Continental philosophy and religious thought; the dialectical tradition in philosophy and theology (Hegel and post-Hegelian thinkers such as Gillian Rose, Charles Taylor, Rowan Williams and Slavoj Zizek); religion and psychoanalytic thought (especially in the work of Freud and Michel de Certeau); the philosophical and cultural history of atheism and secularism; political thought, particularly the origins and development of Socialist Thought in Britain and the history of the Labour Party.

Gavin Hyman welcomes research proposals in the following areas, broadly conceived: Christian studies: theological, philosophical and historical approaches; Philosophy and religious thought; Postmodernism, theology and ethics; Continental philosophy; Religion and Psychoanalytic Thought.

Degrees

M.A. (Exon.),  Ph.D. (Cantab.)

Personal and Career details

Gavin Hyman is a specialist in continental philosophy and religious thought, and has written widely in this area. More recently, he has written on socialist thought in Britain and on the history of the Labour Party. His publications include The Predicament of Postmodern Theology (2001), New Directions in Philosophical Theology (ed., 2004), A Short History of Atheism (2010), Traversing the Middle: Ethics, Poiltics, Religion (2013), Confronting Secularism in Europe and India (ed. with Brian Black and Graham M. Smith, 2014), Agnosticism: Explorations in Philosophy and Religious Thought (ed. with Francis Fallon, 2020) and Keeping the Red Flag Flying: The Labour Party in Opposition since 1922 (with Mark Garnett and Richard Johnson, 2024).  

Within the Department of Politics, Philosophy and Religion, he has served variously as Deputy Head of Department, Director of Human Resources, Co-Director of Postgraduate Teaching, Student Experience Tutor and Admissions Tutor.  Beyond the department, he has served as Senior Tutor of Cartmel College and Vice-Principal of The County College.  From 2011-18, he was the University Public Orator.  He was born in 1974 and has taught at Lancaster since 1999.

PHIL 100:  Introduction to Philosophy: Knowledge and Reality (section on 'Continental Philosophy')

PPR 209:  Philosophers on Religion

PPR 292:  Socialist Thought in Britain

PPR 314:  Philosophy and Psychoanalysis

PPR 351:  Modern Religious and Atheistic Thought

PPR 450:  What is Philosophy? (section on Badiou and Žižek: 'Philosophy in the Present')

Gavin Hyman's research explores the implications of contemporary continental philosophy and cultural theory for religious thought, and, conversely, explores the ways in which theology both contributes to and calls into question contemporary philosophical and cultural assumptions.His first book, The Predicament of Postmodern Theology (2001) explored the relationship between two antithetical forms of postmodern theology: 'radical orthodoxy' and 'nihilist textualism'.  He subsequently, extended these explorations into the ethical and political arenas, resulting in a book entitled Traversing the Middle: Ethics, Politics, Religion (2013).  

He also has research interests in the cultural and philosophical history of atheism, agnosticism and secularism. In particular, he is interested in the epistemological shifts that created the conditions for the emergence of atheism, agnosticism and secularism in the early modern period. He is also interested in exposing the hidden philosophical (and often religious) presuppositions underlying contemporary manifestations of atheism. He has contributed to The Cambridge Companion to Atheism (2006) and The Cambridge History of Atheism (2021), written A Short History of Atheism (2010) and co-edited Confronting Secularism in Europe and India (2014) and Agnosticism: Explorations in Philosophy and Religious Thought (2020).

He has recently developed an interest in socialist thought and the history of the Labour Party.  He teaches a module on 'Socialist Thought in Britain' and has written (with Mark Garnett and Richard Johnson) Keeping the Red Flag Flying: The Labour Party in Opposition since 1922 (2024).  He has also written numerous entries on Labour Party figures for the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.