Philosophy

Lawford-Smith, Holly. Not In Their Name: Are Citizens Culpable For Their States' Actions? Oxford University Press, 2019

The idea of popular sovereignty is dominant in classical political theory. It is a commonplace assumption that democratic publics both authorise and have control over what their states do; that their states act in their name and on their behalf. Not In Their Name approaches these assumptions from the perspective of social metaphysics, asking whether the state is a collective agent, and whether ordinary citizens are members of that agent. If it is, and they are, there is a clear case for democratic collective culpability.

Young, Garry. "Enacting Immorality Within Gamespace," in Attrill-Smith, Alison; Fullwood, Chris; Keep, Melanie and Kuss, Daria (eds.,). Oxford Handbook of Cyberpsychology. Oxford University Press, 2019

The Oxford Handbook of Cyberpsychology explores a wide range of cyberpsychological processes and activities through the research and writings of some of the world's leading cyberpsychology experts. The book is divided into eight sections covering topics as varied as online research methods, self-presentation and impression management, technology across the lifespan, interaction and interactivity, online groups and communities, social media, health and technology, video gaming and cybercrime and cybersecurity. More information...

Goswick, Dana. "Are Modal Facts Brute Facts?," in Vintiadis, Elly and Mekios, Constantinos (eds.,). Brute Facts. Oxford University Press, 2018

Brute facts are facts that don't have explanations. Such facts appear in our explanations, inform many people's views about the structure of the world, and are part of philosophical interpretations in metaphysics and the philosophy of science. Yet, despite the considerable literature on explanation, the question of bruteness has been left largely unexamined. The chapters in Brute Facts address this gap in academic thought by exploring the central considerations which surround this topic. More information...

Halliday, Dan. Inheritance of Wealth Justice, Equality, and the Right to Bequeath. OUP, 2018

Daniel Halliday examines the moral grounding of the right to bequeath or transfer wealth. He engages with contemporary concerns about wealth inequality, class hierarchy, and taxation, while also drawing on the history of the egalitarian, utilitarian, and liberal traditions in political philosophy. He presents an egalitarian case for restricting inherited wealth, arguing that unrestricted inheritance is unjust to the extent that it enables and enhances the intergenerational replication of inequality. More information...

Jones, Karen and Schroeter, Francois (eds.,). The many moral rationalisms. Oxford University Press, 2018. Also Schroeter, Laura; Schroeter, Francois, and Jones, Karen. "Introduction" and Schroeter, Laura and Schroeter, Francois. “Reasons and Justifiability” in the same book.

Moral rationalism takes human reason and human rationality to be the key elements in an explanation of the nature of morality, moral judgment, and moral knowledge. This volume explores the resources of this rich philosophical tradition. Thirteen original essays, framed by the editors' introduction, critically examine the four core theses of moral rationalism: (i) the psychological thesis that reason is the source of moral judgment, (ii) the metaphysical thesis that moral requirements are constituted by the deliverances of practical reason, (iii) the epistemological thesis that moral requirements are knowable a priori, and (iv) the normative thesis that moral requirements entail valid reasons for action. More information...

Jones, Karen and Schroeter, Francois. "Moral Expertise," in McPherson, Tristram and Plunkett, David (eds.,). The Routledge Handbook of Metaethics. Routledge, 2018. Also Schroeter, Laura and Schroeter, Francois. "Metasemantics and Metaethics" in the same book.

This Handbook surveys the contemporary state of the burgeoning field of metaethics. Forty-four chapters, all written exclusively for this volume, provide expert introductions to: the central research programs that frame metaethical discussions; the central explanatory challenges, resources, and strategies that inform contemporary work in those research programs; debates over the status of metaethics, and the appropriate methods to use in metaethical inquiry. This is essential reading for anyone with a serious interest in metaethics, from those coming to it for the first time to those actively pursuing research in the field. More information...

Peden, Knox. "Badiou's Concept of History," in Bartlett, A.J. and Clemens, Justin (ed.,). Badiou and His Interlocutors: Lectures, Interviews and Responses. Bloomsbury Publishing, 2018

This is a unique collection presenting work by Alain Badiou and commentaries on his philosophical theories. It includes three lectures by Badiou, on contemporary politics, the infinite, cinema and theatre and two extensive interviews with Badiou - one concerning the state of the contemporary situation and one wide ranging interview on all facets of his work and engagements. It also includes six interventions on aspects of Badiou's work by established scholars in the field, addressing his concept of history, Lacan, Cinema, poetry, and feminism; and four original essays by young and established scholars in Australia and New Zealand addressing the key concerns of Badiou's 2015 visit to the Antipodal region and the work he presented there. More information...

Peden, Knox. "Grace and equality, fried and rancière (and kant)," in Abbott, Mathew (ed.,). Michael Fried and Philosophy: Modernism, Intention, and Theatricality. Routledge, 2018

This volume brings philosophers, art historians, intellectual historians, and literary scholars together to argue for the philosophical significance of Michael Fried's art history and criticism. It demonstrates that Fried's work on modernism, artistic intention, the ontology of art, theatricality, and anti-theatricality can throw new light on problems in and beyond philosophical aesthetics. Featuring an essay by Fried and articles from world-leading scholars, this collection engages with philosophical themes from Fried’s texts. More information...

Restall, Greg. "Truth-Tellers in Bradwardine's Theory of Truth," in Uckelman S., Rode C., Loewe B. and Kann C. (eds.,). Modern Views of Medieval Logic Volume 16. Peeters, 2018

While for a long time the study of medieval logic focused on editorial projects and reconstructions of central medieval doctrines such as the theories of signification, supposition, consequences, and obligations, nowadays the spectrum of analysis has broadened and is increasingly informed by modern logical research, whose perspective is then applied to medieval logic. Promoting this tendency, logicians and researchers concerned with semantics in the Gesellschaft für Philosophie des Mittelalters und der Renaissance (GPMR) founded a working group bringing together medieval logic and modern applied logic. The present volume is a seminal document of these interests and activities. It analyses theories in medieval logic which are useful for solving questions of recent logic and explains crucial parts of medieval logic, philosophy, and theology by applying techniques of present-day logic. More information...

Sankey, Howard. "Kuhn, relativism and realism," in Saatsi, J. (ed.,). The Routledge Handbook of Scientific Realism. Routledge, 2018

The Routledge Handbook of Scientific Realism is an outstanding reference source - the first collection of its kind - to the key issues, positions, and arguments in this important topic. Its thirty-four chapters, written by a team of international experts, are divided into five parts: Historical development of the realist stance; Classic debate: core issues and positions; Perspectives on contemporary debates; The realism debate in disciplinary context; Broader reflections. In these sections, the core issues and debates presented, analysed, and set into broader historical and disciplinary contexts. More information...

Sankey, Howard. "The Demise of the Incommensurability Thesis," in Mizrahi, Moti (ed.,). The Kuhnian Image of Science: Time for a Decisive Transformation? Rowman & Littlefield International, 2018

More than 50 years after the publication of Thomas Kuhn's seminal book, The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, this volume assesses the adequacy of the Kuhnian model in explaining certain aspects of science, particularly the social and epistemic aspects of science. One argument put forward is that there are no good reasons to accept Kuhn's incommensurability thesis, according to which scientific revolutions involve the replacement of theories with conceptually incompatible ones. More information...

Singer, Peter. "Philosophy, Controversy, and Freedom of Speech," in Downs, Donald and Surprenant, Chris. (eds.,). Value and Limits of Academic Speech: Philosophical, Political, and Legal Perspectives. Rutledge, 2018

The essays in this collection, written by prominent philosophers, political scientists, sociologists, and legal scholars, examine the issues at the forefront of the crisis of free speech in higher education. The contributors address the broader historical, cultural, legal, and normative contexts of the current crisis, and take care to analyse the role of "due process" in protecting academic freedom and individuals accused of misconduct. Additionally, the volume is unique in that it advances practical remedies to campus censorship, as the editors and many of the contributors have participated in movements to remedy limitations on free speech and open inquiry. More information...

Jones, Karen. "'But I Was Counting on You!'," in Faulkner, P. And Simpson, T. (eds.,). The Philosophy of Trust. Oxford University Press, 2017

Trust is central to our social lives. We know by trusting what others tell us. We act on that basis, and on the basis of trust in their promises and implicit commitments. So trust underpins both epistemic and practical cooperation and is key to philosophical debates on the conditions of its possibility... But trust is not merely central to our lives instrumentally; trusting relations are themselves of great value, and in trusting others, we realise distinctive forms of value. What are these forms of value, and how is trust central to our lives? These questions are explored and developed in this volume, which collects fifteen new essays on the philosophy of trust. They develop and extend existing philosophical discussion of trust and will provide a reference point for future work on trust. More information...

Peden, Knox. "To Have Done with Alienation (Or: How to Orient Oneself in Ideology)," in Nesbitt, Nick (ed.,). The Concept in Crisis: 'Reading Capital' Today. Duke University Press, 2017

The publication of Reading Capital - by Louis Althusser, Étienne Balibar, Roger Establet, Pierre Macherey, and Jacques Rancière - in 1965 marked a key intervention in Marxist philosophy and critical theory, bringing forth a stunning array of concepts that continue to inspire philosophical reflection of the highest magnitude. The Concept in Crisis reconsiders the volume’s reading of Marx and renews its call for a critique of capitalism and culture for the twenty-first century. More information...

Whitty, Monica and Young, Garry. Cyberpsychology The Study of Individuals, Society and Digital Technologies. John Wiley & Sons, 2017

An important new BPS Textbook in Psychology exploring the interactions between individuals, societies, and digital technologies. The book outlines key theories and empirical research within cyberpsychology and provides critical assessments of this rapidly changing field; it identifies areas in need of further research and ways to use digital technologies as a research tool; it covers topics such as online identity, online relationships and dating, pornography, children’s use of the internet, cyberbullying, online games and gambling, and deception and online crime; and the book is engaging and accessible for students at the undergraduate and graduate level with real life examples, activities, and discussion questions. More information...

Sankey, Howard. "Subject and Object in Scientific Realism," in Angelova, P., Andreev, J. and Lensky, E. (eds.,). Das Interpretative Universum: Dimitri Ginev Zum 60. Geburtstag Gewidmet. Konigshausen and Neumann, 2017

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Halliday, Daniel. "Inheritance and Hypothetical Insurance," in Waluchow, W. and Sciaraffa, S. (eds.,). The Legacy of Ronald Dworkin. Oxford University Press, 2016

This book assembles leading legal, political, and moral philosophers to examine the legacy of the work of Ronald Dworkin. They provide the most comprehensive critical treatment of Dworkin's accomplishments focusing on his work in all branches of philosophy, including his theory of value, political philosophy, philosophy of international law, and legal philosophy. More information...

Inkpin, Andrew. Disclosing the World: On the Phenomenology of Language. MIT Press, 2016

In this book, Andrew Inkpin considers the disclosive function of language - what language does in revealing or disclosing the world. His approach to this question is a phenomenological one, centring on the need to accord with the various experiences speakers can have of language. With this aim in mind, he develops a phenomenological conception of language with important implications for both the philosophy of language and recent work in the embodied-embedded-enactive-extended (4e) tradition of cognitive science. More information...

Inkpin, Andrew. "Phenomenology of language in a 4e world," in Reynolds, Jack and Sebold, Richard (eds.,). Phenomenology and Science: Confrontations and Convergences. Palgrave Macmillan, 2016

This book investigates the complex, sometimes fraught relationship between phenomenology and the natural sciences. The contributors attempt to subvert and complicate the divide that has historically tended to characterise the relationship between the two fields. Phenomenology has traditionally been understood as methodologically distinct from scientific practice, and thus removed from any claim that philosophy is strictly continuous with science. More information...

Lawford-Smith, Holly. "Difference-Making and Individuals' Climate-Related Obligations," in Heyward, C. And Rosa, D. (eds.,). Climate Justice in a Non-Ideal World. Oxford University Press, 2016

The first part of the book discusses those facets of the debate on climate justice that become relevant due to the shortcomings of current global action on climate change. The second part makes specific suggestions for adjusting current policies and negotiating procedures in ways that are feasible in the relatively short term while still decreasing the distance between current climate policy and the ideal. The chapters in the third and final part reflect upon how philosophical work can be brought to bear on the debates in climate science, communication, and politics. More information...

Lawford-Smith, Holly and Collins, S. "The Transfer of Duties: From Individuals To States And Back Again," in Brady, M. And Fricker, M. (Ads.,). The Epistemic Life of Groups. Oxford University Press, 2016

Groups engage in epistemic activity all the time - whether it be the active collective inquiry of scientific research groups or crime detection units, or the evidential deliberations of tribunals and juries, or the informational efforts of the voting population in general - and yet in philosophy there is still relatively little epistemology of groups to help explore these epistemic practices and their various dimensions of social and philosophical significance. The aim of this book is to address this lack, by presenting original essays in the field of collective epistemology, exploring these regions of epistemic practice and their significance for Epistemology, Political Philosophy, Ethics, and the Philosophy of Science. More information...

Peden, Knox. "Althusser's Spinozism and the Problem of Theology," in Hamza, Agon (ed.,). Althusser and Theology: Religion, Politics and Philosophy. Brill, 2016

Religion has always been an object of philosophical analysis, as well as a platform for political practice. One cannot imagine a form of philosophical thinking without its relation to a religion, whether it negates or affirms the latter. In different philosophical orientations, religion also serves as a condition for philosophy. Althusser and Theology intends not so much to fill a gap in Althusser scholarship as to make an important contribution to the contemporary radical left movement. In this regard, Althusser and Theology is of significant importance in the current debates on the Left concerning its relation to theology. More information...

Young, Garry. Resolving the Gamer's Dilemma: Examining the Moral and Psychological Differences between Virtual Murder and Virtual Paedophilia. Springer, 2016

This book explores the gamer’s dilemma, which lies at the heart of theorising about the morality of certain video game content. The dilemma is as follows: given that gaming content involves virtual characters within a virtual environment, the moral permission of virtual murder would also appear to morally permit virtual paedophilia. Yet most gamers and members of wider society would not want to play, endorse, or find in any way morally acceptable the enactment of virtual paedophilia within a video game. Yet by accepting the moral permissibility of virtual murder they leave themselves vulnerable to having to accept the moral permissibility of virtual paedophilia. More information...