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2024 BBC New Generation Thinker

Jonathan Egid has been selected by the AHRC

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31 July 2024

Dr Carlo Nicolai awarded King's first AHRC Research Commercialisation grant

The UKRI-backed scheme is designed to support innovative projects which will apply arts and…

20 May 2024

PhD student named as 2024 BBC/AHRC New Generation Thinker

4th year PhD candidate in Comparative Literature and Philosophy, Jonathan Egid has been selected by…

22 February 2024

Cosmo Davenport-Hines Student Poetry Prize 2024 now open

King's English Department is delighted to announce the annual Cosmo Davenport-Hines Poetry Prize -…

6 December 2023

Professor Mark Textor awarded AHRC-DFG research grant

Professor Mark Textor's project in collaboration with Professor Dolf Rami (Ruhr-Universität Bochum)…

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Annual Peace Lecture by Colleen Murphy

29 Thursday Feb 2024

Posted by ZVT in Events , Public talks

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“ Peace vs Justice Revisited “, by  Colleen Murphy , the Roger and Stephany Joslin Professor of Law and Professor of Philosophy & PoliticalScience, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Place:  King’s College London, Strand, London, WC2R2LS, Safra Lecture Theatre Date and Time:  27 March 2024, 18:00–20:00, followed by reception. Abstract:  The commission of widespread atrocities is a prominent feature of contemporary conflicts and repressive regimes. Consider Ethiopia, Gaza, Ukraine, and the al-Assad regime in Syria. If any wrongdoing merits retributive justice, atrocities that constitute war crimes and crimes against humanity do. Yet efforts to end war or ongoing repression characteristically confront the peace versus justice dilemma: the pursuit of trials and punishment for perpetrators of atrocities puts peace or possibilities for regime change at risk. Various solutions to this dilemma have been pursued in both theory and practice. In theory, frameworks for balancing between the two values have been developed and alternative notions of justice that do not demand punishment embraced. In practice, alternative methods of accountability have been adopted: lustration and truth commissions among them. This talk shifts the focus to peace and articulates a conception of what I call complex peace. Conflict and repression flatten the moral universe into stark binaries: perpetrators and victims, oppressors and oppressed, enemies and friends. Peace depends on the possibility of moving beyond such binaries. The lecture will be chaired by  Massimo Renzo , Professor of Politics, Philosophy & Law at King’s College London. All are welcome, but  registration is required . Registration page:  https://www.tickettailor.com/events/kingscollegelondon6/1147881 More details:  https://www.kcl.ac.uk/events/annual-peace-lecture-2024-peace-vs-justice-revisited?pageIndex=15 PhilEvents page:  https://philevents.org/event/show/120294 The Peace Lectures are due to Alan Lacey, a life-long pacifist who taught philosophy at King’s College London for some fifteen years, and who left a generous bequest to fund a lecture series promoting peace. The series is organised by the King’s Philosophy Department. Read more about the lecture series  here .

Philosophy of Physics Events, 7th and 14th December

29 Wednesday Nov 2023

Posted by alexrfranklin in Uncategorized

See below for two upcoming Philosophy of Physics events hosted at King’s as part of the Bristol-London-Oxford Cambridge (BLOC) network. Please do sign up and come along! 

Lucy James – Cosmic Censorship in Quarantine

Thursday 7th December 2023, 4:30-6:30pm, King’s College London Strand Campus, Strand Building S-1.04

Sign-up link: https://philevents.org/event/show/116597

Abstract: An entailment of strong cosmic censorship is that models of spacetime are to be globally hyperbolic. This talk challenges the motivation for imposing such a constraint in a ‘top-down’ manner. From a functionalist point of view, it is argued, our understanding of the global structure of spacetime at cosmological scales ought to arise from careful generalisations of dynamical laws that apply locally. A link is shown between partial differential equations of the hyperbolic type (the form of many dynamical laws) and hyperbolic manifolds, providing some reason to regard spacetime as being hyperbolic at cosmological scales. However, if the analysis includes approaches to quantum gravity whose laws may not be of the hyperbolic form, such as Euclidean approaches, this link breaks down. Strong cosmic censorship, therefore, is relevant only to a restricted set of regimes.

If you’d like to attend dinner, please email [email protected]

Graduate Philosophy of Physics Workshop

Thursday 14th December 2023, King’s College London Strand Campus, Bush House (SE) 1.06

Sign-up link: 

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScjKGCotVZ8Xuh_iCk_YyyvMGZD4RU4BCG5uN59dBGNSdpInw/viewform?pli=1

Program (all talks will take place in person): 10.30-11.00 – Arrivals and Welcome 11.00-11.50 – Noemi Bolzonetti (University of Italian Switzerland) – Pattern Wave Function Priority Monism 11.50-12.40 – Jonathan Fay (University of Bristol) – On the Relativity of Magnitudes: Delboeuf’s forgotten contribution to the 19th Century problem of space 12.40-14.00 – Lunch 14.00-14.50 – Paolo Faglia (University of Oxford) – Relational Quantum Mechanics: what is an interaction? 14.50-15.40 – Marta Pedroni (University of Geneva) – The singular case of spacetime singularities in quantum gravity 15.40-16.00 – Break 16.00-16.50 – Nicola Bamonti (Scuola Normale Superiore) – What is reference frame in General Relativity? 16.50-17.40 – Anton Sverdlikov (Bergische Universität Wuppertal) – Event Structural Realism After – Drinks and Dinner If you choose to attend online we will send a link a few days before. Looking forward to seeing people there! Any questions please contact [email protected] .

Report: ‘Humanistic Ethics in the UK’

25 Tuesday Jul 2023

Posted by danelbro in Conference reports , Research

ethics , philosophy of law , political philosophy

Jonathan Gingerich reports — A conference titled ‘Humanistic Ethics in the UK’ was held at King’s on 16 and 17 June 2023. The conference was co-organised by Dr Gingerich together with Dr Adam Etinson (St Andrews) and Dr Daniela Dover (Oxford). The conference brought together moral, legal, and political philosophers from North America, the UK, Europe, and Asia, for discussions of research that builds connections between philosophy and other humanistic disciplines. Speakers included Adam Etinsion (University of St Andrews), ‘On Falling Short’; Robert Simpson (University College London), ‘Free Speech Psychodrama’; Vid Simoniti (University of Liverpool), ‘Artworks as Arguments Without Conclusions’; Vida Yao (University of California, Los Angeles), ‘The Avoidance of Intimacy: A Reorientation in the Moral Philosophy of Love’; Samuel Reis-Dennis (Rice University), ‘Guilt: The Debt and the Stain’; Francey Russell (Barnard College, Columbia University), ‘“A Wedge-Shaped Core of Darkness”’; Kyla Ebels-Duggan (Northwestern University), ‘More than Moore: Murdoch and Korsgaard on Value’; and Olúfẹ́mi O Táíwò (Georgetown University), ‘Security, Freedom, and Arguments from Scale’. The conference provided extensive opportunities for conversation among researchers who had not previously encountered one another’s’ work, and multiple research collaborations are expected to grow out of the conference, including the potential for further collaboration between King’s College London and the Universities of Oxford and St Andrews. Many participants reported that they found the conference extraordinarily intellectually stimulating and philosophically productive.

Harold Moody Doctoral Scholarship at KCL

13 Thursday Jul 2023

The King’s College London Centre for Doctoral Studies are offering one studentship to support underrepresented communities for PhD study in the Faculty of Arts & Humanities.

If you identify as being of Black or Mixed-Black ethnicity, you are warmly invited to apply for one of these studentships.

The scheme offers full financial support and a skills development programme.

• Duration: 4 years FT or 7 years PT
• Number awards: 1 studentship
• The Award is available for the 2023/24 academic year ( February 2024 or June 2024 entry )

Application deadline: 23 October 2023

The Studentship covers:

• Tuition fees at home level
• An annual stipend (living allowance): at the UKRI rate (£20,622 for 2023/24) (pro-rata for PT registration)
• Research costs: up to £1,000 per annum (pro-rata for PT registration)

Applicants MUST:

• Apply for a PhD in the Faculty of Arts & Humanities at King’s College London to start either on 1 st February 2024 or 1 st June 2024;
• Be UK-permanent residents who are liable for fees at the home rate;
• Identify as one of the following ethnic groups (as identified by the applicant in the admissions application):
• Black British, Black or Black British African, Black or Black British Caribbean, Black or Black British other or Mixed Black.

For more details, including how to apply, see https://www.kcl.ac.uk/study-legacy/funding/harold-moody-pgr-studentship-202324-call-2

For more information on the Philosophy PhD programme, see https://www.kcl.ac.uk/study/postgraduate-research/areas/philosophy-research-mphil-phd

You can also contact the PhD Admissions Tutor, Alex Franklin, for advice on the Philosophy PhD programme, and applying for the scholarship.

King’s awards first MM McCabe Prize for best dissertation

04 Tuesday Jul 2023

Posted by danelbro in Announcements , News

ancient philosophy , Classics , metaphysics , perception , prizes , undergraduate students

Quanzhi Liang wins the Mary Margaret McCabe prize for best King’s undergraduate dissertation in ancient philosophy.

The new prize was founded in honour of Mary Margaret (‘MM’) McCabe FBA, Professor of Philosophy Emerita at King’s, and former head of the Philosophy Department, in recognition of her inspirational teaching of ancient Greek philosophy, particularly Plato, to generations of students. Quanzhi Liang has won this year’s prize, for a dissertation entitled ‘Aristotle’s Realism about Perceptual Qualities’, on Tuesday June 13 in the Council Room as part of the Katie Lentakis Memorial Fund Award Ceremony.

The prize is generously funded by the Foundation for Platonic Studies, a charity devoted to promoting the study of Plato and the Platonic tradition.

My dissertation defends the traditional interpretation of Aristotle as a realist of perceptual qualities. Against the anti-realist interpretation popular in recent decades, I argue that, for Aristotle, colours, sounds, odours, etc., are real features of the world and can exist unqualifiedly without being perceived. (For example, if we see a red apple, the apple is really red, and the apple is red when it is not being seen, just like when it is seen, while according to the contrary interpretations, for Aristotle, the unseen apple is not red or red in the same way as the apple being seen.) Quanzhi Liang on his dissertation

“I am indebted to many people for their help and support in writing the dissertation. Professor Raphael Woolf, my supervisor, was superb at spotting weaknesses of my paper, prompting me to produce new ideas and arguments; at the same time, Raphael was always very kind and gave me a lot of encouragement. I could not have produced the dissertation as it is now without Raphael’s guidance and patience. I am also grateful to Dr Shaul Tor for his insightful comments, which significantly helped me improve the dissertation. Lastly, special thanks to Prof Victor Caston. It was through taking his course on Aristotle during my year abroad at Michigan I developed a genuine interest in Greek philosophy and became especially interested in Aristotle’s philosophy of perception—the topic of my dissertation.

I very much enjoyed my studies at King’s—I am particularly grateful for the various opportunities King’s offered me to enrich my experience (like studying abroad).“ -Quanzhi Liang, winner.

Quanzhi is now looking forward to starting his PhD studies in Philosophy at Princeton University in the autumn.

Job: Lecturer in the History of Philosophy (Modern)

03 Monday Jul 2023

Posted by danelbro in Announcements

early modern philosophy , History of Philosophy , jobs

The Philosophy Department at King’s College London is seeking to appoint a fixed-term (one year) Lecturer with expertise in the history of philosophy, modern period, including Spinoza and Leibniz.  Research specialization, competence and ability to teach at all levels and supervise postgraduate students in that area is required. Teaching competence in epistemology at undergraduate and MA level is also required; research expertise in this area is desirable.

King’s Philosophy Department is one of the largest and most distinguished departments in the UK. We have particular  research strengths in the history of philosophy, philosophy of mind and psychology, philosophy of language and logic, metaphysics, epistemology and philosophy of science, and moral and political philosophy.

This post will be offered on a full-time, fixed term contract for 12 months from 1st September 2023 or as soon as possible thereafter.

For further details, contact Mark Textor or click here . The closing date for the post is 18 July 2023.

A celebration of the life and work of Maria Rosa Antognazza (1964 – 2023) – 14 June, King’s College London

24 Wednesday May 2023

Posted by danelbro in Events

Maria Rosa Antognazza

Department of Philosophy, King’s College London

A celebration of the life and work of Maria Rosa Antognazza (1964-2023)

Professor of Philosophy, KCL, 2003-23

All are welcome to join us for a celebration of the life and work of Maria Rosa Antognazza (1964 – 2023), Professor of Philosophy, KCL, 2003-23.

Wednesday 14 June 2023, 5:30pm in the Chapel, followed by a reception in the Great Hall.

King’s College London, The Strand, London WC2R 2LS.

Please register here to attend.

“Consequentialism, Cluelessness, Clumsiness, and Counterfactuals” – Mark Sainsbury Lecture 2023 – Alan Hájek

09 Tuesday May 2023

Posted by danelbro in Uncategorized

King’s College London Mark Sainsbury Lecture 2023

Friday 2 June, 6-8pm

“Consequentialism, Cluelessness, Clumsiness, and Counterfactuals”

By  Alan Hájek , Professor of Philosophy at Australian National University, and Fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities

Abstract : According to objective consequentialism, a morally right action is one that has the best consequences. (These are not just the immediate consequences of the actions, but the long-term consequences, perhaps until the end of history.) I will argue that on one understanding this makes no sense, and on another understanding, it has a startling metaphysical presupposition concerning counterfactuals. Objective consequentialism has faced various objections, including the problem of “cluelessness”: we have no idea what most of the consequences of our actions will be. I think that on these understandings, objective consequentialism has a far worse problem: its very foundations are highly dubious. Even granting these foundations, a worse problem than cluelessness remains, which I call “clumsiness”. Moreover, I think that these problems quickly generalise to a number of other moral theories. But the point is most easily made for objective consequentialism, so I will focus largely on it.

I will consider three ways that objective consequentialism might be improved:

    1. Appeal instead to short-term consequences of actions;

    2. Understand consequences with objective probabilities;

    3. Understand consequences with subjective/evidential probabilities.

But even here, there be dragons.

Chaired by  David Sosa  (UT Austin).

Venue : KCL Strand, Safra Lecture Theatre

All are welcome. The event is free, but registration is mandatory. Registration ends on 31 May at 11:30 p.m.

Registration:  https://www.eventbrite.com/e/annual-mark-sainsbury-lecture-tickets-623672530327

KCL Event’s page:  https://www.kcl.ac.uk/events/annual-mark-sainsbury-lecture-1

Graduate Conference: Perspectives on Infinity, 12th-13th May

05 Friday May 2023

Graduate students at KCL Philosophy are organising an interdisciplinary conference on Infinity taking place next Friday and Saturday (12th – 13th May). The conference features keynote addresses from Adrian Moore (Oxford) and Øystein Linnebo (Oslo). Here is the description from the organisers, Amedeo Robiolio and Pablo Dopico:

To study infinity is to study things which have no limit, no ends, or no bounds. Consequently, it touches the areas of study of philosophers, scientists and mathematicians in a remarkable number of ways, and often causing interesting difficulties in doing so, some of which, such as Zeno’s paradoxes of Hilbert’s hotel, have achieved great popularity. Infinity is philosophically relevant in Mathematics, with issues such as the different sizes of infinity, the topic of infinitesimals, and the problems of infinity in probabilistic mathematics. But infinity encompasses a much wider range of philosophical issues than those present in the philosophy of mathematics. In metaphysics and the philosophy of physics, the issues both of infinite extension and infinite divisibility of space and of time have troubled thinkers for millennia. In the Philosophy of Religion, the infinity of God is a vast and ancient area of investigation. Indeed, the history of the philosophy of infinity, engaging with the long and complex evolution of this topic is itself an important area of research. The conference aims to bring together researches working on all of these different perspectives on Infinity and more, hoping that this encounter will mutually benefit the advancements of these areas.  

Please click here to go to the conference website for more information on accommodation, registration and locations, and see below for the schedule. A book of abstracts can be found here . You can get in contact with the organisers here .

Conference Schedule

Day 1: Friday 12th May 9:50 Welcome 10:00 – 10:40 Bas Kortenbach (SNS Pisa): Transfinite Level Inference and Global Validity 10:45 – 11:25 Amit Pinsker (Connecticut): Potential Infinity and Decision-Theoretic Paradox 11:30 – 12:10 Julie Lauvsland (Oslo): Mathematical pluralism and the nature of the continuum 12:10 – 14:00 Lunch Break (off-site, not included) 14:00 – 14:40 Guillaume Massas (UC Berkeley): Possibility semantics and Galileo’s paradox 14:45 – 15:25 Osvaldo Ottaviani (Technion): Infinity and Monadology: What Kind of Infinity Does Leibniz Ascribe to Individual Substances? 15:30 – 16:10 Davide Sutto (Oslo): Potentialist Set Theory: New Paths and Open Questions 16:15 – 17:45 Keynote Address, Professor Adrian Moore (Oxford): Wittgenstein and Infinity 18:15 Dinner offered to the speakers ———————————————————————————————— Day 2: Saturday 13th May 10:00 – 11:30 Keynote Address, Professor Øystein Linnebo (Oslo): Potentialism in the Philosophy and Foundations of Mathematics 11:30 – 12:30 Break 12:30 – 13:10 Markel Kortabarria (Barcelona): Grounding the Infinite Descent 13:15 – 13:55 Laura Molinaro (USI Lugano): Failure of Multilocational Endurantism in a Gunky Spacetime 14:00 – 14:40 Chen Yang (Purdue): Hegel on Mathematical Infinity 14:40 Goodbyes

Time for Beauty – 3 short films for philosophers generously sponsored by the BSA

02 Tuesday May 2023

Posted by danelbro in Announcements , Public engagements

Aesthetics , beauty , BSA

Join us for the ‘Time for Beauty’ virtual conference, generously sponsored by the British Society of Aesthetics (BSA). This film-based workshop invites students and researchers to explore the captivating relationship between time and the aesthetic qualities of static visual art.

The conference will be broadcast in three episodes

• Time for Depiction
• Time for Musical Pictures
• Time for Expressiveness

With each running for approximately 30 minutes. It will be accessible online from May to July 2023. To register, simply fill out the form at https://forms.gle/tBAo8R2rRcHjxRMx6 , and you will receive access to the films online. We look forward to seeing you there!

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Philosophy Research MPhil/PhD

King's college london, university of london, different course options.

• Key information

Course Summary

Tuition fees, entry requirements, similar courses at different universities, key information data source : idp connect, qualification type.

PhD/DPhil - Doctor of Philosophy

Subject areas

Course type.

The Philosophy Department at King’s is one of the largest research departments in the field in the UK. We offer close personal supervision to students in a wide variety of research areas, with particular strengths in the history of philosophy (analytic and continental, Greek and Roman, Medieval, Early Modern, 18th, 19th, and 20th century); philosophy of mind, action and psychology; epistemology; metaphysics; philosophy of science, especially philosophy of physics and philosophy of medicine; ethics; political philosophy; philosophy of art; logic; and philosophy of language and logic.

Course detail

The Philosophy department offers close personal supervision to students in a wide variety of research areas. As a large and highly-integrated department we can support research projects spanning the various sub-fields of philosophy. Philosophy postgraduates are normally supervised within the Philosophy department. Students wishing to work with someone at King's who is not a member of the Philosophy department are urged to apply directly to the relevant department for admission as a graduate student. The PhD programme is exclusively devoted to research in philosophy. The programme lasts a minimum of three years full time study. During this time students meet with their supervisors on a regular basis to work on their thesis. During the first year, students are registered as MPhil students. You will have the opportunity to develop your research ideas and writing skills. Towards the end of the first students submit a thesis plan and an extended work sample for assessment before being upgraded to full PhD registration. At the end of their studies students submit a PhD thesis of a maximum length of 100,000 words. The thesis is examined by two examiners, one external, non-London based, one internal, London based, in a viva.

UK fees Course fees for UK students

For this course (per year)

International fees Course fees for EU and international students

Master's degree in Philosophy with Distinction (or equivalent) is normally expected but particularly strong candidates with a Merit classification are also eligible.

PhD in Religions and Philosophies

Soas university of london, mphil in religions and philosophies, philosophy mphil, phd, newcastle university, philosophy mlitt, philosophy phd, anglia ruskin university.

Program Overview

Philosophy (Greek for “love of wisdom”) addresses deep and fundamental questions of human existence: Is there a God? What is the meaning of life? What is ultimately real? What is mind, and how does it relate to the physical world? How should one make moral decisions? What is a just society? As the rigorous, systematic study of such big questions, philosophy is central to the mission of King’s College, which seeks to produce broadly educated men and women who possess a clear moral compass, are capable of articulate and critical reflection on the fundamental problems of the human condition, and are informed and reflective citizens.

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Think about what employers want: people who write and speak clearly, think creatively and independently, persevere in the face of challenges, don’t pretend to know it all, and enjoy working with others to come to insight. Philosophy develops all those virtues and skills. What’s more, philosophy majors excel at standardized tests like the GMAT, LSAT, and GRE;  see the numbers here . And keep in mind that, if you want to go to medical school or into other healthcare professions, the Association of American Medical Colleges  recommends the humanities for developing students’ “communication skills, critical thinking, and cultural competences—all skills that are essential to becoming an effective physician.” Humanities majors  even outscore biology majors on the MCAT.

What careers do King's graduates pursue?

Our graduates are currently working in the fields of law, medicine, business, education, government (including the FBI), counseling, social and community services, and computer programming.

Program Details

Compatible second major.

A double major option is available to give students interdisciplinary credentials in philosophy for such fields as business, healthcare administration, or economics.

Major and minors

Both a major and minor program in philosophy are offered, as well as a minor in ethics in cooperation with the theology department and the McGowan Center for Ethics and Social Responsibility.

Relevant Links

• Philosophy Major & Minor
• Ethics Minor
• McGowan Center for Ethics and Social Responsibility
• Wiley/Blackwell Philosophy and Pop Culture Series (edited by William Irwin)
• "Ethics in Focus" forum (edited by Bernard Prusak) in the journal Expositions: Interdisciplinary Studies in the Humanities

Additional Info

Student resources.

• Internships
• Study Abroad

Student Organizations

• Socratic Society (Philosophy Club)
• Phi Sigma Tau (Philosophy Honor Society)

Just what is philosophy?

Philosophy is Greek for “love of wisdom.” Think of what it’s like to be in love: it can be intoxicating! What is it to be wise? To begin with, the wise human being isn’t a know-it-all. For she's keenly aware, like the great ancient philosopher Socrates, of how much she doesn’t know. The experience of doing philosophy well is of discovering new, surprising, wonderful, and sometimes baffling depths and complexities to existence, our lives, and our beliefs. Hardly a claim does not give way under its own pressure, calling for further thought and work.

Why should I major or minor in philosophy?

You will hear over and over again, during your time at King’s, that King’s teaches students not only how to make a living, but how to live. What does this mean? Here is the nineteenth-century American philosopher Henry David Thoreau:

I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived. (Walden, chapter 2)

Your King’s education is an opportunity to ensure that, at the end of your life, you will not discover you had not lived. Philosophy is all about living deeply. The philosophy major or minor is a way for you to practice leading an examined life. And philosophy is invigorating and fun!

What will I learn and study?

As a philosophy major or minor, you will learn how to read closely and critically, think logically, frame difficult questions, recognize and come to terms with complexity and uncertainty, and develop careful, informed arguments on questions of deep significance. You also will study great thinkers past and present, from West and East, North and South.

What good would a philosophy degree do? What job could I get?

Think about what employers want: people who write and speak clearly, think creatively and independently, persevere in the face of challenges, don’t pretend to know it all, and enjoy working with others to come to insight. Philosophy develops all those virtues and skills. What’s more, philosophy majors excel at standardized tests like the GMAT, LSAT, and GRE; see the numbers here . And keep in mind that, if you want to go to medical school or into other healthcare professions, the Association of American Medical Colleges recommends the humanities for developing students’ “communication skills, critical thinking, and cultural competences—all skills that are essential to becoming an effective physician.” Humanities majors even outscore biology majors on the MCAT.

Click on "Careers" to learn what our graduates are doing and what they have to say about the major!

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Related majors.

Still looking for the perfect fit to your interests and goals? Here are some similar programs to explore: