Department of Philosophy
Research Profile
Macquarie has a growing reputation as a distinctive centre of excellence for philosophical research. The Department has an innovative and vibrant research culture, benefiting from the presence of a number of philosophical and inter-disciplinary perspectives, and consistently producing high-level research publications in a wide range of central areas. The Department’s unique feature is a genuine pluralism, based on a long-standing collective commitment to creative interaction between traditions, resulting in a breadth and inclusiveness of style rare in the discipline.
The main areas of specialization in the Department are:
- Mind, Metaphysics and Meaning
- Social Philosophy and Continental Philosophy
- Ethics and Applied Ethics
Mind, Metaphysics and Meaning
Our research in this area includes a) Peter Menzies’ work on the metaphysics of causation (including mental causation), counterfactual conditionals, response-dependence, and modality b) naturalistically-oriented philosophy of psychology, in close interdisciplinary contact with empirical sciences, as in John Sutton's work on memory and distributed cognition and Jeanette Kennett’s work on moral cognition; and c) Albert Atkin’s work on the philosophy of language, epistemology, and the philosophy of C.S. Peirce. Jennifer Duke-Yonge has research interests in the relationship between natural language and logic as well as the teaching of logic.
Social Philosophy and Continental Philosophy
The three core members of this stream (Jean-Philippe Deranty, Robert Sinnerbrink and Nicholas Smith) work in existential phenomenology and hermeneutics; social and political philosophy particularly in the Hegelian and post-Hegelian tradition; continental aesthetics; and post-structuralism. Critical social theory in the Frankfurt School tradition is a particular strength, especially its ‘recognition’ paradigm, which much research in this stream has sought to advance. Two Macquarie University Research Fellows (Heikki Ikaheimo and Paul Formosa) add substantially to our research effort in this area. Members of the stream are active editors of the international journal Critical Horizons.
Ethics and Applied Ethics
Our research in ethics includes a) work done by Catriona Mackenzie and Jeanette Kennett on moral psychology, autonomy, moral responsibility, and conceptions of selfhood and agency; b) Cynthia Townley’s work on trust, tolerance and epistemic responsibility; and c) Mianna Lotz’s work in normative ethics. All four are also heavily involved in research in applied ethics, as is Wendy Rogers, who brings extensive and wide-ranging medical expertise to our research in this area. Bioethics is thus a particular area of strength, and includes research on the ethics of surgery, cloning, parenting, end of life decisions, and other issues. Mackenzie, Rogers and Lotz also have expertise in research ethics.
(last updated: 9/9/09 )
Exercitationem
Visi ut aliquid ex
Ut enim ad minima veniam, quis nostrum exercitationem ullam corporis suscipit laboriosam, nisi ut aliquid ex ea commodi consequatur.
Visi ut aliquid ex
Quis autem vel eum iure reprehenderit qui in ea voluptate velit esse quam nihil molestiae consequatur, vel illum qui dolorem eum fugiat quo voluptas nulla pariatu
Et harum quidem rerum facilis est et expedita distinctio.