Engaged philosophy

‘Engaged Philosophy’ sums up the work in the department that makes a difference in the wider world, by engaging on a practical level with real-world problems and by bringing philosophy to an audience beyond academia.

Our work in this area currently falls into three main categories: environmental sustainability, diversity in philosophy, and public engagement. However, staff and PhD students have a range of other relevant interests including animal ethics, ageing, and mental disorders; check the 'our people' list for more on these.

People

Our people

The main staff and students working in this area are listed below. Other staff are also involved in Engaged Philosophy activities as well.

For example, Thomas Uebel has worked, alone and with John O'Neill, for a number of years on the socialist calculation debates of the Left Vienna Circle. This work connects directly with O'Neill's work on the limits of market modes of governance for the valuation of environmental goods. Additionally, Michael Scott was involved in the EU-funded BIOMOT project, working in particular on moral motivation in relation to biodiversity and the environment. Public engagement activities are also organised by staff across the department.

Better Evidence

How should we judge whether interventions – e.g., treatments, public policies and laws – are effective? How should we establish causal claims in the health and social sciences?

We host a research group that is developing a new philosophical theory of causal enquiry, Evidential Pluralism, which seeks to answer these questions. Evidential Pluralism can help us to make better use of the available evidence to make more informed judgements of effectiveness.

We engage with evaluators outside academia to help improve methods for evidence review. 

Current research projects:

Departmental staff

Luana Poliseli Ramos, Sahanika Ratnayake, Alexandra Trofimov, Jon Williamson

External collaborators

Trish Greenhalgh (Oxford), Rebecca Helm (Exeter), Joe Jones (KCL), Michael Wilde (Kent)


Environmental Sustainability

Focusing on environmental justice and the economic valuation of environmental goods.

We have philosophers working on problems concerned with how we should: value the environment, the limits of market valuations, our attitudes towards the environment and motivations to act on them, and environmental justice.

Some recent research projects and their impact

Doing philosophy sustainably

In our AHRC-funded project The Age of Metaphysical Revolution (2016-19), we took steps to reduce the carbon footprint that is associated with a large research project by testing out ways of running hybrid/in-person conferences and workshops. Visit the project website to find out more about why this is a good idea and for some guidance on running hybrid events.

Another outcome of this project was that Fraser MacBride developed the British Philosophical Association's Sustainability Guidelines for Business Travel, which have so far been endorsed by some 23 philosophy departments in the UK.


Diversity in Philosophy

We are trying to make philosophy a more inclusive and diverse profession. Our work in this area includes:

Diversity publications and reports

  • Frederique Janssen-Lauret, 'Women in Logical Empiricism', in C. Limbeck & T. Uebel (eds), The Routledge Handbook of Logical Empiricism (Routledge), f/c 2021 (preprint)
  • Frederique Janssen-Lauret, 'Grandmothers of Analytic Philosophy: The Formal and Philosophical Logic of Christine Ladd-Franklin and Constance Jones', in Minnesota Studies in Philosophy of Science (Vol. 20) University of Minnesota Press, f/c 2021 (preprint)
  • Helen Beebee & Anne-Marie McCallion (eds), Diversity in Philosophy (special issue, Symposion 7(2)), 2020 (open access)
  • Helen Beebee & Anne-Marie McCallion, 'In Defence of Different Voices',  Symposion 7(2): 149-177, 2020 (open access)
  • Helen Beebee & Heather Widdows, 'Weinstein, Philosophy and Structures of Abuse', Institute of Arts and Ideas blog, 2017
  • Frederique Janssen-Lauret, 'Making room for women in our tools for teaching logic: a proposal for promoting gender inclusivenessProceedings of the 4th International Conference on Tools for Teaching Logic. 65-73 (2015).
  • Helen Beebee, ‘Women and Deviance in Philosophy’, in K. Hutchison and F. Jenkins (eds.), Women in Philosophy: What Needs to Change? (Oxford: OUP), 2013
  • Helen Beebee & Jenny Saul, Women in Philosophy in the UK, on behalf of the British Philosophical Association and Society for Women in Philosophy UK, 2011

Public engagement

Our annual public lecture series, the Dorothy Emmet Lectures -- generously funded by the Royal Institute of Philosophy -- has run since 2016. 

The department is also host to the regionals of the The Ethics Cup, a philosophy competition for school and college students aiming to promote interest in philosophy to secondary school students, and serves as to promote and model informed, civil debate on important societal issues

Our staff and PhD students also regularly give talks in local schools and colleges.

In the media

On the radio

  • Free will: Helen Beebee discusses free will with Melvyn Bragg, Simon Blackburn and Galen Strawson on In our Time.
  • Logical positivism: Thomas Uebel discusses the logical positivists with Melvyn Bragg, Nancy Cartwright and Barry Smith on In Our Time.
  • Hume: Helen Beebee discusses David Hume with Melvyn Bragg, James Harris and Peter Millican on In Our Time.
  • More Hume: Helen Beebee discusses Hume again, this time with Alan Saunders on The Philosopher's Zone on Australia's Radio National. 
  • The problem of induction: Helen Beebee discusses induction with Matthew Sweet, zoologist Matthew Cobb, weather forecaster John Hammond and others, in The Philosophers Arms.

On film

  • Free will: A series of three short BBC Reel documentaries, featuring Helen Beebee.
  • The Emotions of OthersA short film on the expression of emotion, scripted by Joel Smith and Catharine Abell.

Podcasts

Debate

  • Laws of Nature: Helen Beebee debates the laws of nature with Gerard 't Hooft, David Malone, and Laura Mersini-Houghton, as part of the Institute of Arts and Ideas HowTheLightGetsIn festival.

Blogs

Online magazines