The philosophy of autobiography. Value theory. 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.

Summer 2017: PHIL100 Introduction to Philosophy: Death, the Good Life, and the Self (lectures)

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.