Hi there, and welcome to my personal website. I am an academic philosopher specialized in the history of early modern philosophy. 

My research focuses on 17th-C. Dutch philosopher Baruch Spinoza. Vilified by his epoch, Spinoza is particularly relevant today; he conceived a metaphysics where all things, ourselves included, are modes of the infinite and eternal substance ("God or Nature"), an ethics where we attain virtue and happiness under the guidance of reason, and a politics where democracy is the absolute form of government. 

I pursue this research as a Solmsen Fellow at the Institute for Research in the Humanities, University of Wisconsin-Madison. The fellowship supports my current book project: Spinoza and the Philosophy of War. One reason why the discipline of philosophy remains essential is that it helps us make progress on difficult but important questions, such as on the topic of war. Again, we can take our cue from Spinoza, who saw philosophy as both a highly contemplative and decidedly practical endeavor.

I hold a PhD from the Université de Paris VIII (Vincennes Saint-Denis). I hold a BA from Cornell University. I was born and raised in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Please feel free to contact me at: jckstetter@gmail.com, or to connect over LinkedIn, PhilPeople, Academia.edu, or other social media. I am also co-founder of the research seminar: Spinoza à Paris 8.