California
Miss Claire Murphy
Tutor
805-421-5994
St. Thomas Hall, Rm. 228

Curriculum Vitae

B.A., Thomas Aquinas College, 2020; M.A., philosophy, University of Notre Dame, 2024; Ph.D., philosophy, University of Notre Dame (ABD); Teaching Assistant, University of Notre Dame, 2021-2022; Instructor of Record, University of Notre Dame, 2023; Tutor, Thomas Aquinas College, 2025-.

 

Profile

Three years into her time as a student at Thomas Aquinas College, new California tutor Claire Murphy (’20) had an epiphany. “My junior year, it hit me that I wasn’t going to be a college student for much longer and I had to figure out what to do next,” she recalls. “I loved being in class, participating in discussions with others, and figuring things out in the text with the class. I figured, if I have the temperament and abilities that suit this environment, I should probably teach.” Unfortunately, Miss Murphy’s stay at the College was cut short during her senior year due to the Covid-19 shutdowns. Nevertheless, she forged ahead and found her niche, heading to the University of Notre Dame to pursue a doctorate in history and philosophy of science. “I am very interested in the relationship between our experience in the natural world and philosophy,” she says, “especially in how scientific theories develop over time.” Her doctoral dissertation contemplates the role that models and representations play in scientific thought. Born from her love of Newton’s Principia — which itself took root during her time at the College — it considers what kind of entities models are and how they help us engage with the world through imaginative activity. She plans to continue pondering these questions as she teaches the College’s Mathematics and Natural Science tutorials, alongside all the other disciplines. “The math and science courses require us to begin with observing and wondering at the world around us,” she explains. “And, in different ways, our observation and experience become the foundation for the much more complex questions we get into. I am excited to find the parallels between the courses.”

 

Publications

  • “The Apostle of Common Sense: The Historical Roots of Duhem’s Distinction between Physics and Metaphysics.” HOPOS: The Journal of the International Society for the History of Philosophy of  Science vol. 14, no. 2 (2024), 554-571.

  • “Unity Out of Multiplicity: Nicholas of Cusa on the Elements.” In Hylomorphism into Pieces: Elements, Atoms and Corpuscles in Philosophy, Science, and Medicine (1400–1600), ed. by N. Polloni and S. Roudaut. London: Palgrave McMillan (2024), 117-140.

 

Presentations

  • “Denotation and Recognition: Two Views of Representation in Art and Science,” Bethany Workshop, University of Notre Dame London, July 2024.
  • Comments on Patrick Corry’s “Aristotle’s Perceptual Realism in De anima III.1-2,” American Catholic Philosophical Association Annual Meeting, November 2023.
  • “Science From the Vantage Point of the Human Soul.” Thomistic Summer Conference: The Soul, Thomas Aquinas College, June 2023.
  • “Models as Artifacts: An Aristotelian-Thomistic Perspective.” Modeling, Idealization, and Truth: A Dialogue Between Contemporary Philosophy of Science and the Aristotelian Tradition, Rome: Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas, February 2023.
  • “Idealization and Hylomorphism about Representation.” American Catholic Philosophical Association Annual Meeting, New Orleans, November 2022.
  • “Pope Francis and Charles De Koninck on Humanity’s Responsibility toward the Cosmos.” de Nicola Center for Ethics and Culture Fall Conference, University of Notre Dame, November 2022.
  • “Remotely Rooted in Reality: Aquinas on Cognition of Beings of Reason.” XVth International Congress of Medieval Philosophy, Société Internationale pour l’Etude de la Philosophie Médiévale (SIEPM), Paris, August 2022.
  • “The Physics of a Natural Philosopher: Pierre Duhem and Charles De Koninck on Science, Philosophy, and Faith.” Thomistic Summer Conference: Faith and Reason, Thomas Aquinas College, June 2022.
  • “Between Idolatry and Iconoclasm: The Role of Mediation in Scientific Understanding.”
  • 4th Annual Scientific Understanding and Representation (SURe) Workshop, Fordham University, April 2022.
  • “Unity Out of Multiplicity: Nicholas of Cusa on the Elements.” Hylomorphism into Pieces: Matter, Atoms, and Corpuscles in the Late Middle Ages, KU Leuven (moved online due to pandemic), April 2022.
  • Comments on Patrick Fisher’s “The Metaphysics of Mathematical Explanation in Science,” American Catholic Philosophical Association Annual Meeting, St. Louis, November 2021.
  • “Truth, Flesh, Chiasm: Aquinas and Merleau-Ponty on Indeterminacy in Embodied Knowledge,” Summer School on Affective Intentionality in Medieval Philosophy and Phenomenology, University of Würzburg, July 2021.