Sıla Özkara
Dr. Sıla Özkara’s research focuses on 18th- and 19th-century German philosophy (especially
Hegel) and historical and contemporary epistemology. She has been interested in the
notion of non-vicious circularity in epistemology and the problem of justification
in idealist systems. She completed her Ph.D. in Philosophy summa cum laude in 2021 via a cotutelle agreement at Duquesne University (Pittsburgh, PA, USA) and
the University of Heidelberg (Heidelberg, Germany) following her M.A. in Philosophy
at Duquesne University and Honours B.A. in Philosophy and Linguistics at the University
of Toronto (Toronto, ON, Canada). She writes in English, German, and Turkish. She
has published articles on Hegel and Fichte on topics including language, empiricism,
the notion of events, circularity, and philosophical systems. Her work has appeared
in journals including the Hegel Jahrbuch, Revista Estudos Hegelianos, and Fichte Studien, as well as in edited volumes published by Edinburgh University Press and SUNY Press.
Dr. Özkara’s teaching repertoire (beyond her main areas of research expertise) ranges
from Introduction to Philosophy and Introduction to Ethics to Elementary Logic and
Formal Logic, Feminist Theory, Biomedical Ethics, Environmental Ethics, Social and
Political Philosophy, Philosophy of Law, and Early Modern Philosophy.
She serves as the Philosophy Department’s Pre-Law Advisor. As part of that, Dr. Özkara
oversees the department’s accelerated 3+3 BA/JD program in partnership with the University
of Memphis Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law and she is the faculty advisor for the
student Prelaw Society. She is also the department’s Internship Coordinator and oversees
the Philosophy Internship Program.
For the Philosophy PhD program, Dr. Özkara is the Research Tool Coordinator for German
and Latin languages.
In her free time, Dr. Özkara sings in the Memphis Symphony Chorus and is an active
member of the Memphis Orchid Society.