I completed a BA in Classics and Philosophy at Downing College, Cambridge (2017) and a Master of Studies in Ancient Philosophy at Worcester College, Oxford (2018), where I also completed my DPhil in Philosophy (2023; awarded the Oxford Nicolas Berggruen Prize for Best Doctoral Dissertation in Philosophy, Law & Politics). Before joining the Department of Philosophy at King's (2026), I was a Blacker Loewe Research Fellow in Philosophy at Peterhouse, Cambridge (2023-2026).

My research focuses mainly on classical Chinese philosophy (especially Daoism), ancient Greek and Roman philosophy (especially early Greek philosophy and Hellenistic scepticism), and the global history and historiography of philosophy. I am also interested in the European reception of ancient Greek and Chinese philosophy.

My doctoral thesis looked at the epistemologies of two foundational philosophers in early Greek and classical Chinese philosophy, respectively: Parmenides and Zhuangzi. It also considered the impact of broad historiographical narratives in the history of philosophy on issues in philosophical interpretation of ancient Greek philosophy and Chinese philosophy.

My article on Thales in the historiography of philosophy was awarded the 2022 British Journal for the History of Philosophy Beaney Prize for the best contribution to widening the philosophical canon.

Research interests and PhD supervision

My work focuses mainly on Chinese and Greek philosophy, as well as the global history and historiography of philosophy generally. My research interests centre around:

- Classical Chinese philosophy
- Early Greek ('Presocratic') philosophy
- Hellenistic scepticism
- Historiography of philosophy
- Comparative philosophy

I welcome inquiries from prospective PhD students seeking to pursue projects in these areas.

Teaching

Classical Chinese philosophy; ancient Greek and Roman philosophy; comparative philosophy

Expertise and public engagement

I recently co-authored a piece for the Journal of the History of Ideas Blog with Jonathan Egid on new archival research we conducted concerning the longstanding controversy surrounding the authorship of the Ḥatäta Zärʾa Yaʿǝqob, a remarkable philosophical text set in seventeenth-century Ethiopia: “Looking for an Ethiopian Lucretius: Giusto da Urbino, the Origins of the Ḥatäta Zärʾa Yaʿɘqob Controversy, and Reflections on Archival Research” (2026). Read here.

I co-authored an article for the centenary issue of The Philosopher with Josh Platzky Miller, summarizing some of our work challenging the very idea of 'Western Philosophy' and its relevance to the future of the history of philosophy: “The Future of the History of Philosophy?”. The Philosopher 111, no. 1 (2023), 28–33. Read here.

Lea Cantor.com

Selected publications

"Bad Rulers in Sextus Empiricus and Zhuāngzǐ—and What to Do About Them". In Patterns of Evil in Ancient Chinese and Greek Philosophy, edited by R. A. H. King & Pavlos Kontos, 48–72. Routledge, 2025. ISBN: 9781003537793.

“Parmenides and the Centred View” . In Parmenides: New Perspectives, edited by A. G. Long & Barbara Sattler, 73–90. Oxford University Press, 2025. ISBN: 9780198909118. (Open Access)

"Laozi Through the Lens of the White Rose: Resonance or Dissonance?". Oxford German Studies 52, no. 1 (2023), 62-79. DOI: 10.1080/00787191.2023.2171017. (Open Access)

"Thales - the 'first philosopher'? A troubled chapter in the historiography of philosophy". British Journal for the History of Philosophy 30, no. 5 (2022), 727-750, DOI: 10.1080/09608788.2022.2029347. (Open Access; winner of the BJHP Beaney Prize for the best contribution to widening the canon)

“Zhuangzi on ‘happy fish’ and the limits of human knowledge”. British Journal for the History of Philosophy 28, no. 2 (2020), 216-230, DOI: 10.1080/09608788.2019.1667294. (Open Access)