Pauline Nadrigny

Pauline Nadrigny is an Associate Professor (Maîtresse de conférences HDR) of Philosophy at the Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, where she is affiliated with the Institut des Sciences Juridique et Philosophique de la Sorbonne (UMR 8103 ISJPS) and the Centre de Philosophie Contemporaine. Her research sits at the intersection of aesthetics, philosophy of art, and sound studies, with a growing focus on environmental aesthetics and philosophical realism.

Education and Early Career

Nadrigny's academic training is among the most distinguished possible in the French system. She ranked first nationally in the Agrégation in Philosophy in 2008 — a highly competitive national teaching examination — and holds a Master's degree from the prestigious École Normale Supérieure (Ulm) in Philosophy (2009), having also completed a Master's summa cum laude at Paris 1. She was awarded her PhD in Philosophy from Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne in 2014, with a dissertation titled "The Concept of Sound Object," supervised by A. Charrak. In 2024, she reached another milestone with her Habilitation à Diriger des Recherches (HDR), titled "The Sound Track: Aesthetics, Realism, and Environment," supervised by Jocelyn Benoist, with an examining committee that included scholars from NYU, Brown University, and EHESS.

Academic Career

Nadrigny has held her position as Associate Professor at Paris 1 since 2016. She previously taught as a lecturer at Sorbonne University (2015–2016) and held a certified high school teaching position in the Lille Academy (2014–2016), including in a Priority Education Network (REP+) school. She was a CNRS Research Fellow in 2019–2020, working on the program "Normativity of Aesthetic Experience" (NormExEsth).

Research

Nadrigny's scholarship is rooted in the philosophy of sound and music, and has expanded into environmental aesthetics and philosophical realism. She has authored three solo monographs: Sonder le monde, Arts sonores, Réalisme et Environnement (MF, 2025), Le voile de Pythagore : du son à l'objet (Classiques Garnier, 2021), and Musique et philosophie au XXe siècle, Entendre et faire entendre (Classiques Garnier, 2015). She also co-authored The Most Beautiful Ugly Sound in the World: à l'écoute de la noise with Catherine Guesde (Éditions MF, 2018), with support from the Centre National du Livre.

Her international profile is strong. She was a Visiting Scholar at Columbia University's Philosophy Department in Spring 2020, invited by Lydia Goehr. She is a member of the International Research Project "Realism as a Philosophical Response to the Challenges of our Time," a collaboration between Paris 1, Bonn University, and Turin University, where she heads the Aesthetics program. She is also co-director of MIACE (Measuring the Impact of Art on Environmental Awareness), a project in partnership with the Paris School of Economics.

Recognition

In 2024, Nadrigny was awarded the CNRS Bronze Medal, one of France's most prestigious recognitions for early-to-mid career researchers. She has received multiple research grants from Paris 1 and the Sorb'Rising program, and has served as an examiner for the ERC Starting Grant and on HCERES evaluation committees.

Editorial and Scientific Service

Nadrigny is co-director of Enceladus Press (distributed by The MIT Press), co-director of the book series "Research in Contemporary Aesthetics" at Vrin, and a member of the editorial board of the Nouvelle Revue d'Esthétique. She is Deputy Director of the Experience & Connaissance research group at ISJPS and a member of the CNU Section 17 (the national body governing philosophy academic appointments in France).

Musical Practice and Public Engagement

Beyond her scholarly work, Nadrigny has a notable creative practice. She performs and records under the name Lodz, with releases on the Tuskuboshi and Wild Silence labels, and has appeared at festivals including Villette Sonique and Les Femmes s'en Mêlent. She is a permanent member of the "Experimental Music" committee for the Prix de l'Académie Charles Cros, and has given a Master Class with Peter Cusack at the Jean Rouch Festival. She is a regular presence in French public intellectual life, appearing on France Culture, France Musique, and Métaclassique, and in televised interviews on Arte, including the program PhantasIA (2024).