Fabien Muller

Hi, I'm Fabien. I'm a philosopher working on the history of metaphysics. I study how cultural and political factors determine the reception and migration of metaphysical ideas. In my current projects, I'm interested in the references of neoliberal discourse to Christian theology and in the cultural dynamic of Western Buddhism.My working hypothesis is that twentieth-century ideas about the overcoming of metaphysics - in positivist, analytic, and phenomenological currents - reflect a desire for immanence and presence characteristic of capitalism. I see in Neoplatonist, Buddhist, and Hegelian metaphysics a way to analyze and contain that desire.I work across several ancient languages, mainly Greek, Latin, and Sanskrit, and continue to engage Syriac and Hebrew texts. These linguistic traditions provide access to the sources relevant to my research on ancient traditions and to comparative methodology. I recently translated Porphyry of Tyre’s texts On Theology and Theurgy, published by Harvard University Press (2026).I am currently a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the "Program in the Study of Mysticism" (PRISM) at Tampere University, Finland. Previously, I held a postdoctoral position in the "Transcendence and Transformation Initiative" at Harvard University's Center for the Study of World Religions (2023–25). I completed my PhD in philosophy at Heidelberg University in 2022. Based on my dissertation, my first book Kenological Essays: An Interpretation of John's Prologue through Nāgārjuna, Vasubandhu, and Meister Eckhart (Aschendorff, 2022) was awarded the Cardinal Mercier Prize for International Philosophy (2023).Below, you can find more information about my research interests, publications, and ongoing projects.

Areas of Specialization

Ancient Philosophy - Middle Platonism & Neoplatonism from Alcinous to Damascius
Patristics - Greek and Syriac traditions, Origenism, Evagrius Ponticus, monastic theology
Buddhist Philosophy - Indian Madhyamaka, Yogācāra, Greco-Indian comparative perspectives
Marxism & Critical Theory - Karl Marx, Georg Lukács, Rosa Luxemburg, Eric Williams, CLR James, José Carlos Mariátegui, Camilo Torres, Ahmad Aijaz, Utsa & Prabhat Patnaik, Stuart Hall
Aesthetics & Cultural Studies - Counterculture, Music Studies (heavy metal, hardcore punk)
Medieval Scholasticism - Meister Eckhart, Dietrich von Freiberg, Albert the Great
German Idealism - G.W.F. Hegel, Christian F. Baur, Philipp Marheineke, Carl Daub
Christian Theology - Nineteenth-century German Protestant theology (Harnack, Ritschl, Bultmann, Barth)
Philosophy of Religion - From John Caird to Paul Tillich

Books

Fabien Muller, Porphyry of Tyre: On Theology and Theurgy. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2026, 258pp.

Open access, can be downloaded here.

Fabien Muller, Kenologische Versuche. Der Johannesprolog zwischen Nāgārjuna, Vasubandhu und Meister Eckhart. Münster: Aschendorff Verlag, 2022, 457pp.

For this monograph, I was awarded the Cardinal Mercier Prize in International Philosophy in 2023.
It was reviewed by Joseph O'Leary, Markus Schmücker, and Rolf Kühn.

Papers

N.b. preprints of my papers can be downloaded from my PhilPeople Profile.

Fabien Muller, “Anti-Hegelian Bias in Yogācāra Studies.” Sophia (2025): Online first.
Fabien Muller, “The catuṣkoṭi as Metaphysics. Cross-Reading Hegel and Nāgārjuna.” Continental and Comparative Philosophy (2025): online first.
Fabien Muller, “‘Redirect the Hate.’ Plato, Powerviolence, and the Metaphysics of Anger.” Popular Music and Society 48, no. 1 (2025): 41–56.
Fabien Muller, “The Metaphysics of Evagrius Ponticus.” American Catholic Philosophical Quarterly 98, no. 3 (2024), 267–292.
Fabien Muller, “‘We Should Escape from Here.’ Metaphysical Acosmism as a Paradigm for Greco-Indian Comparative Philosophy.” Revue Philosophique de Louvain 121 (2024-25), 255–68.
Fabien Muller, “Cemetery Meditations and Morbid Visions: Death Metal as a Spiritual Exercise.” Culture and Religion 23, no. 4 (2023), 448-468.
Fabien Muller, “The Neoplatonism of Evagrius Ponticus.” Revue Philosophique de Louvain 120, no. 2 (2023), 183-206.
Fabien Muller, “Buddhist Remedies against Greek Maladies: Ritschl, Harnack, and the Dehellenization of Intercultural Philosophy.” Buddhist-Christian Studies 43 (2023), 181-210.
Fabien Muller, “The Problem of Yogācāra Idealism.” Journal of Indian Philosophy 51, no. 5 (2023), 707-730.
Fabien Muller, “What is Evagrian ΓΝΩΣΙΣ?” Heythrop Journal 64, no. 5 (2023), 608-623.
Fabien Muller, “Caducitas and śūnyatā. A Neoplatonist Reading of Nāgārjuna.” Comparative Philosophy 14, no. 1 (2023), 78-99.
Fabien Muller, “Die Johannesminne. Ein mittelalterliches Plädoyer für die Irrelevanz der Kunst.” Philokles 25 (2023), 33-57.
Fabien Muller, “L’esprit au-delà de la dualité. Evagre le Pontique et Vasubandhu.” In Jean-Michel Counet (ed.): La non-dualité. Perspectives philosophiques, scientifiques, spirituelles, Leuven: Peeters, 2021, 75-88.
Fabien Muller, “God before Being. A proontological approach to John of Scythopolis, Maximus Confessor and Meister Eckhart.” Theologica 5, no. 1 (2021), 204-218.

Education & Experience

Years	Degree or appointment
2025-	Postdoc at Tampere University (PRISM)
2023-2025	Postdoc at Harvard University (CSWR)
2022-2023	Scientific Assistant at Heidelberg University
2018-2022	PhD in Philosophy at Heidelberg University
2014-2018	Life as a Benedictine Monk at Clervaux Abbey (Luxembourg)
2012-2014	MA in Philosophy at UCLouvain (Europhilosophie Program)
2009-2012	BA in Philosophy & History at Bonn University