Anna Vaughn, Ph.D. is an Associate Professor of Philosophy in the College of Arts and Sciences at Sacred Heart University. Dr. Vaughn joined Sacred Heart University in 2017. She is a transplant to Connecticut from the Mountain West and while she misses the mountains (and her family!) she loves the fall leaves, crisp breezes, and walks with her little boy. She is very excited to join the Sacred Heart community.

Dr. Vaughn is primarily a historian of Early Modern philosophy (the period between Descartes and Kant) and the philosophy of perception. Her current research investigates the nature of sense perception, particularly the tension between passively receiving sensations and active cognitive processing in the context of Locke's discussion of the Molyneux problem. The Molyneux problem is a thought experiment posed by William Molyneux to Locke about whether someone born blind, but suddenly able to see, could recognize objects he or she had previously known only by touch.

Philosophy is a conversation. The trends we see in contemporary philosophy arise within a historical context, often informed by scientific discovery. Dr. Vaughn’s approach to researching and teaching philosophy is to highlight this conversation by emphasizing the historical and thematic connections between philosophical ideas.