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 book Good Lives, which is about autobiography, narrative, self-knowledge, and the good life, will be published by Oxford University Press in 2021.
The philosophy of autobiography. The good life. The self. The philosophy of war. The philosophy of work and the workplace. 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, The Journal of Applied Philosophy, and Ethical Theory and Moral Practice. My book Good Lives will be published by Oxford University Press in 2021.
I am PPR's Director of Postgraduate Taught Studies, which means that I have overall responsibility for our MA and PGCert programmes.
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.
