Research overview
We're one of the leading philosophy research communities in the UK and welcome applications from enthusiastic and committed PhD students.
We offer:
- experienced and expert supervision
- internationally recognised research publishing
- a highly inclusive and supportive environment
Our research strengths
We're active across a mixture of established and emerging areas. Particular strengths include:
- Applied, Feminist and Social Philosophy
- Metaphysics
- Philosophy of Mind
- Logic and Language
- Philosophy of Science
- History of Philosophy
- Philosophy of Religion
- Epistemology
- Moral Philosophy
- Political and Legal Philosophy
This list is not exhaustive. Contact us to discuss your particular interests.
Current staff research and expertise
Get a feel for our current work – see our active staff research projects or find an expert in your area of philosophy.
We host to three active research groups that you are encouraged to get involved with:
We also have seven active research clusters:
- Philosophy Without Borders
- Gender, Sex, Race and Social Identity
- Recreation, Play and Games
- South and East Asian Philosophy
- Science and Metaphysics
- Normative Philosophy
- Mind, Psychology and Mental Health
Current PhD research
Our current PhD students are exploring a diverse range of issues including:
- metaethics
- homelessness
- AI ethics
- moral responsibility
- philosophy of action
- medical ethics
- the nature of perception
- the philosophy of time
- social epistemology
- microaggressions
- environmental ethics
- truth
- health and trust
- Plato
- mental health
Case studies
Being Seen - Philosophy of Mental Health - watch interviews with PhD candidate Andy Farr and supervisor Craig French reflect on the early stages of research into the therapeutic effects of trauma portraiture.
Recently completed theses
- On Philosophers' Hallucinations: Naïve Realism and the Master Argument from Hallucination’ - Giorgio Mazzullo
- Hume’s moral sentiments and Humean moral aliefs - James Chamberlain
- Physical disability and well-being - Thomas Crawley
- Humean revisions to the best system account of lawhood - Mike Hughes
- Normativity and ethics: the error in the error theory - Kipros Lofitis
- Dispositionalism: a study on properties - Andrea Raimondi
- Weakness of will and its connection with practical reasons - Samaneh Keshavarz
Your department
- Department of Philosophy website
- Ranked 11th in the UK for our research outputs in the Research Excellence Framework 2021
"I think that philosophy often forces us to slow our thinking down much more than we are used to doing in our everyday lives. That can be hard, but I also think that this is part of successful work in many academic disciplines as well as in other pursuits." Dr Lina Jansson