Please click here for a copy of my CV.
EMPLOYMENT
2023 -
Senior Lecturer (Department of Philosophy, Cardiff University)
2019 - 2023
Lecturer (Department of Philosophy, Cardiff University)
2019
Associate Lecturer (Department of Philosophy, University of York)
2018 - 2019
Associate Tutor (Department of Philosophy, Birkbeck, University of London)
2017 - 2018
Research Fellow (Jubilee Centre for Character and Virtues, University of Birmingham)
2013 - 2017
Teaching Assistant (Department of Philosophy, University of St Andrews)
EDUCATION
2012 - 2016
PhD Philosophy, passed with no corrections (University of St Andrews)
Thesis: Aesthetics, Ethics, and Character: A Defence of the Moral Beauty View
Supervisors: Berys Gaut and Sarah Broadie
Examiners: Peter Lamarque (University of York) and John Haldane (University of St Andrews)
2011 - 2012
MLitt Philosophy, with Distinction in Coursework (University of St Andrews)
Dissertation: A Defence of Context-Sensitive Ethicism
Supervisor: Professor Berys Gaut
2010 - 2011
MA Filmmaking, with Distinction (Goldsmiths, University of London)
2005 - 2009
MA Philosophy and Film & TV Studies, with First Class Honours (University of Glasgow)
PUBLICATIONS
Peer-Reviewed Journal Articles
2021
- "The Aesthetics of Ethics: Exemplarism, Beauty, and the Psychology of Morality", Journal of Value Inquiry [pre-print published online].
2020
- "Functional Beauty, Pleasure, and Experience", Australasian Journal of Philosophy.
2019
- "Moral Beauty and Education", Journal of Moral Education.
- "The 'Moralism' in Immoralism: A Critique of Immoralism in Aesthetics", British Journal of Aesthetics.
2018
- "On Form, and the Possibility of Moral Beauty", Metaphilosophy.
- "The Empirical Case for Moral Beauty", Australasian Journal of Philosophy.
2017
- "The Deformity-Related Conception of Ugliness", British Journal of Aesthetics.
- "Scepticism About Virtue and the Five-Factor Model of Personality", Utilitas.
Book Chapters
2022
- "Virtue and Vice on TV: Television and Ethical Reflection", in Laura D'Olimpio, Panos Paris, and Aidan Thompson (Eds.), Educating Character Through the Arts (London: Routledge). [forthcoming]
Peer-Reviewed Co-Authored Journal Articles
2019
- with C. Darnell, L. Gulliford, and K. Kristjánsson, "Phronesis and the Knowledge–Action Gap in Moral Psychology and Education: A New Synthesis?", Human Development [pre-print published online].
Book Reviews
2019
- "Art, Morality and Human Nature: Writings by Richard W. Beardsmore", British Journal of Aesthetics.
Edited Books
2022
- Educating Character Through the Arts, co-edited with Laura D'Olimpio and Aidan Thompson (London Routledge). [forthcoming]
- Values and Virtues for a Challenging World, co-edited with Anneli Jefferson, Orestis Palermos, and Jonathan Webber (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press). [forthcoming]
AWARDS, HONOURS & GRANTS
2020 - 2021
Grant – Royal Institute of Philosophy
(Funding for a departmental conference on “Values and Virtues in a Changing World”, Cardiff University, September 2022 [co-applicant].)
2019
Grant – British Society of Aesthetics
(Funding for the Aesthetics & Ethics Research Group conference, “Beauty and Goodness: Exploring the Intersection”, University of Southampton, 19-20 September [co-applicant].)
Award – American Society for Aesthetics
(Irene H. Cheyes Travel Award to present my paper "The Aesthetics and Ethics of Rough-Hero Works", as part of a panel on the Ethical Responses to Fiction at the American Society for Aesthetics' 2019 Annual Meeting in Phoenix, AZ, 9-12 October).
Award – British Society of Aesthetics
(Travel stipend awarded for participation at the European Society for Aesthetics' 2019 Annual Meeting in Warsaw, Poland, 12-14 June, and the American Society for Aesthetics' 2019 Annual Meeting in Phoenix, AZ, 9-12 October.)
Grant – The Thought Trust
(Funding for the Aesthetics & Ethics Research Group conference, “Beauty and Goodness: Exploring the Intersection”, University of Southampton, 19-20 September.)
2018
Award – British Society of Aesthetics
(Travel stipend awarded for participation at the British Society of Aesthetics Annual Conference, 21-23 September, 2018, Oxford, and the American Society for Aesthetics Annual Meeting, 10-13 October, Toronto, ON.)
Award – American Society for Aesthetics
(Irene H. Cheyes Travel Award to present my paper "Robust (Im)moralism?" at the American Society for Aesthetics' Annual Meeting in Toronto, 10-13 October).
Grant – The Mind Association
(Funding for the "Educating Character Through the Arts" conference, to be held at the University of Birmingham, 19-21 July).
Grant – British Society of Aesthetics
(Funding for the "Educating Character Through the Arts" conference)
2017
Prize – American Society for Aesthetics
(Outstanding Student/Early-Career Paper Prize for "Functional Beauty, Pleasure, and Experience")
Award – British Society of Aesthetics
(Travel stipend awarded for participation at the American Society for Aesthetics Eastern Division Meeting, April 2017, Philadelphia, PA, and the British Society of Aesthetics Annual Meeting, September, Oxford.)
2016
Award – British Society of Aesthetics
(Travel stipend awarded for participation at the American Society for Aesthetics Eastern Division Meeting, April, Philadelphia, PA.)
2015 - 2018
Grant – British Society of Aesthetics
(For setting up and running the Scottish Aesthetics Forum, a lecture series aiming to promote aesthetics in Scotland and the North of the United Kingdom.)
Grant – Scots Philosophical Association
(Against losses for setting up and running the Scottish Aesthetics Forum.)
2012 - 2016
Scholarship – Alexander S. Onassis Public Benefit Foundation
(Awarded for four years, towards the degree of PhD in Philosophy at the University of St Andrews.)
2011 - 2012
Scholarship – Alexander S. Onassis Public Benefit Foundation
(Awarded for one year, towards the degree of MLitt in Philosophy at the University of St Andrews.)
2009
Prize – Department of Philosophy, University of Glasgow
(Thomas G. Holt Prize, awarded for distinction in coursework.)
SELECTED TALKS & PRESENTATIONS (EXTERNAL & REFEREED OR INVITED)
2022
- "Artworks, Characters, and Perspectives: Reflections on the Production-Oriented Approach to Ethical Criticism", 1st Art & Ethics Prague Conference, Institute of Philosophy, Czech Academy of Sciences, Prague, 25 April (invited).
2021
- “The Beautiful and the Good: Moral Beauty and the Importance of Aesthetics for Ethics”, ArC_Art in Conversation Series, University of St Andrews, 12 November (invited).
- “Beauty, Virtue, and Form: Reflections on the Stoic Theory of Beauty”, Dutch Research School for Philosophy (OZSW), ‘Recent Work on Ancient Philosophy Study Group’, 30 March (invited). [Online due to Covid-19 pandemic]
2020
- (upcoming) “Beauty and Form”, Institut Jean Nicod, École Normale Supérieure, date TBC (invited).
- “Beauty and Form”, London Aesthetics Forum, 20 May (invited).
2019
- “The Aesthetics and Ethics of Rough Hero Works”, as part of a panel on ‘Ethical Responses to Fiction’, American Society for Aesthetics Annual Meeting, Phoenix, AZ, 9-13 October.
- “The Aesthetics and Ethics of Rough-Hero Works”, as part of a symposium on ‘Ethical Responses to Fiction’, British Society of Aesthetics Annual Conference, Oxford, 6-8 September.
- “Beauty, Admiration, and Exemplarist Moral Theory”, European Society for Aesthetics Annual Conference, Warsaw, Poland, 12-14 June.
- “Functional Beauty: A Revised Proposal”, Scottish Aesthetics Forum, University of Edinburgh, 16 May (invited).
- “Immorality on Television”, Centre for Aesthetics, University of Leeds, 8 May (invited).
2018
- "Robust (Im)moralism?", American Society for Aesthetics Annual Meeting, Toronto, ON, 10-13 October.
- "Beauty and Exemplarist Moral Theory", British Society of Aesthetics Annual Conference, Oxford, 21-23 September.
- "Character and Virtue in Acute NHS Practice", Alumni Impact Fund Conference: Compassion, Character, and the Organisation of Acute NHS Care, University of Birmingham, 16 May (invited).
2017
- "Functional Beauty, Pleasure, and Experience", American Society for Aesthetics Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA, 15-18 November (***Winner of the Outstanding Student/Early-Career Paper Prize***).
- "The 'Moralism' in Immoralism", British Society of Aesthetics Annual Conference, Oxford, 8-10 September.
- "Evaluative Form and the Possibility of Moral Beauty", American Society for Aesthetics Eastern Division Meeting, Philadelphia, PA, 28-29 April.
2016
- "On the Possibility of Moral Beauty", European Society for Aesthetics Annual Conference, Barcelona, 8-10 June.
- “Ugliness and Deformity”, American Society for Aesthetics Eastern Division Meeting, Philadelphia, PA, 15-16 April.
2015
- “The Empirical Case for Moral Beauty”, British Society of Aesthetics Annual
Conference, Cambridge, 18-20 September.
2014
- “Moral Beauty – An Argument from Empirical Findings”, European Society for
Aesthetics Annual Conference, Amsterdam, 29-31 May.
OTHER SELECTED TALKS & PRESENTATIONS
2021
- “On the Concept of Form in the Theory of Beauty”, Philosophy Research Seminar, Cardiff University, 5 May 2021.
2018
- "Moral Beauty in the Public Sphere", Jubilee Centre for Character and Virtues Annual Conference - 'Virtues in the Public Sphere', Oriel College, Oxford, 5 January.
2014
- “Situationism, Lack of Pattern, and the Five-Factor Model of Personality”,
Postgraduate Research Seminar, University of St Andrews, 28 November.
- “Moral Beauty and Experience”, Aesthetics Reflectorium, University of St Andrews, 4 June.
2012
- “Against a Consequentialist Theory of Virtue”, Postgraduate Research Seminar,
University of St Andrews, 22 November.
2011
- “Can We Make Sense of a Connection Between Beauty and Love?”, Postgraduate
Research Seminar, University of St Andrews, 7 December.
TEACHING EXPERIENCE
2019 - (Current)
Associate Lecturer, University of York on 3-year BA and MA module:
- Philosophy of Film (3rd year BA and MA)
2018 - (Current)
Associate Tutor, Birkbeck, University of London on BA modules at all levels:
- Morality and Society (topics covered included: equality; cultural diversity and relativism; identity; discrimination; freedom of speech; poverty; war; capital punishment; non-human animals; environmental ethics.)
- Philosophy as the Art of Living: Ancient Views (topics covered included: Hume and Kant’s aesthetics; formalism and aesthetic experience; traditional and enlightened empiricism; forgery; conceptual art; cognitive value; ethical criticism; feminist and political critiques of aesthetics.)
- Social Epistemology (topics covered included: pre-Socratic monism and pluralism; Plato’s early dialogues; Phaedo; Republic; and Timaeus; Aristotle’s teleology; Epicurus; Pyrrho; Nāgārjuna on emptiness.)
- Art and Value (Second- and Third-Year Undergraduate Module, Fall Term).
2017
Guest Lecturer on PY2013: Moral and Aesthetic Value, Undergraduate Sub-Honours Module, University of St Andrews.
2012 - 2017
Teaching Assistant on undergraduate sub-honours modules, University of St Andrews:
2016 - 2017
- PY2013: Moral and Aesthetic Value (topics covered included: Hume's and Kant's aesthetics; aesthetic testimony; feminist aesthetics; moral objectivity; moral intuitions; morality and evolution.)
- PY2011: Foundations of Western Philosophy (topics covered included: Plato's early dialogues, and the Republic; Aristotle's Physics, Metaphysics, and Nicomachean Ethics; Hellenistic Philosophy.)
2014 - 2015
- PY1105: Ethical Controversies (topics covered included: key ethical theories, i.e., consequentialism, deontology, and virtue ethics, as well as moral problems including abortion, cloning, euthanasia, eating non-human animals.)
- PY2101: Aesthetics (topics covered included: the definition of art; theories of expression in art and musical expression; photographic transparency; the aesthetic theories of Kant, Hume, Hegel, Schopenhauer, and Nietzsche.)
2013 - 2014
- PY1105: Ethical Controversies
- PY2101: Aesthetics
- PY2003: Ancient Philosophy (topics covered included: Plato’s Republic; Aristotle’s Physics and Nicomachean Ethics)
2012 - 2013
- PY1106: Society, Authority, and Freedom (topics covered included: Hobbes, Locke, and Rousseau on the State of Nature and the justification of the state; Marx; Rawls; Nozick)
- PY2101: Aesthetics.
PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES, IMPACT, & PUBLIC OUTREACH
2018 - 2021
- Trustee of the British Society of Aesthetics.
2018 - (ongoing)
- Referee for Springer.
2017 - (ongoing)
- Referee for the Australasian Journal of Philosophy; Analysis; British Journal of Aesthetics; Ergo; Erkenntnis; Philosophical Psychology; Philosophical Quarterly.
2019
- Co-organiser, "Beauty and Goodness: Exploring the Intersection" conference, University of Southampton, 19-20 September.
- Referee for the American Society for Aesthetics Eastern Division Meeting.
- Co-founder and officer of the Aesthetics & Ethics Research Group.
(A research group formed with a view to promoting philosophical research at the intersection of aesthetics and ethics, and to facilitating the exchange of ideas and collaboration between researchers working in that area, broadly construed.)
2018
- Co-organiser, "Educating Character Through the Arts" conference, University of Birmingham, 19-21 July.
2014 - 2017
- Co-founder and organiser, Scottish Aesthetics Forum, University of Edinburgh
(Ongoing lecture series based at the University of Edinburgh aimed at disseminating state-of-the-art research on, and accommodate interest in, aesthetics, for the benefit of students, artists, and the general public in Scotland and the North of the United Kingdom; funded by the British Society of Aesthetics and the Scots Philosophical Association.)
2014
- Co-organiser, Aesthetics Reflectorium, University of St Andrews.
(A work-in-progress workshop in Aesthetics, held in the Department of Philosophy.)
2013
- Referee for the 7th Arché Graduate Conference, University of St Andrews.
PROFESSIONAL TRAINING & QUALIFICATIONS
2014
Diversity in the Workplace Online Training Module (Centre for Academic, Professional and Organisational Development, University of St Andrews.)
2012
Tutoring in the Arts: An Introduction (Centre for Academic, Professional and Organisational Development, University of St Andrews.)
2012
Assessment & Academic Misconduct (Arts): An Introduction (Centre for Academic,
Professional and Organisational Development, University of St Andrews.)
MEMBERSHIPS & PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS
2012 - present
Member of the British Society of Aesthetics
Member of the British Philosophical Association
2013 - present
Member of the European Society for Aesthetics
2016 - present
Member of the American Society for Aesthetics
Member of the American Philosophical Association
REFERENCES (NB. For contact details, please consult downloadable CV.)
- Professor Emily Brady, Susanne M. and Melbern G. Glasscock Director of the Glasscock Center for Humanities Research, and Professor of Philosophy, Texas A&M University.
- Sarah Broadie, Professor of Philosophy and Wardlaw Professor, University of St Andrews.
- Stacie Friend, Senior Lecturer in Philosophy and President of the British Society of Aesthetics (Teaching-focused reference).
- Berys Gaut, Professor of Philosophy and Director of Impact, University of St Andrews.
- Kristján Kristjánsson, Professor of Character Education and Virtue Ethics, and Deputy Director of the Jubilee Centre for Character and Virtues, University of Birmingham.
- Peter Lamarque, Professor of Philosophy, University of York.
ADDITIONAL & NON-ACADEMIC SKILLS & EXPERIENCE
Languages
English (excellent); Greek (native); German (basic: reading, speaking); French (basic: reading, speaking); Italian (basic: reading, speaking).
Other
Filmmaking skills and experience; IT skills; administrative experience.