Dennis Des Chene writes on early modern philosophy and history of science. His other interests include mathematics and music.

He grew up in Cincinnati, North & South Dakota, and Seattle. After attending five schools in search of his BA, he finished it at the University of Washington where he had begun. In 1987 he received his Ph. D. from Stanford. After a postdoc at Chicago, he was an assistant and associate professor at Johns Hopkins. In 2000 he became an associate professor at Emory, and in 2003 professor at Washington University in Saint Louis.

In 2006 he received grants from the Guggenheim Foundation and from the American Philosophical Society.

He is presently working on theories of the passions.