Lillianne John
Background Image by Judson Moore on Unsplash
Portrait shot by Urna Chakrabarty
About Me
I am a philosopher from India, and I develop
social and political theory for our multi-cultural world.No person is an island—we live in a society.
I specialize in figuring out how we might better live together and understand one another. I do this by attending to how we navigate our social differences.I use
epistemology (theory of knowledge) and
hermeneutics (theory of understanding)
to address issues of democracy in multicultural/multiethnic/multiracial societies;
to create opportunities for inter-faith conversations;
to mediate across generational gaps;
to analyse our relationship to tradition;
to investigate how some of us become internet trolls;
and so on.Over the past decade, I have taught university core-courses, published articles, presented papers, organized workshops / reading groups / conferences, managed operations & peers, consulted stakeholders, learned languages, and—above all else—focused on fostering community wherever I have had the privilege of being.Despite my love for academia, I am open to pursuing alternative career paths—including policy research & development, program management, government affairs, or curation—in the future.I am currently affiliated with
Loyola University Chicago's
PhD Philosophy program.I have previously been affiliated with
Duquesne University (Pittsburgh, USA) &
St. Stephen's College, University of Delhi (India).
Areas of Inquiry
Critical Hermeneutics & Phenomenologies
Social Ethics & Political Philosophy
Critical Theory (Habermas, Ambedkar)
Vice/Inquiry & Feminist Epistemologies
Philosophy of the Internet
Philosophy of Religion
Indian Philosophies
Beyond Academia
Academia
Course Instructor
PHIL130: Philosophy & Persons
Spring 2026
Loyola University Chicago
Academic Publications
John, Lillianne. "Going Beyond Occidental Theory: Critical Theory and Ambedkar’s Anti-Caste Praxis." Philosophy and Social Criticism. Under Review.John, Lillianne, and Kit Rempala. 2024. "The Ethics of Knowledge Production and the Problem of Global Knowledge Inequality." Philosophy and Social Criticism. Online First.
doi: 10.1177/01914537241239096John, Lillianne. 2022. “On the (Un)Stopping of Our Ears”.
Labyrinth 24 (2):118-33.
doi:10.25180/lj.v24i2.309
Academic Presentations
May 2026
"This, Too, Is Play; This, Too, Is Loving Perception: Reading Lugones and Gadamer Together."
To be workshopped at the
25th Phenomenology Roundtable, DePaul University
Chicago
Feb 2026
"Acting Imperfectly—Responding to Willful Hermeneutical Ignorance in Political Praxis."
Colloquium Presentation, APA Central 2026
ChicagoNov 2025
"Troubling Kinds: A Pragmatist Defence of Race"
Presented at the 76th Northwest Philosophy Conference, Portland.Oct 2025
"Acting Imperfectly" (Modified APA Content)
Annual Conference of the Concerned Philosophers for Peace
Texas State University, San MarcosNov 2024
"Indian Secularity & The Production of Democratic Subjects."
Presented at the 75th Northwest Philosophy Conference, Portland.May 2024
"Recognition and Caste in India:
Through Honneth & Ambedkar."
Presented at the 16th
International Critical Theory Conference
Rome, ItalyMar 2024
Commentary on
"Race, Hatred, and the Preservation of Ignorance"
by Prof. Noell Birondo (UT El Paso)
Presented at the APA Pacific 2024 in Portland for the
Invited Symposium on 'Hate'Nov 2023
“Recognition Theory and Caste in India.”
Presented at the 74th Northwest Philosophy Conference, Portland.Sep 2023
“Ethics for a Multicultural World, Through Critical Hermeneutics.”
Presented at the Canadian Society for Continental Philosophy Annual Conference, Maine.May 2023
“The Ethical Aspects of Ecosystem Restoration.”
(Read Here)
Invited Panelist: Ecosystem Restoration Webinar.
Jesuit Justice & Ecology Network Africa.Nov 2021
“Starting From Vice.”
Co-presented with Urna Chakrabarty (Cornell University) at the ‘Epistemology of the Internet’ Workshop.
University of Johannesburg.
Resources
Philosophical Research & ArchivesDiversity Reading List
A curation of peer-reviewed publications on traditional and contemporary topics in philosophy, across canons.Early Modern Texts
A notable collection of free pdfs/ebooks of quality translations of texts of early modern philosophy in the Western canon.PhilArchive
The "largest open access e-print archive in philosophy." No account needed.The Internet Encyclopaedia of Philosophy
The Stanford Encyclopaedia of PhilosophyFinding Your PeoplePhilPeople
PhilEvents---Ἄφοβον ὁ θεός
Ἄνύποπτον ὁ θάνατος
Καὶ τἀγαθὸν μὲν εὔκτητον
Το δὲ δεινὸν εὐεκκαρτέρητον
~
Epicurean Remedies