Research keywords
Political and Legal Philosophy; Kant; Feminist Philosophy
Biography
Work experience UIUC:
Fall 2008-present:
Department of Philosophy and Gender and Women's Studies, assistant prof.
Aug. 2006-fall 2008:
Department of Philosophy, assistant prof.
Specializations / Research Interest(s)
- Legal and political philosophy, Kant’s moral philosophy, feminist philosophy, applied ethics.
Education
- 2001-2006: University of Toronto, Canada. Ph.D. in philosophy. Thesis title: The Liberal Ideal of Political Obligations: The Lockean Voluntarist vs. Kant’s Non-Voluntarist Ideal of Political Obligations. Thesis director: Arthur Ripstein. Readers: Gopal Sreenivasan and Sergio Tenenbaum.
- 1996-1999: University of Tromsø, Norway. MA in philosophy.
- 1994-1996: University of Tromsø, Norway. Undergraduate studies in philosophy.
- 1994: Awarded the professional title of “siviløkonom” (“civil business manager”) by the Norwegian School of Economics and Business Administration.
- 1993-1994: London School of Economics and Political Science, UK. MSc in Industrial Relations and Personnel Management.
- 1990-1993: University of Newcastle Upon Tyne, UK. BA (Hons.) in Business Management.
Distinctions / Awards
- Spring 2012: Awarded “Humanities Released Time” fellowship (for 2012-13).
- Spring 2012: William and Flora Hewlett International Research Travel Grant.
- Fall 2011: On the “List of Teachers Ranked as Excellent by their Students”, for PHIL 422 "Recent Developments in Ethics"
- Fall 2011: The UIUC Sustaining Excellence Fund (SEF) to establish a regional workshop for women in philosophy.
- Spring 2011: On the “List of Teachers Ranked as Excellent by their Students”, for PHIL 521 “Seminar Contemporary Problems: “Kant’s Practical Philosophy”; PHIL 436: “Philosophy of Law and the State: “Modern Theories of Law and the State”.
- Fall 2010: On the “List of Teachers Ranked as Excellent by their Students”, for PHIL 421 “Ethical Theories”; PHIL 530 “Dissertation Seminar”.
- Spring 2010: On the “List of Teachers Ranked as Excellent by their Students”, for PHIL 436 “Philosophy of the Law and of the State – Global Justice”.
- Fall 2009: On the “List of Teachers Ranked as Excellent by their Students”, for PHIL 530 (“Dissertation Seminar”).
- 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011: Scholar’s Travel Award, U. of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. (Total: 10 awards.)
- Spring 2009: On the “List of Teachers Ranked as Excellent by their Students”, for PHIL 421 (“Ethical Theories”); PHIL 511 (“Seminar on Feminist Philosophy”).
- Spring 2008: On the “List of Teachers Ranked as Excellent by their Students”, for PHIL 421 (“Ethical Theories”).
- August 2007: Internationale Vereinigung für Rechts- und Sozialphilosophie (IVR) Prize for Young Scholars. (Paper: “Diversity and Unity: An Attempt at Drawing a Justifiable Line”.)
- December 2005: George Paxton Young Memorial Prize 2005, co-winner. Department of Philosophy, University of Toronto.
- July 2005: The North American Kant Society Markus Herz Award 2004. Awarded to the best graduate student paper submitted to any of the division meetings. (Paper: “Kant and Dependency Relations: Kant on the State’s Right to Redistribute Resources to Protect the Rights of Dependents”.)
- May 2005: 1st prize Student Essay Competition at the Canadian Philosophical Association Congress 2005. (Paper: “Kant and Dependency Relations: Kant on the State’s Right to Redistribute Resources to Protect the Rights of Dependents”.)
- Oct 2004: Graduate student travel stipend to the Midwest Study Group of the North American Kant Society Meeting. Awarded to the best graduate paper. (Paper: “Kant and Dependency Relations: Kant on the State’s Right to Redistribute Resources to Protect the Rights of Dependents”.)
Publications
Book Contributions
- Varden, Helga. "A Feminist, Kantian Conception of the Right to Bodily Integrity: the Cases of Abortion and Homosexuality." Out of the Shadows: Analytical Feminist Contributions to Traditional Philosophy. Ed. Sharon Crasnow and Anita M. Superson. Oxford University Press, 2012.
- Varden, Helga. "A Kantian Conception of Free Speech." Free Speech in a Diverse World. Springer, 2010. 39-55.
- Varden, Helga. "International and Cosmopolitan Political Obligations." Coercion and the State. Ed. David A. Reidy and Walter Riker. Springer, 2008. 239-250.
Journal Articles
- Varden, Helga. "A Kantian Critique of the Care Tradition: Family Law and Systemic Justice." Kantian Review 17.2 (2012):
- Varden, Helga. "The Lockean Enough-and-as-Good Proviso - An Internal Critique." Journal of Moral Philosophy (2012):
- Varden, Helga. "Amartya Sen's The Idea of Justice - Some Kantian Rejoinders." Social Philosophy Today (2012):
- "A Kantian Conception of Global Justice." Review of International Studies 37.05 (2011): 2043-2057.
- Varden, Helga. "Kant's Murderer at the Door.. One More Time: Kant's Legal Philosophy and Lies to Murderers and Nazis." Journal of Social Philosophy 41.4 (2010): 403-421.
- Varden, Helga. "G. A. Cohen's Rescuing Justice and Equality - A Critical Engagement." Social Philosophy Today 26 (2010): 175-189.
- Varden, Helga. "Lockean Freedom and the Proviso's Appeal to Scientific Knowledge." Social Theory and Practice 36.1 (2010): 1-20.
- Varden, Helga. "Kant's Non-Absolutist Conception of Political Legitimacy: How Public Right 'Concludes' Private Right in "The Doctrine of Right"." Kant-Studien (2010): 331-51.
- Varden, Helga. "Nozick's Reply to the Anarchist: what He Said and what He Should Have Said about Procedural Rights." Law and Philosophy 28.6 (2009): 585-616.
- Varden, Helga. "Diversity and Unity: An Attempt at Drawing a Justifiable Line." Archiv fur Rechts- und Sozialphilosophie/Archives for Philosophy of Law and Philosophy 94.1 (2008): 1-25.
- Varden, Helga. "Kant's Non-Voluntarist Conception of Political Obligations: Why Justice Is Impossible in the State of Nature." Kantian Review 13.2 (2008): 1-45.
- Varden, Helga. "A Kantian Conception of Rightful Sexual Relations: Sex, (Gay) Marriage, and Prostitution." Social Philosophy Today 22 (2007): 199-218.
- Varden, Helga. "Locke's Waste Restriction and His Strong Voluntarism." Locke Studies 6 (2006): 127-141.
- Varden, Helga. "Kant and Dependency Relations: Kant on the State''s Right to Redistribute Resources to Protect the Rights of Dependents." Dialogue - Canadian Philosophical Review XLV (2006): 257-284.
- Varden, Helga. "Politisk filosofi uten metafysikk?." Norsk Filosofisk Tidsskrift 3 (2001):
Encyclopedia Entries
- Varden, Helga. "Charity." Encyclopedia of Global Justice. Springer, 2011.
- Varden, Helga. "Contemporary Responses to Kant." Encyclopedia of Global Justice. Springer, 2011.
- Varden, Helga. "Immanuel Kant." Encyclopedia of Global Justice. Springer, 2011.
- Varden, Helga. "Imperfect and Perfect Duties." Encyclopedia of Global Justice. Springer, 2011.
- Varden, Helga. "Positive and Negative Duties." Encyclopedia of Global Justice. Springer, 2011.
- Varden, Helga. "Robert Nozick." Encyclopedia of Global Justice. Springer, 2011.
Reviews
- Varden, Helga. Rev. of Kant's Doctrine of Right: A Commentary, by Sharon Byrd and Joachim Hruschka. Jurisprudence (2012):
- Varden, Helga. "Review of Jan Narveson and James P. Sterba's "Are LIberty and Equality Compatible"." Rev. of Are Liberty and Equality Compatible, by Jan Narveson and James P. Sterba. Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews (2010):
- Varden, Helga. Rev. of Blackwell Guide to Kant's EthicsEthics 120.4 (2010): 860-864.
- Varden, Helga. "Critical Commentary on Ann Cudd's "Analyzing Oppression"." Rev. of Analyzing OppressionSymposia on Gender, Race and Philosophy (2010):
- Varden, Helga. Rev. of Kant's Cosmopolitan Theory of Law and PeaceSymposium: Canadian Journal of Continental Philosophy 12.1 (2009): 168-174.
- Varden, Helga. Rev. of The Kantian Imperative: Humiliation, Common Sense, Politics, by Paul Saurette. University of Toronto Quarterly 76.1 (2007): 305-307.
- Varden, Helga. Rev. of Kant, by Paul Guyer. Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews (2006):