My research training is in History and Philosophy of Science and I currently work mainly on topics in the philosophy of medicine, particularly philosophy of psychiatry. My recent research has focussed on conceptual issues related to the classification of psychopathology, and on concepts of health and disorder. Much of my research integrates work in the history of psychiatry with philosophy of science, and I also aim to engage with the live concerns of researchers in mental health. As such, I have written for a wide range of audiences, and publish in journals across philosophy, history of psychiatry, psychiatry and clinical psychology. 

Philosophy of science and medicine.

Especially philosophy of psychiatry; the nature of disease; metaphysics and epistemology of medicine; classification in science.

Career details

2018-               Professor of History and Philosophy of Science, Lancaster University

2007- 2018.      Senior Lecturer in Philosophy, Lancaster University.

2003 - 2007.     Lecturer in Philosophy, Lancaster University.

2000 - 2003.     Lecturer in Philosophy, Bradford University.

1999 - 2000.     Temporary Lecturer in Philosophy, University of Bristol.

To date, I have published three monographs: Diagnosing the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (Karnac, 2014), Psychiatry and the Philosophy of Science (Routledge, 2007), and Classifying Madness (Springer, 2005). I am currently completing a monograph on the concepts of health and disorder.

Together with my PhD students, I organise regular reading groups and workshops on the philosophy of mental health at Lancaster. I'd be very happy to hear from potential PhD students seeking supervision in the philosophy of psychiatry, or philosophy of medicine more broadly.

President of the British Society for the Philosophy of Science 2020-21. Hon Secretary 2007-2010. Committee member 2004-7.

Member of the Advisory Group for the Philosophy Subject Benchmark Statement, Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education 2024-25

Royal Institute of Philosophy - Director of the Lancaster Local Partner since 2005. Organising public lectures and workshops in Lancaster. 

Aristotelian Society - Committee member 2005-8.

From Jan 2013 - Dec 2013 I was awarded a British Academy mid-career research fellowship  for work on a project titled "Evaluating the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders".

In 2008 I was awarded an AHRC Research Network Grant (along with Havi Carel, UWE) for a project examining Concepts of Health, Illness and Disease.