History of philosophy
The history of philosophy, from the ancient through modern to recent developments
Work in the history of philosophy is active and varied at Edinburgh, spanning ancient philosophy from the pre-Socratics right up to the emergence of analytic philosophy and its linguistic turn. Whether it is ancient metaphysics, philosophy of science in modern philosophy, British empiricists or analytic philosophy, our work in the history of philosophy profits from interacting with our colleagues working in the same areas of contemporary philosophy. Naturally, scholarship is part of our practice of the history of philosophy and several of us have contributed to canonical editions of important works in the history of philosophy.
From antiquity to the twentieth century
In ancient philosophy, our interests span a wide range of topics including philosophy in late antiquity, early medicine, science and, of course, metaphysics. We are working to understand early modern and modern philosophers who contributed to debates on ethics, language, science, and the nature of existence—to name a few. With expertise in early modern philosophy, our interests also extend to subsequent developments such as the German Romantics and British Hegelians. In the twentieth century, we are working on phenomenology and early analytic philosophy.
Interdisciplinary collaboration
Our researchers collaborate across disciplines, especially with colleagues in Classics, Divinity, History, English, Politics and other inter-disciplinary venues such as the Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities (IASH). Along with colleagues based in Classics, we have contributed to major projects such as the Oxford Classical Text of Plato and the Archelogos databases of ancient philosophy arguments.
Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities
People
Core philosophy faculty working in History of Philosophy at Edinburgh include:
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Research interests |
|---|---|
| Dr Mahrad Almotahari | History of medieval Islamic Thought |
| Dr Fedor Benevich | In his research, Dr Benevich focuses on the history of metaphysics, epistemology, and the philosophy of mind in the Islamic world. He has written on the critical adaptation of ancient philosophical theories in the Arabic intellectual tradition, Islamic philosophical theology (kalām), and post-classical Islamic philosophy. He is also interested in Islamic ethics and political philosophy. |
| Dr Damian Caluori | Ancient philosophy, theories of the soul and in metaphysics more generally, late ancient Platonism, Plotinus |
| Dr Mazviita Chirimuuta | History of Philosophy of Science |
| Dr Alix Cohen | Early modern philosophy, Kant, Kantian ethics, Rousseau, Hume |
| Dr Jonathan Cottrell | Early Modern Philosophy, Hume |
| Professor Guy Fletcher | Ethics, Mill |
| Professor Michael Gill | Hume |
| Dr Inna Kupreeva | Ancient and medieval philosophy and science, Aristotelian tradition |
| Dr David Levy | Platonic moral philosophy, Simone Weil, Wittgenstein |
| Dr Beri Marušić | Sartre |
| Jen Smalligan Marušić | Dr Marusic’s research is in the History of Modern Philosophy; she is especially interested in John Locke, David Hume and British Empiricism. She is currently working on a book project on Locke's epistemological outlook in his An Essay Concerning Human Understanding. |
| Professor Michela Massimi | Kant, philosophy of science, early modern philosophy |
| Dr Filipa Melo Lopes | History of Feminist Philosophy |
| Professor Pauline Phemister | 17th century philosophy, Leibniz, Descartes, Spinoza, Locke, philosophy and the natural world |
| Dr Alasdair Richmond | Berkeley, metaphysics of time, philosophy of science, British empiricists, epistemology, philosophy of explanation |
| Dr David Ward | Kant, Hegel, Merleau-Ponty, phenomenology |
Other faculty with interests in the history of philosophy include:
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Research interests |
|---|---|
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(History) |
Law and moral philosophy, the intellectual history of early modern Europe, early modern religious thought, interdisciplinary connections in the early modern period, enlightenment responses to classical antiquity, reception of Newtonian science in Germany |
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(Classics) |
Greek society and ethics, emotions |
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(Law) |
Legal thought and legal education in the Scottish enlightenment |
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(Classics) |
Hellenistic political philosophy |
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(Divinity) |
Reformed theology from the 16th century to the present day, the relationship between church and society, political liberalism, natural sciences |
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(Divinity) |
Early Christian philosophy, patristics |
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(History) |
Cultural and intellectual history of early modern and modern Scotland, especially the Scottish enlightenment; early-modern British and French political thought |
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(Classics) |
Presocratics, papyrology |
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(GeoSciences) |
Historical geography of science; geography, travel and exploration; geography and the Enlightenment; histories of cartography |
Postgraduate study
- MSc in Philosophy (specialisations in historical periods available)
- PhD and MSc by Research programmes
Meetings and events
We regularly organise events around themes in the history of philosophy, including conferences, seminars and reading groups, for example:
- Scottish Seminar for Early Modern Philosophy (April 2017)
- Feeling Reasons: The Role of Emotions in Reasoning (May 2017)
- Online Phenomenology Reading Group and Blog
You can see a full list of philosophy reading groups and research seminars below. In addition, there are many relevant seminars within classics, theology, history, politics and other subjects that may also of interest to scholars and students of the history of philosophy. The Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities compiles a list of these events across the college.