LORI GALLEGOS DE CASTILLO
Department of Philosophy
Stony Brook University
Stony Brook, NY 11794
Lori.GallegosDeCastillo@stonybrook.edu
___________________________________________________________________________
AREAS OF SPECIALIZATION:
Ethics, feminist theory, Latin American philosophy
AREAS OF COMPETENCE:
Epistemology, critical race theory, philosophy of emotion,
phenomenology
EDUCATION
2009-15
Ph.D., Stony Brook University (expected February 2016)
Dissertation: “Empathy’s Contributions to Moral Knowledge: Cultivating
Epistemic Agency in a Context of Social Inequality”
Committee: Eduardo Mendieta, Eva Kittay, Serene Khader
2009-12
Graduate Certificate in Women’s and Gender Studies, Stony Brook University
2004-08
B.A., The University of New Mexico
Philosophy and Foreign Languages (Spanish, German, and Ancient Greek)
Summa cum laude, Honors Program Distinction in International Studies
DISSERTATION ABSTRACT
This dissertation examines the extent to which empathy contributes to moral knowledge.
Recent literature raises doubts about empathy’s reliability. In contrast, I argue that empathy is
a valuable moral tool because it improves moral perception and intuition by orienting the
agent towards the experiences and interests of others. However, empathy is not always a
perfect indicator of moral obligation because of the ways in which it is susceptible to being
inhibited in contexts of social inequality. Insofar as moral agency is formed within an unjust
society, agents’ empathic tendencies tend to be shaped by unconscious and culturally
mediated prejudices and stigmatizing representations of socially marginalized groups. Given
that social biases are often implicit, I argue that moral agents have varying degrees of moral
responsibility for cultivating empathy in a way that is responsive to their own inequalitybased empathy deficits.
LANGUAGES
Spanish: fluency and biliteracy
German: basic working ability in reading and translation
FELLOWSHIPS AND AWARDS
2015-16
2015
2014
2011-14
2011, 2012, 2014
2009-14
2007
2004-08
Ford Foundation Dissertation Fellowship
AAUW American Dissertation Fellowship (declined)
President’s Award for Excellence in Teaching by a Graduate Student
Ford Foundation Pre-Doctoral Fellowship
Turner Summer Research Grant
W. Burghardt Turner Fellowship, Stony Brook University
Ronald McNair Scholar
University of New Mexico Regent’s Scholarship
PUBLICATIONS
“Sketch of a Decolonial Environmentalism: Challenging the Colonial Conception of Nature
through the Biocultural Perspective,” Inter-American Journal of Philosophy 6:1 (May 2015)
Book Review: Adaptive Preferences and Women’s Empowerment (Serene Khader), Journal of
Applied Philosophy 31:3 (Aug 2014)
Book Review: The Epistemology of Resistance: Gender and Racial Oppression, Epistemic Injustice,
and Resistant Imaginations (José Medina), APA Newsletter on Hispanics in Philosophy 13:2 (Spring
2014)
Under Review
“Skillful Coping and the Routine of Surviving: Isasi-Díaz on the Importance of Identity to
Everyday Knowledge.” Submitted.
CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS
“Skillful Coping and the Routine of Surviving: Dreyfus and Isasi-Díaz on Everyday
Knowledge.” University of New Mexico’s Annual Philosophy Graduate Student Conference.
Albuquerque, NM, April 10-11, 2015
“Sketch of a Decolonial Environmentalism: Challenging the Colonial Conception of Nature
through the Biocultural Perspective.” The American Philosophy Association 2014 Pacific Division
Meeting. San Diego, CA, April 18, 2014
“The Affective Dimensions of Active Ignorance.” Georgetown University Philosophy Conference
2014. Georgetown University, Washington D.C., April 12, 2014
“The Limitations of Emotion-Based Accounts of Morality: Implicit Bias and the Inhibition of
Empathic Response.” Cognitive Science in the Arts and Humanities: Cross-Disciplinary Perspectives.
Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY, Invited talk, March 13, 2014
GALLEGOS 2
“Response to Yasha Rohwer’s ‘Thinking about Coalitions: The Third Man.’” The American
Philosophy Association, 2012 Eastern Division Meeting. Atlanta, GA, December 2012
“Response to Serene Khader’s Adaptive Preferences and Women’s Empowerment.” Department of
Philosophy, Philosophy Book Celebration. State University of New York at Stony Brook, Stony
Brook, NY, November 2012
“Can Personal Identity be the Basis of Moral Obligation?” The Society for Phenomenology and
Existential Philosophy, The 51st Meeting. Rochester, NY, November 2012
“The Evangelical Question: A Religious Challenge to the Habermasian Post-Secular Ideal.”
Conference of Ford Fellows, The National Academies and the Ford Foundation. Irvine, CA,
October 2011
“Autonomous Endorsement and the Sources of Normativity.” Center for Inclusive Education
Research Café. State University of New York at Stony Brook, Stony Brook, NY, September 2011
“Undocumented Immigration in the United States: Examining the Human Rights Approach.”
Celebrating Diversity and Academic Excellence. State University of New York at Stony Brook,
Stony Brook, NY, May 2011
“Rethinking Egoism in the Evaluation of Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics.” International
Conference on Ancient and Medieval Philosophy. Fordham University, New York, NY, October
2010
TEACHING
Instructor
Fall 2015
Central New Mexico Community College, Albuquerque, NM
Introduction to Philosophical Thought: PHI 1110
Fall 2013
Stony Brook University - SUNY, Stony Brook, NY
Concepts of the Person: PHI 100
Summer 2012
Stony Brook Manhattan - SUNY, New York, NY
Introduction to Moral Reasoning: PHI 104
Spring 2012
Stony Brook University - SUNY, Stony Brook, NY
Introduction to Moral Reasoning: PHI 104
Spring 2012
Farmingdale State College - SUNY, Farmingdale, NY
Modern and Contemporary Philosophy: PHI 106
Spring 2012
Farmingdale State College - SUNY, Farmingdale, NY
Ethics: PHI 205
GALLEGOS 3
Teaching Assistant
Fall 2010
Stony Brook University - SUNY, Stony Brook, NY
Introduction to the History of Western Philosophy: PHI 101
Spring 2010
Stony Brook University - SUNY, Stony Brook, NY
Introduction to Moral Reasoning: PHI 104
PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITY
2014
Graduate Assistant, PIKSI (Philosophy in an Inclusive Key Summer Institute)
2013-15
Research Assistant to Eva Kittay: Research and citations for manuscript
2013
Conference session chair: Linda Alcoff, “Decolonizing Philosophy,” The
Latino/a Philosopher: A National Symposium, Stony Brook University, March
15-17
2012
Research Assistant to Serene Khader
2010-15
Research Assistant to Eduardo Mendieta
Assistant to conference organizer: “The Latino/a Philosopher: A National
Symposium,” Stony Brook University, March 15-17, 2013
Prepared index for Decolonizing Epistemologies: Latina/o Theology and
Philosophy, eds. Ada Maria Isasi-Diaz and Eduardo Mendieta (New York:
Fordham, 2012)
Assistant translator: “Toward a Philosophy of (Intercultural) Dialogue in a
Conflicted World” by Raul Fornet-Betancourt, in Intercultural Dialogue: In
Search of Harmony in Diversity, ed. Edward Demenchonok (Newcastle upon
Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2014)
UNIVERSITY SERVICE
Stony Brook University
2015
2015
2013-14
GALLEGOS 4
Department Climate Survey Committee Member, Philosophy Graduate
Student Organization (PGS)
Panel presenter on inclusive pedagogy: “Philosophical Training Ground: The
Benefits of a Skills-Based Approach,” Philosophy Department graduate student
retreat
Mentor of first-year graduate student, Community of Student Mentors
Program, Center for Inclusive Education
2013
Panel presenter: “Designing Your Course, Constructing Your Syllabus,”
Philosophy Department graduate student retreat
2013
Organized annual Women’s Summer Retreat
2012, 2013
Panel presenter: “Writing to Win” Workshop Series, Center for Inclusive
Education
2011-12
Mentor of first-year graduate student, Community of Student Mentors
Program, Center for Inclusive Education
2011-12
Doctoral Professional Placement Committee Representative, PGS
2011-12
Dissertation Prospectus Seminar Coordinator, PGS
2009-10
Graduate Lab Technologies Coordinator, PGS
GRADUATE COURSES TAKEN
Kant’s Moral Philosophy, Jeff Edwards
Body, Affectivity, and Emotion, Don Welton
Habermas on Religion and the Political, Jürgen Habermas and Eduardo Mendieta
Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics, Lee Miller
Hegel’s Phenomenology of Spirit, Mary Rawlinson
Philosophical Conceptions of Community, Anne O’Byrne
The Other, Ed Casey
Feminist Epistemology and Aesthetics, Ritch Calvin
Philosophy of Human Rights, CUNY Graduate Center, Carol Gould
Normative Ethical Theory, Fordham University, John Davenport
Teaching Practicum in Philosophy, Marshall Spector
Feminist Ethical Theory, Eva Kittay
Supervised Teaching in Philosophy, Marshall Spector
Feminist Theory, Methodology, and Politics of Ethnography, Melissa Forbis
Teaching Practicum in Women’s and Gender Studies, Melissa Forbis
“Decolonizing Knowledge and Power: Postcolonial Studies, Decolonial Horizons,” summer
school, Center of Study and Investigation for Decolonial Dialogues, Barcelona, Spain, Linda
Alcoff, Nelson Maldonado-Torres, and Ramón Grosfoguel
Nature and Event: Going to the Edge of Things, Ed Casey
GALLEGOS 5