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Faculty of Divinity

 

Alexandra lectures on Buddhism to second and third year undergraduates and teaches an introductory Buddhism seminar to first-year undergraduates. She supervises undergraduates for A7, B16, and C10 papers. 

Alexandra's research is primarily in intercultural philosophy, with a focus on Madhyamaka Buddhism and Neo-pragmatism. Her research explores issues in the philosophy of language, philosophy of mind, and metaphilosophy. Rather than engaging in strictly speaking comparative work, her research brings culturally and temporally disparate traditions into dialogue in an effort to enhance our understandings of distinct thought-systems, as well as use them as a springboard from which to further develop certain contemporary relevant discussions. 

In addition to her core focus on Madhyamaka Buddhism, her research interests include anti-representationalist semantics, Richard Rorty's metaphilosophy, naturalism, and scientifically informed philosophy of mind. 

Her most recent research explores mental health from an intercultural perspective, examining its status and the contributions that can be made to both theoretical understandings and practical approaches to ‘health' from Indian thought systems.

She is currently working on the book Exploring Buddhist Philosophy as part of the Equinox Publishing series in Global Philosophy. (Equinox Publishing Global Philosophy Series: Exploring Buddhist Philosophy)

Buddhism
Indian Philosophies and Religions
Intercultural Philosophy
Neopragmatism
Philosophy of Language
Metaphilosophy
Philosophy of Mind

Biography

Alexandra received her BA from New York University, double majoring in Philosophy and Psychology. Her undergraduate research primarily focussed on Kant's Critique of Pure Reason, the subject of her BA Honour's thesis. Her MA was in Transcultural Studies at the University of Heidelberg. There, she researched the concept of anattā (not-self) in the Pāli Canon. Her PhD is from the Faculty of Divinity in the University of Cambridge, which focussed on the philosophy of language and metaphilosophy of Nāgārjuna and contemporary neo-pragmatism.

Publications

Other publications: 

Ilieva, Alexandra S. Exploring Buddhist Philosophy. Equinox Publishing, Forthcoming 2026.

Equinox Publishing Global Philosophy Series: Exploring Buddhist Philosophy

Laura Langone & Alexandra Ilieva (Eds.), “Dynamic Encounters Between Buddhism and the West”, East Asian Journal of Philosophy, vol. 3 no. 1, 2024.

Ilieva, Alexandra S. "Taking Back Philosophy: A Multicultural Manifesto by Bryan W. Van Norden (review)." Philosophy East and West, vol. 68 no. 3, 2018, pp. 1-3.

Ilieva, Alexandra S. "Review of and Response to Mark Siderits’s Interpretation of Not-Self in Buddhism as Philosophy: An Introduction." Interdisziplinäre Zeitschrift für Südasienforschung, no. 2 (2017): 131-48.

Teaching Associate Buddhist Studies

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Buddhism