Dr Catherine Wesselinoff

Lecturer in Philosophy / Lead, Programs and Partnerships, IES
BA (Hons), MSt, PhD

Email: catherine.wesselinoff@nd.edu.au

  • Biography

    Catherine Wesselinoff is a Lecturer in Philosophy in the School of Philosophy and Theology. She also serves as Lead, Strategic Programs and Partnerships for the Institute for Ethics & Society (IES) and the Centre for the History of Philosophy (CHOP).

    Catherine received her PhD in Philosophy for the University of Sydney. She holds a Master of Studies in English Literature from the University of Oxford, and a BA (Honours) in English and Philosophy from the Australian National University.

    Catherine has been with the University of Notre Dame Australia since 2019. She teaches across Aesthetics, Moral Philosophy, Political Philosophy and the History of Philosophy. Her research lies in philosophical aesthetics, especially questions of beauty, virtue, and the moral significance of artistic experience.

    Catherine is currently working on her second monograph, "Kallistics: A Philosophical History of Beauty".

  • Teaching Areas

    • Aesthetics
    • History of Philosophy
    • Moral Philosophy
    • Political Philosophy

  • Research Expertise and Supervision

    • Aesthetics
    • Moral Philosophy
    • History of Philosophy

  • Books

    • Wesselinoff, Catherine. The Revival of Beauty, Routledge, 2023

  • Journal Articles and Proceedings

    • Wesselinoff, Catherine. "Virtue Aesthetics, Beauty, and Baumgarten", Disputatio (forthcoming)
    • Wesselinoff, Catherine. "Beauty's Comeback", Debates in Aesthetics, vol. 19, no. 2, 2025.
    • Wesselinoff, Catherine. "Apophatic Beauty in the Hippias Major and the Symposium", The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism, Vol. 82, Issue 1, 2024, pp 36-44
    • Wesselinoff, Catherine. "Is Jealousy Justifiable?" The European Journal of Philosophy, vol. 31, no. 3, 2023, pp 703-10.

  • Conference Papers

    • "Arguments Against Beauty", The European Society of Aesthetics Conference, 2025
    • "In Case of Fire: Danger and the Sublime", keynote speaker the ACU Graduate Presentation Conference, 205
    • “The Anti-Aesthetic Movement”, Australasian Association of Philosophy Conference, 2022
    • “Movements of Beauty”, Australasian Postgraduate Philosophy Conference, 2021