inspires me. Before coming to Maine, I taught at Algoma University, Bishop’s University, McGill University and the University of British Columbia. I am also passionate about hiking, cycling, chess, taekwondo, live music and exploring new places.