Helena Sheehan

{{short description|Irish philosopher and historian of science}}

{{Short description|Irish philosopher and historian of science}}

{{EngvarB|date=August 2014}}

{{Use British English|date=August 2014}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2014}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2026}}

'''Helena Sheehan''' is an Irish philosopher, [[History of science|historian of science]], philosophy, culture and politics. Sheehan is professor emeritus at [[Dublin City University]], where she taught media studies and history of ideas in the School of Communications. She was a [[Visiting scholar|visiting professor]] at the [[University of Cape Town]] and [[Peking University]] on several occasions. She has been active on the left since the 1960s. She has given many conference papers and public lectures in universities and other bodies in USA, USSR, GDR, Mexico, Canada, Ireland, UK, France, Germany, Italy, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, Greece, China and South Africa.

'''Helena Sheehan''' is an Irish philosopher, [[History of science|historian of science]], philosophy, culture and politics. Sheehan is professor emeritus at [[Dublin City University]], where she taught media studies and history of ideas in the School of Communications. She was a [[Visiting scholar|visiting professor]] at the [[University of Cape Town]] and [[Peking University]] on several occasions. She has been active on the left since the 1960s. She has given many conference papers and public lectures in universities and other bodies in USA, USSR, GDR, Mexico, Canada, Ireland, UK, France, Germany, Italy, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, Greece, China and South Africa.

==Biography==

==Biography==

Born in the United States in 1944, Sheehan describes her childhood as [[Catholicism|Catholic]] and conservative, She began her university studies and taught primary school as a [[nun]].[http://www.dcu.ie/info/staff_member.php?id_no=1793 Communications: Professor Helena Sheehan] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402144419/http://www.dcu.ie/info/staff_member.php?id_no=1793 |date=2 April 2015 }}. ''Staff Details''. [[Dublin City University]]. Accessed 8 April 2009.{{Cite book |title=Portrait of a Marxist as a Young Nun, Marxism and Spirituality: An International Anthology |last=Sheehan |first=Helena |publisher=Bergin & Garvey |year=1993}} She left the convent in 1965 and became an agnostic and liberal, then an atheist and radical.{{cn|date=April 2025}}

Born in the United States in 1944, Sheehan describes her childhood as [[Catholicism|Catholic]] and conservative, She began her university studies and taught primary school as a [[nun]].[http://www.dcu.ie/info/staff_member.php?id_no=1793 Communications: Professor Helena Sheehan] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402144419/http://www.dcu.ie/info/staff_member.php?id_no=1793 |date=2 April 2015 }}. ''Staff Details''. [[Dublin City University]]. Accessed 8 April 2009.{{Cite book |title=Portrait of a Marxist as a Young Nun, Marxism and Spirituality: An International Anthology |last=Sheehan |first=Helena |publisher=Bergin & Garvey |year=1993}} She left the convent in 1965 and became an agnostic and liberal, then an atheist and radical.{{citation needed|date=April 2025}}

Sheehan graduated with a BS in 1967 from [[St. Joseph's University]] in [[Philadelphia]], followed by an [[Master of Arts|MA]] in 1970 from [[Temple University]] in Philadelphia.{{cn|date=April 2025}} Sheehan attended the [[International Lenin School]] in Moscow, [[Soviet Union]] in 1977-1978. She earned a PhD in 1980 from [[Trinity College (Dublin)]] in philosophy.{{cn|date=April 2025}}

Sheehan graduated with a BS in 1967 from [[St. Joseph's University]] in [[Philadelphia]], followed by an [[Master of Arts|MA]] in 1970 from [[Temple University]] in Philadelphia.{{citation needed|date=April 2025}} Sheehan attended the [[International Lenin School]] in Moscow, [[Soviet Union]] in 1977-1978. She earned a PhD in 1980 from [[Trinity College (Dublin)]] in philosophy.{{citation needed|date=April 2025}}

Sheehan became active on the new left in the US in the 1960s. In Ireland, she joined Sinn Féin (Official) in 1972 and then the [[Communist Party of Ireland]] in 1975. She chaired the Trinity College Dublin Communist Society.Johnston, Roy W.H. ''Century of Endeavour: A Biographical and Autobiographical View of the 20th Century in Ireland''. [[Academica Press]], LLC, 2003

Sheehan became active on the new left in the US in the 1960s. In Ireland, she joined Sinn Féin (Official) in 1972 and then the [[Communist Party of Ireland]] in 1975. She chaired the Trinity College Dublin Communist Society.Johnston, Roy W.H. ''Century of Endeavour: A Biographical and Autobiographical View of the 20th Century in Ireland''. [[Academica Press]], LLC, 2003

{{ISBN|1-930901-76-3}}, {{ISBN|978-1-930901-76-6}}. Pp. 332–333. She joined the [[Labour Party (Ireland)|Labour Party]] in 1981, where she was a founder of Labour Left. Since 2011, she has belonged to no party, but has remained active on the left.{{cn|date=April 2025}} She organised Occupy University during [[Occupy Dame Street]] in 2011.{{cn|date=April 2025}} She travelled often to Greece and became involved with [[Syriza]], writing about this in ''The Syriza Wave'' published in 2017. An autobiographical work entitled ''Navigating the Zeitgeist'' was published in 2019 with a sequel ''Until We Fall'' published in 2023.{{cn|date=April 2025}}

{{ISBN|1-930901-76-3}}, {{ISBN|978-1-930901-76-6}}. Pp. 332–333. She joined the [[Labour Party (Ireland)|Labour Party]] in 1981, where she was a founder of Labour Left. Since 2011, she has belonged to no party, but has remained active on the left.{{citation needed|date=April 2025}} She organised Occupy University during [[Occupy Dame Street]] in 2011.{{citation needed|date=April 2025}} She travelled often to Greece and became involved with [[Syriza]], writing about this in ''The Syriza Wave'' published in 2017. An autobiographical work entitled ''Navigating the Zeitgeist'' was published in 2019 with a sequel ''Until We Fall'' published in 2023.{{citation needed|date=April 2025}}

As a philosopher and historian of science, Sheehan writes from a [[Marxist philosophy|Marxist]] perspective. She argues that [[Karl Marx|Marx]] and [[Friedrich Engels|Engels]] shared fundamentally the same view on the [[philosophy of science]][[Manfred Steger|Steger, Manfred B.]] ''The Quest for Evolutionary Socialism''. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997. {{ISBN|0-521-58200-8}}, {{ISBN|978-0-521-58200-1}}. P. 92 and written critically of [[Lysenkoism]] and [[Joseph Stalin|Stalin]]'s impact on scientific development, while stressing the necessity of understanding such trends in full socio-historical context.{{cn|date=April 2025}} She is a strong critic of both positivism and postmodernism.{{cn|date=April 2025}}

As a philosopher and historian of science, Sheehan writes from a [[Marxist philosophy|Marxist]] perspective. She argues that [[Karl Marx|Marx]] and [[Friedrich Engels|Engels]] shared fundamentally the same view on the [[philosophy of science]][[Manfred Steger|Steger, Manfred B.]] ''The Quest for Evolutionary Socialism''. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997. {{ISBN|0-521-58200-8}}, {{ISBN|978-0-521-58200-1}}. P. 92 and written critically of [[Lysenkoism]] and [[Joseph Stalin|Stalin]]'s impact on scientific development, while stressing the necessity of understanding such trends in full socio-historical context.{{citation needed|date=April 2025}} She is a strong critic of both positivism and postmodernism.{{citation needed|date=April 2025}}

Sheehan has lectured at the [[Humanist Association of Ireland]].[http://www.humanism.ie/website/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=65&Itemid=62 "Monthly Meetings"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081013034033/http://www.humanism.ie/website/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=65&Itemid=62 |date=13 October 2008 }}. ''Humanist Association of Ireland''. Accessed 8 April 2009.

Sheehan has lectured at the [[Humanist Association of Ireland]].[http://www.humanism.ie/website/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=65&Itemid=62 "Monthly Meetings"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081013034033/http://www.humanism.ie/website/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=65&Itemid=62 |date=13 October 2008 }}. ''Humanist Association of Ireland''. Accessed 8 April 2009.

* ''Until We Fall: Long Distance Life on the Left,'' Monthly Review Press, 2023

* ''Until We Fall: Long Distance Life on the Left,'' Monthly Review Press, 2023

* ''Navigating the Zeitgeist: A Story of the Cold War, the New Left, Irish Republicanism, and International Communism'', Monthly Review Press, 2019

* ''Navigating the Zeitgeist: A Story of the Cold War, the New Left, Irish Republicanism, and International Communism'', Monthly Review Press, 2019

*''The Syriza Wave: Surging and Crashing with the Greek Left,'' Monthly Review Press, 2017

*''The Syriza Wave: Surging and Crashing with the Greek Left,'' Monthly Review Press, 2017

===Book reviews===

===Book reviews===

*T[https://monthlyreview.org/2021/10/01/the-synthesizing-impulse-j-b-s-haldane/ he Synthesising Impulse] ''Monthly Review'', October 2021

*T [https://monthlyreview.org/2021/10/01/the-synthesizing-impulse-j-b-s-haldane/ he Synthesising Impulse] ''Monthly Review'', October 2021

*[https://monthlyreview.org/2018/03/01/between-nature-and-society/ Between Science and Society] ''Monthly Review'', March 2018

*[https://monthlyreview.org/2018/03/01/between-nature-and-society/ Between Science and Society] ''Monthly Review'', March 2018

*[https://jacobinmag.com/2017/07/yanis-varoufakis-syriza-greece-debt-eurozone-eu-imf/ Closed Rooms and Class War] ''Jacobin, July 2017''

*[https://jacobinmag.com/2017/07/yanis-varoufakis-syriza-greece-debt-eurozone-eu-imf/ Closed Rooms and Class War] ''Jacobin, July 2017''