Centre for Social Philosophy members

My research is primarily in social and political philosophy. This includes feminist philosophy, philosophy of 'race', critical theory, and the history of political thought. I also (and connectedly) have strong interests in philosophy of music and German-language philosophical traditions.

My research is primarily in the metaphysics of mind, social ontology and the philosophy of emotion. I am interested in the interplay between metaphysical questions on the ontology of mental states/categories and practical application questions in experimental psychology and artificial intelligence. I am currently working on projects relating to the possibility of robot emotions, the classification of mental states, and the metaphysics of kinds.

What is education for? What is teaching? Does the notion of 'meritocracy' really have any meaning in education? I am interested in these and other questions related to the philosophy of education. I am currently thinking about structural discrimination in the classroom, issues to do with silencing in the classroom, the use of AI in the classroom, and the political nature of education. I have taught philosophy to over 600 primary school children in the county. I am co-lead on a research project (Birmingham-Nottingham Education Partnership Fund) looking at how to decolonise the curriculum.

My work explores how the demands of practical life bear on issues in theoretical epistemology, and applies the tools of theoretical epistemology to urgent issues in practical life. In my book, What's the Point of Knowledge? (OUP 2019), I argue that reflecting on the social role of knowledge sheds light on many epistemological issues. The book also explores how our epistemic concepts, norms, and practices contribute to human survival, cooperation, and flourishing. My next book, titled How Politics Makes Us Stupid, will bring insights from many areas of epistemology into contact with political issues like post-truth, fake news, and the epistemic requirements of democracy.

I explore how recent work in metaphysics allows us to understand the social construction of categories such as gender, race, disability, and class – categories which are key to a number of related contemporary movements for social justice. 

I'm interested in the ways that some of our major social institutions – mainly healthcare and education – promote the oppression of certain groups. At the moment, my main concern is a phenomenon I call pathophobia, which refers to the many ways that ill persons are marginalised and mistreated. Much of this work relies on narratives by ill persons and empirical work in healthcare psychology and sociology – if philosophers aren't in touch with the lives of the oppressed, they won't be able to help them.

I am interested in collective action and the construction of the social world, and in debates about autonomy as connecting the sphere of political philosophy with that of action theory. One of my research aspirations is to produce an account that can robustly link questions of practical political philosophy with an explanation of the underlying nature of social reality. I am also interested in epistemology (particularly on the nature of testimony and collective testifiers), Feminism, Political Philosophy and Ethics.

I am interested in philosophy of language, feminism, and particularly the places where they overlap.

The main focus of my work at the moment is the question of how we come to form and justify various aesthetic judgements (judgements concerning, for example, which objects are beautiful and which are ugly). Historically, many philosophers have argued that these judgements – in contrast to judgements of more mundane matters – can’t (or shouldn’t) be based on social factors but I argue that this influential view is mistaken. I am also interested in a variety of other philosophical issues in areas such as ethics, philosophy of art, and the philosophy of religion.

I have research interests in a number of areas, including the nature of trust. Over the last few years I’ve worked with a range of local businesses and charities exploring the ways in which this research can be deployed for the public good.

I specialise in ethics, philosophy of law, and philosophy of race. My research in the philosophy of race focuses on the nature of racism, in particular everyday subtler cases of racism. My work pays special attention to the lived experiences of those who are targets of racism, including their emotional responses to racism and aims to make intelligible (and justify) different emotional responses to racism.

My work focuses on the nature of social categories such as gender and race: what they are, how they are created, and how they can be changed. I have published articles on feminism, trans rights, and sexuality, and I’m especially interested in what gender identity is and how it fits into struggles to end all forms of gender-based oppression.