Livia von Samson

I am a PhD candidate and Wissenschaftliche Mitarbeiterin (junior faculty member) at the Institute of Philosophy at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin. My primary interests lie in social and political philosophy, feminism, and epistemology — and their various intersections.

In my doctoral thesis, In and Against the Family: A Hegelian Case for Abolition, I develop a Hegelian immanent critique of familialist society. I argue that the family promises love, autonomy, and security but is structurally unable to realize these goods, and that this failure grounds the case for the socialization of (reproductive) labour. The thesis is supervised by Rahel Jaeggi (Humboldt) and Rachel Fraser (Oxford / MIT).

Before my doctorate, I studied philosophy and music in Heidelberg, Berlin (at Humboldt and the University of the Arts), and Oxford. I also spent some time as a Fulbright scholar at MIT.

You can contact me at livia.samson [at] hu-berlin.de.
PhilPeople

Academic Publications

• (2025) “Is Immanent Critique Possible?”, European Journal of Philosophy, 33(4): 1308–1325. (Open Access)
• (2022) Ästhetik nach Adorno. Positionen zur Gegenwartskunst, co-edited with R. Becker and D. Hagen. Berlin: Verbrecher Verlag.
• (forthcoming) “What Hegel Enables: Family Abolition as Immanent Critique”, review of Andreja Novakovic, Hegel on the Family Form, The Owl of Minerva. [draft]

Public Philosophy

• (2025) “Silvia Federici: »Ich betrachte die Welt aus der Perspektive der Reproduktion«”, Philosophie Magazin, Sonderausgabe Nr. 32 – Marx, Frühling 2025.
• (2024) “Schafft die Familie ab!”, Philosophie Magazin (online), Oktober 2024.
• (2022) “Eigentum und Herrschaft”, podcast, with Amin Wagner, Dezember 2022.

Teaching

• Winter 2025–26 Was ist Familienabolitionismus? / What is Family Abolition?
  Guests: Tatiana Llaguno, Liza Mattutat.
  Shortlisted for the Berlin Landeslehrpreis 2027 and the HU Preis für gute Lehre.
• Aug 2025 Summer School, LMU München.
• Winter 2024–25 Liebe / Love.
  Guests: Manon Garcia, Dee Payton, Luce deLire, Lila Sovia.
  Shortlisted for the HU Preis für gute Lehre.
• Summer 2024 Autonomie, Entfremdung, Spontaneität / Autonomy, Alienation, Spontaneity.
  Guests: Daniela Dover, Jonathan Gingerich.
• Summer 2023 Ideologie und adaptive Präferenzen / Ideology and Adaptive Preferences.
  Guests: Serene Khader, Sally Haslanger.
• Winter 2022–23 Liberaler Feminismus und seine Grenzen / Liberal Feminism and its Limits.
  Guest: Gina Schouten.
• 2021–23 Feminismus und Familie / Feminism and the Family.
  Projekttutorium with Jo Eckert (and, in 2022–23 as an X-Tutorial, Carolina Faggion). Guest: Sophie Lewis.
• 2021–22 Eigentum und Herrschaft / Property and Domination.
  Projekttutorium with Amin Wagner. Guests: Eva von Redecker, Christian Schmidt.
• Summer 2019 Adornos Ästhetik – Gesellschaftskritik?
  Q-Tutorium.
• Winter 2018–19 Musik – Kritik – Utopie.
  Q-Tutorium.