Public Engagement

Work for The Philosopher

I am on the editorial board for The Philosopher, a public philosophy journal founded in 1923.  With Jon Hawkins, I guest edited the Fall 2023 issue of the journal on the theme: 'Where is Public Philosophy Going?' The issue features contributions from leading figures in public philosophy including Angie Hobbs, Aaron Wendland, David Edmonds, Peter Adamson, and even Mary Midgley.  (The issue is available here.)

The lead essay from this issue, 'A Democratic Approach to Public Philosophy' (a write up of the results of survey we took in 2022), written by Jon and I, is available here. 

I have chaired two events in The Philosophers free, online public philosopher event series:

I also co-authored an article with Matyáš Moravec on the rarity of co-authoring in philosophy ('In Praise of Co-Authoring'). Justin Weinberg (Daily Nous) and David Bourget (PhilPapers) followed this up with a response article in which they found empirical evidence (through the PhilPapers archive) that co-authoring in philosophy has been steadily increasing over the last 120 years. 

Margaret Macdonald

I wrote an essay for Aeon on Margaret Macdonald's argument that the value of a philosophical theory is much more like that of an art than a science (https://aeon.co/essays/philosophical-theories-are-like-good-stories-margaret-macdonald). This is part of my BA/ Leverhulme funded project Women at the Dawn of Analytic Philosophy. 


Susan Stebbing

I wrote an introduction for a reissue of Stebbing's Thinking to Some Purpose which was published with Routledge in 2022 (available here).

I wrote an article for Aeon on Stebbing's Thinking to Some Purpose, a 'manual to clear thinking' designed to encourage a general audience to use the tools of philosophy to engage in public discourse ('Pause. Reflect. Think: on Susan Stebbing and the role of public philosophy').

In July 2021, I wrote a short piece on Stebbing's advice on how to 'think clearly' and bring truth back into politics for The Conversation ('Five lessons on bringing truth back to politics from Britain's first female philosophy professor').

In October 2021, I featured as part of a panel discussion (now available as a podcast) on Stebbing with the Forum for Philosophy at King's College London. 

Margaret Cavendish

My latest popular article for the Institute of Art and Ideas compares Cavendish's critiques of experimental philosophy and the use of microscopes with contemporary reductionist attempts to understanding reality in terms of quantum physics ('Reality is not revealed by quantum mechanics'). 

I published a piece with Psyche on what we can learn from Cavendish's use of the idea of talking to oneself in her philosophical writing ('Margaret Cavendish and the power of debating with yourself').

'Otherworld Science: Margaret Cavendish's Critique of the Experimental Method', in The Philosopher in an issue on 'Science'. The piece outlines the cultural significance of Robert Hooke's Micrographia and Cavendish's surprisingly conversative response to his descriptions of the world through the lens of a microscope (here).

'From Pantalaimon to Panpsychism', in a volume on His Dark Materials and Philosophy (part of the Open Court Popular Culture and Philosophy series). The aim of this piece is to explain why readers of His Dark Materials should also seek out Cavendish's sci-fi novella The Blazing World (here).

Berkeley's Legacy

I have been interviewed for several recent newspaper articles on George Berkeley and his legacy (I wrote my PhD on Berkeley at Trinity College Dublin). These include an article in the Business Post on the potential renaming of the Berkeley Library in Trinity College (here), an article in the University Times on Berkeley's connections to slavery (here), and an the Irish Times' 'Unthinkable' columm on Berkeley and intellectual rivalries (here). 

I also wrote about the 'denaming' of the Berkeley Library in Trinity College Dublin and the idea that Berkeley has been 'cancelled' for The Philosopher ('On the 'Cancellation' of Berkeley'). 


Below, the denamed library at TCD (formerly the Berkeley Library).

Common Sense

I wrote about the elusiveness of talk of 'common sense' and the way it can be used to masked political ideology, drawing on historical discussions of common sense for The Institute of Art and Ideas ('The common sense myth').

I previously wrote about common sense in June 2020.  If we have learnt anything from historical debates, I argue, it's that there is no consensus on what 'common sense' actually is. This suggests that politicians (such as UK prime minister Boris Johnson) who frequently appeal to common sense may be acting irresponsbility. The article was read over 10,000 times within a week of publication ('Why Boris Johnson must stop talking about 'good British common sense'').

In July 2020, I was invited on BBC Radio Berkshire to discuss what 'common sense' means.

Contemporary/ Applied Issues

In an article for The Institute of Art and Ideas, I compare the Facebook 'metaverse' with Robert Nozick's experience machine, and suggest that Nozick's case against plugging into the machine should make us think twice about signing up for the metaverse ('The dangers of Zuckerberg's metaverse').

In this piece for The Conversation, I address the question of whether, morally-speaking, it's right to snitch on your neighbours during a hosepipe ban ('Hosepipe ban: should you snitch on your neighbour's water use? A philosophers' take').


Blog Posts

I wrote about the Moomins and philosophy for the Blackwell Popular Culture and Philosophy blog here.

I have written two blog posts for the Groningen Centre for Medieval and Early Modern thought. The first outlines what I learnt teaching Early Modern philosophy through the work of women philosophers (Margaret Cavendish, Princess Elisabeth, Anne Conway, and Mary Shepherd). The second is a discussion of how 'philosphical prejudices' have affected debates in the history of philosophy. 

I contributed to Martin Lenz's blog 'Handling Ideas', with a discussion of how Margaret Cavendish's triumvirate of matter might help us to understand the writing process.

I wrote this on how reading contemporary Irish literature helped me get to know contemporary Ireland while I was living there, for the Contemporary Irish Literature Research Network (CIL). 

I also have my own blog which I infrequently update.  Recently, I discussed the similarities between Cavendish's story The Blazing World and Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy. 

Public Lectures

In Dublin, I was a regular contributor to Trinity College Dublin's philosophy public lecture series, and covered the following topics: 

‘Great Philosophers: Daniel Dennett’ (November 2019). 

‘Big Questions in Philosophy: Should We Trust Our Senses?’ (March 2019).

‘Great Philosophers: Thomas Reid’ (September 2018).