I am interested in the self; in good and bad lives it might lead; in its reflexive powers and practices; in the roles of experience, reflection, and institutions in its development and success; and in how to do philosophy so as to advance our understanding of these issues.
These interests have lead me to think, write, and teach about capitalism and anarchism; utopias, dialogues, and autobiographies; well-being, pleasure, and self-realization; self-knowledge, self-interpretation, and self-command; the lives and experiences of monks, soldiers, hermits, and solo travellers; and the transformative effects of work and war.
I am currently writing a book about autobiography, narrative, self-knowledge, and self-realization, under the working title Good Lives.
The philosophy of autobiography. The good life. The self. The philosophy of war. The philosophy of David Hume. The philosophy of John Stuart Mill. Literary form in philosophy.
I am interested in the self; in good and bad lives it might lead; in its reflexive powers and practices; in the roles of experience, reflection, and institutions in its development and success; and in how to do philosophy so as to advance our understanding of these issues.
These interests have lead me to think, write, and teach about capitalism and anarchism; utopias, dialogues, and autobiographies; well-being, pleasure, and self-realization; self-knowledge, self-interpretation, and self-command; the lives and experiences of monks, soldiers, hermits, and solo travellers; and the transformative effects of work and war.
My current work is philosophy of and through autobiography, and as part of it I have published articles in journals including Inquiry, Ratio, Res Publica, and The Journal of Applied Philosophy, and in the Blackwell Companion to John Stuart Mill. I am currently writing a book about autobiography, narrative, and self-realization, under the working title Good Lives: see https://goodlivesbook.wordpress.com/
I am Lancaster philosophy's representative to the AHRC-funded North West Consortium Doctoral Training Partnership, which funds postgraduate study in philosophy. If you're considering applying, please get in touch.
Apart from philosophy, I enjoy reading poetry and history, listening to jazz and other experimental music, and spending time with my wife Em and our children Hal and Ursula.
I did an undergraduate degree in philosophy at York (1996), the BPhil at Queen's College Oxford (2000), and a PhD in political philosophy at York (2004). Before starting my current job at Lancaster in 2007, I taught at the universities of York, Leeds, and Glasgow.
