Aisling Gilmour
PhD Candidate
- MA (Carleton)
Research Topic
Adorno’s philosophy of nature and Indigenous environmental ethics, being a good relative
Supervisor(s)
Dr. Kyla Bruff (Philosophy, Carleton University)
Research Interests
- Critical theory, especially Adorno and the Frankfurt School
- Indigenous Philosophy
- German Idealism: Kant, Hegel, Schelling
- Social and political philosophy
- Existentialism: Sartre, Beauvoir, Fanon
Biography
Aisling Gilmour holds a Master of Arts in Canadian Studies specializing in Philosophy from Carleton University and is pursuing a Doctor of Philosophy in Ethics and Public Affairs at Carleton University under the direction of Prof. Kyla Bruff. Aisling’s research interests lie in Indigenous philosophy as well as 19th- and 20th-century German and French social and political philosophy. Her current research examines how Adorno’s philosophy could serve as a critical mediator and listener for Indigenous philosophy to talk back to the Western canon in order to develop a shared normative vocabulary—one that could inform transformative reforms and help articulate what being a good relative to Indigenous Peoples and nonhuman beings requires of settlers within the context of Canadian settler petrocapitalism. Aisling has been awarded the Gary Sealey Friends of Lambda Award (2025) for excellence in research on 2SLGBTQ+ people and is an Ontario Graduate Scholarship (OGS) Doctoral Award recipient (2024–2025). She previously received a SSHRC Canadian Graduate Scholarship for her MA research, which culminated in her master’s research paper titled “The Politics of ‘Land Back’ and ‘Reconciliation is Dead’” (2022–2023), and she is also a Charlotte Whitton Fellow in Canadian urban life. Aisling has presented their research at several academic conferences and is actively pursuing publication. In addition to her research, Aisling is interested in inventive, practical approaches to doing philosophy in public. In their free time, she enjoys gardening and volunteering in the local community.