Nightingale's research focuses on Greek philosophy and literature, especially Plato and Aristotle; she attempts to locate these philosophic writers in the socio-political context of classical Greece (especially democratic Athens). More generally, she is interested in interdisciplinary approaches to ancient and modern philosophical texts.
Her books include Genres in Dialogue: Plato and the Construct of Philosophy (Cambridge 1996) and Spectacles of Truth in Classical Greek Philosophy:Theoria in its Cultural Context (Cambridge University Press 2004).
She is currently researching and writing on the philosophy and literature of ecology (in the modern and postmodern periods).
