Philosophy Department Faculty

Marina Berzins McCoy

Professor

Department

Philosophy

Profile

Marina McCoy is a professor of philosophy at Boston College. She is the author of the books Plato on the Rhetoric of Philosophers and Sophists (Cambridge University Press, 2007) , Wounded Heroes: Vulnerability as a Virtue in Ancient Greek Literature and Philosophy (Oxford U Press, 2013), and Image and Argument in Plato’s Republic (SUNY, 2020). Her interests range from ancient philosophy to ethics and the philosophy of mass incarceration and environmental ethics. She also teaches in the PULSE service learning program.

Publications (selected)

Image and Argument in Plato’s Republic, SUNY Press, July 2020.

Wounded Heroes: Vulnerability as a Virtue in Greek Tragedy and Philosophy, Oxford University Press, 2013.

Plato on the Rhetoric of Philosophers and Sophists, Cambridge University Press, 2008. (Also translated into Portuguese, 2010 and reprinted in paperback).

The Ignatian Guide to Forgiveness: Ten Steps to Healing, Loyola Press, December 2020

“Socratic Midwifery and the Feminine in Plato’s Theaetetus,” The Routledge Handbook of Women and Ancient Greek Philosophy, edited by Sara Brill and Catherine McKeen, 2024.

“Forgiveness and Self-Knowledge in the Case of Höss's Confession,” in Auschwitz and Absolution, ed. James Bernauer, SJ (Orbis 2023).

“Love and Soul leading in Plato’s Phaedrus,” A Handbook on Platonic Love from Antiquity to the Renaissance (eds. John Dillon and Carl Sean O’Brien, Cambridge University Press), August 2022.

“Why is Knowledge of Ignorance Good?” Knowledge and Ignorance of the Self in Platonic Philosophy (Cambridge University Press), eds. James Ambury and Andrew German, Cambridge University Press, 2018.

“Perspectivism and the Philosophical Rhetoric of the Dialogue Form,” Plato Journal 16 (2016), 49-57.

“Socrates on Simonides: The Use of Poetry in Socratic and Platonic Rhetoric.” Philosophy and Rhetoric vol. 32 (4), 1999: 349-367.

Select Appointments, Awards, and Grants

First place, Association of Catholic Publishers book awards, General category, for An Ignatian Guide to Forgiveness, 2021.

Bronze Medalist, Illumination Book awards, Education category, for An Ignatian Guide to Forgiveness, 2021.

Goldsmith Mentor of the Year, Benjamin Mays Mentoring Program, Boston College, 2015.

Professional Activities

Prison volunteer, Norfolk Correctional Facility

Co-director, Ancient Philosophy Society, 2020-2023

Editorial board, Polis journal, 2013-present