Jung Kwon, Ph.D.

Adjunct Professor of Philosophy

Jung studied aesthetics and social philosophy at college to pursue her interest in the function of art and aesthetic engagement in a politically conscious agent living under a turbulent social upheaval. She continued her philosophical study with the history of modern philosophy, philosophy of language and meaning, phenomenology and Wittgenstein. Native in South Korea, she earned both bachelor’s and master’s degree at Seoul National University, before permanently moving to Southern California. She earned her doctorate with the study in Kant’s sublime and postmodern aesthetics (life’s perennial turn in an ever-increasing arc) at State University of New York at Buffalo.

She is a worshiper of ancient forest, pristine coast, high desert, and enjoys nature-walking, trail-running, and traveling at every opportunity. During the lockdown, she found the profoundly energizing power of yoga and became a certified yoga teacher (RYT-200). She has a passion and purpose for benefitting the community with breath and movement practice, meditation, and mindful living.

Inspired by Proust and Zhuangzi, she sees imagination, be it as memory or as mythical metaphor, is the most vital organ of humanity. She takes delight in her research on the fugue between mind and language on the one (right) hand, and between consciousness and self on the other (left). She is eager to perform through philosophical study an examined and enlightened life with some aesthetic distinction. She claims that early morning meditation is a must ambrosia for nourishing philosophical brain.

Jung published a philosophy anthology Compassionate Socrates: Wisdom across the Cultures and Disciplines (Cognella Academic Publishing, 2019) and recently presented a paper “Visceral Sublime: A Tribute to Burke's Physiological Sublime” at the American Society for Aesthetics in Santa Fe, NM (July 2022). Her new book Death and the Aesthetic Sublime: A Comparative Study is forthcoming (Lexington Books).