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PR Septmber 2023
Email: paul.russell@ubc.ca
PAUL RUSSELL is Emeritus Professor of Philosophy at the University of British Columbia, where he taught from 1987-2022.
From 2018-2025 he was also Professor of Philosophy at Lund University (part-time), where he directed the Lund | Gothenburg Responsibility Project: https://www.lgrp.lu.se// His position at Lund was made possible thanks to a major grant from the Swedish Research Council [Vetenskapsrådet’s “Grant for International Recruitment of Leading Researchers” June 2014] . The funding involved is for nearly $7.5 million US [80 million krona], among the largest humanities grants awarded in Europe.
He holds a PhD from Cambridge University (1986), where his supervisor was Professor Sir Bernard Williams.
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Paul Russell has held a Research Fellowship at Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge University (1984-1987), a Mellon Fellowship at Stanford University (1989-1990), and a Fowler Hamilton Visiting Fellowship at Christ Church, Oxford University (2010) and a Beaufort Visiting Fellowship St. John's College, Cambridge University (2023). He has also been a Kenan Distinguished Visitor at the Univesity of North Carolina, Chapel Hill (2005) and an invited Associate Professor at Pittsburgh University (1996-1997), as well as an invited Assistant Professor at the University of Virginia (1988). He has been awarded both Killam Teaching (2007) and Research Prizes (2014) by the University of British Columbia. His book The Riddle of Hume's Treatise (OUP 2008) was awared the Journal of the History of Philosophy Book Prize. He has served on the editorial boards of Hume Studies and The Journal of the History of Philosophy. He is the author of five books (including two collections of selected essays) and he has edited and introduced four collections of papers. He is the author of more than ninety other publications. He has also contributed to newspapers and magazines on topics relating to politics and current affairs, as well as participated in a variety of radio, television and podcast interviews and discussions.
[Articles and papers are available for download at PhilPapers HERE ]
Research Interests
Research Interests
Paul Russell's interests cover the areas of free will and moral responsibility along with various topics in early modern philosophy. Within the area of free will and moral responsibility he is particularly interested in the challenge of scepticism and theories of responsibility that appeal to reactive attitudes or moral sentiments. On the subject of early modern philosophy he is especially concerned with the philosophy of David Hume and how his philosophy relates to problems of religion and atheism.
Recent publication:
Oxford University Press: 2021
Reviews:
"Paul Russell is one of the two or three leading Hume scholars of the past quarter-century, and both the high quality of his work and the intrinsic interest of his themes will draw in a wide range of readers-including not only scholars of Hume and British empiricism (for whom it will be essential), but scholars of modern philosophy more generally, as well as practicing epistemologists and ethicists."
-- Kenneth Winkler, Yale University [cover comments on Recasting Hume & Early Modern Philosophy: Selected Essays ]
"... History of early modern philosophy scholarship―and Hume scholarship in particular―has been enriched by the carefully researched challenges to interpretative orthodoxy by Paul Russell for over four decades. We are the fortunate beneficiaries of Russell's legacy."
-- Annemarie Butler, MIND
"Perhaps no one argues more carefully and tenaciously than Russell that understanding Hume's attitude toward religion is key to understanding his philosophy ... No one familiar with Russell's work needs a testament to the quality of these essays; they are required reading for Hume scholars."
-- J. H. Spence, CHOICE
"[Russell] revisits the history of early modern philosophy and offers a fresh and original reading where Hume's irreligion systematically stands out as a contrasting and unifying enterprise... Overall, Russell's collection of essays addresses a wide array of Humean topics in their context of significance. It provides a rich interpretation combining an analytical and historical perspective.... Every Hume scholar will find something useful in this book."
- Catherine Dromelet, HUME STUDIES
"This collection is a powerful testimony to Russell’s invaluable contributions to the scholarship of Hume and early modern philosophy. His meticulous style of argument and attentiveness to historical contexts demonstrate that a masterfully written history of philosophy can stimulate more productive conversations across the fields. The fruitfulness of Russell’s research will without doubt have a timeless impact on future generations of historians and philosophers...."
-- Elena Yi-Jia Zeng, Princeton University
"Paul Russell is one of the two or three leading Hume scholars of the past quarter-century, and both the high quality of his work and the intrinsic interest of his themes will draw in a wide range of readers-including not only scholars of Hume and British empiricism (for whom it will be essential), but scholars of modern philosophy more generally, as well as practicing epistemologists and ethicists."
-- Kenneth Winkler, Yale University [cover comments on Recasting Hume & Early Modern Philosophy: Selected Essays ]
"... History of early modern philosophy scholarship―and Hume scholarship in particular―has been enriched by the carefully researched challenges to interpretative orthodoxy by Paul Russell for over four decades. We are the fortunate beneficiaries of Russell's legacy."
-- Annemarie Butler, MIND
"Perhaps no one argues more carefully and tenaciously than Russell that understanding Hume's attitude toward religion is key to understanding his philosophy ... No one familiar with Russell's work needs a testament to the quality of these essays; they are required reading for Hume scholars."
-- J. H. Spence, CHOICE
"[Russell] revisits the history of early modern philosophy and offers a fresh and original reading where Hume's irreligion systematically stands out as a contrasting and unifying enterprise... Overall, Russell's collection of essays addresses a wide array of Humean topics in their context of significance. It provides a rich interpretation combining an analytical and historical perspective.... Every Hume scholar will find something useful in this book."
- Catherine Dromelet, HUME STUDIES
"This collection is a powerful testimony to Russell’s invaluable contributions to the scholarship of Hume and early modern philosophy. His meticulous style of argument and attentiveness to historical contexts demonstrate that a masterfully written history of philosophy can stimulate more productive conversations across the fields. The fruitfulness of Russell’s research will without doubt have a timeless impact on future generations of historians and philosophers...."
-- Elena Yi-Jia Zeng, Princeton University
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Forthcoming Books:
Moral Responsibility: A Very Short Introduction (Oxford University Press). [Forthcoming]
Hume's 'Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion': A Critical Guide Edited and Introduced. Cambridge University Press. [Forthcoming]
Books:
Recasting Hume & Early Modern Philosophy: Selected Essays (Oxford University Press: 2021).
The Limits of Free Will: Selected Essays (Oxford University Press: 2017).
"The Limits of Free Will is a marvelous collection of papers by Paul Russell. It is full of insightful and illuminating critiques, but it also provides readers with an interesting and distinctive position on free will and moral responsibility. Russell often views the issues through a historical lens, but he also deftly gives proper attention to the current debates and literature..."
-- Meghan Griffith, ETHICS
The Riddle of Hume’s Treatise: Skepticism, Naturalism, and Irreligion (New York & Oxford: Oxford University Press: 2008).
"... This is a terrific tome. Packed with interesting insights and supported with extensive research, this book has tremendous potential to shape certain aspects of Hume studies... one of the best books on Hume I have ever read."
-- Kevin Meeker, MIND
Freedom and Moral Sentiment: Hume's Way of Naturalizing Responsibility (New York & Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1995).
" ... deeply insightful study of Hume's views on ethics, free will, and moral responsibility."
- Bruce Waller, Free Will, Responsibility, and the Desire to be a God (2020)
"... An important and valuable work that should be welcomed by students of Hume and by anyone interested in issues of moral freedom and moral responsibility...The overall quality of both the exposition and the critical analysis is very high indeed."
-- Don Garrett, New York University
Edited Books:
The Oxford Handbook of HUME Edited and Introduced. (Oxford University Press: 2016).
The Philosophy of Free Will: Essential Readings from the Contemporary Debates Introduced and edited with Oisin Deery (Oxford University Press: 2013).
Free Will and Reactive Attitudes: Perspectives on P.F. Strawson’s “Freedom and Resentment” Introduced and edited with Michael McKenna (Farnham: Ashgate: 2008).
[ Reissued and published in paperback by Routledge, 2016.]
Recent and Forthcoming Papers & Articles
Recent and Forthcoming Papers & Articles
[Forthcoming]
"Deep Responsibility and 'Morality'", in Themes from Wolf, edited by M. Frauchiger and M. Stepanians. Berlin : De Gruyter. [Forthcoming]
"Ambiguity and 'Atheism' in Hume's Dialogues'". In Hume's 'Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion': A Critical Guide Edited and Introduced by P. Russell. Cambridge University Press. [Forthcoming]
2025
"Recasting Responsibility: Hume and Williams," In Marcel van Ackeren & Matthieu Florian Queloz (eds.), Making Sense of the Past: Bernard Williams and the History of Philosophy. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 155-176.
2024
"Responsibility After 'Morality': Strawson's Naturalism and Williams' Genealogy". P. F. Strawson and His Legacy. A. Bengtson, B. De Mesel and S. Heyndels, eds. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 234-259.
2023
Precis of Recasting Hume and Early Modern Philosophy, with Replies to Critics. Book Symposium: Paul Russell, Recasting Hume and Early Modern Philosophy (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2021). Sképsis: Revista de Filosofia, 14. 26: 71-73 . Replies to critics: Peter Fosl (pp. 77-95), Claude Gautier (pp. 96-111) , and Todd Ryan (pp.112-122).
Review of David Hume, Essays, Moral, Political, and Literary. Edited by Tom L. Beauchamp & Mark A. Box. 2 Vols. Oxford: Clarendon Press: 2021. In Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews (2023.03.3).
2022
“Free Will and the Tragic Predicament: Making Sense of Williams", in Morality and Agency: Themes from Bernard Williams. A. Szigeti & M. Talbert, eds. New York: Oxford University Press, 161-181.
'Moral Responsibility and Existential Attitudes”, In The Oxford Handbook of Moral Responsibility. D. Nelkin and D. Pereboom, eds. Oxford University Press: New York, 519-543.
2021
"David Hume and the Philosophy of Religion", in Wiley-Blackwell Encyclopedia for Philosophy of Religion. Eds. Stewart Goetz and Charles Taliaferr.
"Self-help on the go: Sketches of 'le bon David' and the good life". Review of Julian Baggini's The Great Guide: What David Hume can teach us about being human and living well, for the Times Literary Supplement (September 24, 2021).
"Responsibility Skepticism and Strawson's Naturalism". [Review Essay on Pamela Hieronmyi, Freedom, Resentment and the Metaphysics of Morals] ; Ethics, 131.4 (2021), 754-776.
“Hume’s Scepticism and the Problem of Atheism”. In P. Russell, Recasting Hume and Early Modern Philosophy: Selected Essays. New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press, 303-339.
"The Misuse of Morality"; Review of Grandstanding, by J. Tosi & B. Warmke, for the Times Literary Supplement. [April 2021]
The Limits of Free Will: Replies to Bennett, Smith and Wallace, in Ethical Theory and Moral Practice, 24 (2021), 357-373.
Full list of Publications... HERE
Awards and Honours
Awards and Honours
2023 Beaufort Visiting Fellow, St. John's College, Cambridge
2014 Swedish Research Council (Vetenskapsrådet), Grants for International Recruitment of Leading Researchers. [Awarded to the University of Gothenburg and Lund University, recruited as researcher. ]
2014 Killam Faculty Research Prize (University of British Columbia)
2010 Fowler Hamilton Visiting Fellow in the Humanities at Christ Church, Oxford
2010 Awarded the Journal of the History of Philosophy Prize for the best published book in the history of philosophy in 2008 [The Riddle of Hume’s Treatise].
2007 Killam Teaching Prize (University of British Columbia)
1989 - 1990 Andrew W. Mellon Postdoctoral Fellowship, Stanford University
1984 - 1986 Research Fellowship, Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge
Recent and Forthcoming Talks & Presentations
Recent and Forthcoming Talks & Presentations
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@ 2025 (December) Leuven University. European Moral Responsibility Consortium. Invited keynote speaker. [Organized by Benjmin de Mesel and others.]
2025 (March) Leuven University. "Workshop on Moral Responsibility. [Organized by Benjmin de Mesel ]
2025 (March). University of L'Aquila, Department of Philosophy: "Workshop on Moral Responsibility. [Organized by Lorenzo Greco]
2024 (October) LMU Munich, Department of Philosophy colloquium. Title: "Moral Responsibility and True Scepticism".. [Organized by Monika Betzler]
2024 (October) University of L'Aquila, Department of Philosophy colloquium. Title: "Moral Responsibility and True Scepticism". [Organized by Lorenzo Greco]
2024 (October). University of Helsinki, Department of Philosophy colloquium. Workshop on moral responsibility. [Organized by Lillian O'Brien & Dane Gogoshin.]
2024 (June) Friedrich Alexander University, Institute of Philosophy, Erlangen Workshop on "'Moral Responsibility in a Strawsonian Key'". With R. Jay Wallace and others. [Organized by Erasmus Mayr]
2023 (September) University of Glasgow. Department of Philosophy colloquium. Title: "'Morality' and Responsibility Scepticism'".
2023 (September) . University of Salzburg. Salzburg Conference for Young Analytic Philosophy (SOPhiA). University of Salzburg, Austria. Invited keynote speaker. Title: "'Morality' and Responsibility Scepticism".
2023 (May). [Zoom] Ohio Northern University; Online Workshop on Free Will & Moral Luck. "Moral Luck and Disenchanted Ethics" [Organized by Robert Hartman.]
2023 (March) - King s College London; The Yeoh Tiong Lay Centre for Politics, Philosophy and Law. Lecture Series on Practical Agency. '"Morality' and Responsibility Skepticism" [Organized by Massimo Renzo.]
2022 (August) - Bern, Switzerland. 9th International Lauener Symposium on Analytical Philosophy on Themes from Susan Wolf. Invited speaker. "The Reason View and 'the Morality System'".
2022 (July) -- University of Portland, Oregon. NEH Summer Institute: David Hume in the Twenty-first Century: Perpetuating the Enlightenment. Invited speaker. Organizers Angela Coventry & Elizabeth S. Radcliffe.
2022 (May) Philosophy Department Colloquium: Zürich University. "Responsibility Scepticism".
2021 (October ) [Zoom] University of Zurich, Center for Ethics. Masterclass on Moral Responsibility. Invited teacher. Organized and led by Philipp Schwind & Jörg Löschke.
[For a full list of talks and presentations see the link on the tab above.]
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Interviews:
2024
Real Atheology: Hume the Atheist? A Humean Case against Theism. Paul Russell in conversation with Ben Watkins (February 2024).
2023
The Dissenter Free Will & Moral Responsibility In conversation with Ricardo Lopes. (February 2023).
2021
Plato's Cave, Free Will, Art and Morality, in conversation with Jordan Myers (November 2021)
Energi Media: Need to convince an anti-vaxxer? Explain JS Mill's "limits of freedom and liberty" to them". Interview with Marham Hislop. (October 2021)
2020
Pea Soup, Mentees Interviewing Mentors: McKenna and Russell (July 2020)
2018
The Reading Lists -The Best Modern Philosophy Books (February 2018)
Philosophy of Action: Mini-interviews...in Conversation with Paul Russell (November 2018)
2017
Philosophy of Religion: "What Does Philosophy of Religion offer to the modern university?" (November 2017)
The Reading Lists - Paul Russell: Escaping Narrow Concerns (November 2017)
UBC Arts Insights- The Books that Changed their Lives. (April 2017)
2016
3:16 Magazine Hume’s Irreligious Core (May 21, 2016).
Five Books - "The Best Books of Free Will" (September 2016)
2013
Methode – Analytic Perspectives, “Seven Questions About Free Will and Moral Responsibility”, No. 3 (2013), 170-78.
Five Books, interview on Free Will and Responsibility. December 2013:
2010
UBC Faculty of Arts: Cultivating Philosophy (Interview with Eric Szeto) May 2010.
Newspaper Articles:
(i) "Why I cannot swallow the premiers' unity potion": Vancouver Sun,
November 17, 1997.
(ii) "'The supremacy of God' does not belong in the Constitution":
The Globe & Mail, June 11, 1999.
(iii) [Review of] Not for Profit: Why Democracy Needs the Humanities, Martha Nussbaum. (Princeton University Press, 2010): in the The Globe & Mail (Online), July 6, 2010.
(iv) "David Hume: Saint or Sinner?" , THE SCOTSMAN, 23rd September, 2020
(v) "There are relevant limits for freedom and liberty", The Province (Vancouver), October 15, 2021
Podcasts:
Philosophy Bites: “Paul Russell on Fate” (December 30, 2010)
Philosophy Bites: “Paul Russell on David Hume’s Treatise” (April 26, 2011)
Simply Charly: “The Riddle of Hume’s Treatise” (2014)
Energi Media Need to Convince an Anti-Vaxer? (October 2021)
Real Atheology: Hume the Atheist? A Humean Case against Theism with Paul Russell (February 2024)
Radio and Television:
(i) CBC Television (British Columbia):July 13, 1990 Evening News - Ethics and Provincial Politics
(ii) CBC Radio (British Columbia): July 18, 1990 “Almanac” (Phone-In) – Ethics and Provincial Politics
(iii) CKOV Radio (Kelowna, BC): October 17, 1991 “Barry Clark Show” – Provincial Election and Conflict of Interest Issues
(iv) CJOR Radio (Vancouver) – April 1994 Dave Abbott Show (Phone-In) – Crime and Punishment
(v) CKNW/98 Radio (Vancouver) – 23 April, 1998 The David Berner Show (Phone-In) - The Humanities and the Universities
(vi) CBC Ideas, "Christmas Philosophy", aired on 23rd December, 2020; rebroadcast on NPR on 25th December, 2020. [Rebroadcast again on CBC ideas December 22, 2021.]
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