Name: Richard Charles Playford
Contact Details: r.playford(at)leedstrinity.ac.uk
Or: playfordrichard(at)gmail.com
Website: https://sites.google.com/view/richardplayford/home
Present Appointment: Senior Lecturer in Philosophy, Ethics, and Religion at Leeds Trinity University
Areas of Specialisation: Aristotle and Aquinas, philosophical anthropology, exophilosophy and astrotheology, ethics
Areas of Competence: Ancient philosophy, Buddhism, Daoism, philosophy of religion and political philosophy
Qualifications
Academic
PGCert in Higher Education: Leeds Trinity University (2023) (with Distinction)
PhD: It’s For Your Own Good: Natural Law and the Good Life at the University of Reading (2016). Submitted 10/2016 with viva voce examination on 22/03/2017. Passed.
Supervisors: David S. Oderberg and Philip Stratton-Lake (University of Reading). Examiners: Luke Elson (University of Reading) and Edward Harcourt (University of Oxford)
MA in Philosophy: University of Birmingham (2013) (with Distinction and the highest mark in the year)
BA (Hons) in Philosophy with Ancient History: University of Exeter (2012) (2.1)
CPD
DigiLearn Practitioner (2023): A course on online and digital learning
Introduction to Research Ethics: Working with People (2022): FutureLearn and the University of Leeds
Membership of Professional Bodies and Learned Societies
SFHEA: Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy since 2025. (Fellow since 2018.) Recognition Reference Number: PR319661
FRSA: I am a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. I was invited to join in 2015 because of my enthusiasm for public engagement in philosophy and my desire to apply it to contemporary issues. Fellowship Number: 8074291
Employment
2022 – Present: Senior Lecturer in Philosophy, Ethics and Religion at Leeds Trinity University
2022 – 2023: Postgraduate Research Assistant for the RACS Project at St Mary’s University, Twickenham
2017 – 2022: Lecturer in Religious Studies at St Mary’s University, Twickenham
2017 – 2018: Lecturer at the WEA Reading Branch
2014 – 2017: Sessional Lecturer at the University of Reading
Voluntary Roles
2025 – Present: Co-Opted Governor of King James School, Knaresborough, and Boroughbridge High School Federation
Research and Scholarship
Books and Edited Volumes
With Hannah Hayward (eds.) (2025) Reawakening the Catholic Vision: Proceedings of the Trinity Conference 2024, Leeds: Leeds Trinity Press
Playford, Richard C. (ed.) (2024) Exophilosophy: The Philosophical Implications of Alien Life, New York: Routledge
With Stephen Bullivant and Janet Siefert (2024) The Problem of God and Astrobiology, part of the Cambridge Elements ‘The Problems of God’ series edited by Michael Peterson, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
Academic Articles
Pruski, Michal and Playford, Richard C. (2022) ‘Artificial Wombs, Thomson and Abortion – What Might Change?’ Diametros, Vol. 19, No. 73, pp. 35–53. DOI: 10.33392/diam.1794
Playford, Richard C. (2021) ‘Non-Natural Natural Law: Bridging the Gap Between Aristotle and Ross’ Ethic@, Vol. 20, No. 1, pp. 344-361. DOI: 10.5007/1677-2954.2021.e79185
Playford, Richard C. (2020) ‘The Mathematics (and Metaphysics) of Identical Twins’ The Linacre Quarterly, Vol. 87, Issue. 3, pp. 278-291. DOI: 10.1177/0024363920920396
Playford, Richard C. (2019) ‘Let’s Work This Out: Is Work A Basic Human Good?’ New Blackfriars, Vol. 101, Issue. 1096, (2020) pp. 658-668. DOI: 10.1111/nbfr.12467
Playford, Richard C. (2018) ‘No It Isn’t: A Response To Law On Evil Pleasure’ Ethic@ Vol. 17, No. 1, pp. 1-12. DOI: 10.5007/1677-2954.2018v17n1p1
Playford, Richard C. (2018) ‘Elective abandonment: a male counterpart to abortion’ The New Bioethics, Vol. 24, No. 2, pp. 122-134. DOI: 10.1080/20502877.2018.1472853
Playford, Richard C. & Playford, E. Diane (2018) ‘What am I? A philosophical account of personhood and its applications to people with brain injury’ Neuropsychological Rehabilitation, Vol. 28, Issue. 8, pp. 1408-1414. DOI: 10.1080/09602011.2018.1456939
Playford RC, Roberts T, Playford ED. (2014) ‘Deontological and utilitarian ethics: a brief introduction in the context of disorders of consciousness’ Disability and Rehabilitation, Vol. 37, Issue. 21, (2015) pp. 2006-11. DOI:10.3109/09638288.2014.989337
Book Chapters
Playford, Richard (2024) ‘The Alien in the Lamp? The Jinn and Alien Life in Islamic Theology’ in Islamic Theology and Extraterrestrial Life: New Frontiers in Science and Religion, edited by Shoaib Ahmed Malik and Jörg Matthias Determann, London: I.B. Tauris.
Playford, Richard C. (2023) ‘Embryonic Persons’ in Agency, Pregnancy and Persons: Essay in Defense of Human Life, edited by Nicholas Colgrove, Bruce P. Blackshaw and Daniel Rodger, New York: Routledge.
Playford, Richard C. (2022) ‘One of Us: Humans, Transhumans and Posthumans’ in The Ethics of Generating Posthumans: Philosophical and Theological Reflections on Bringing New Persons into Existence, edited by Calum MacKellar and Trevor Stammers, Bloomsbury: London
Book Reviews
Playford, Richard C. (2024) ‘Book Review: Metaphysics of Exo-Life: Toward a Constructive Whiteheadian Cosmotheology by Andrew M. Davis’ Religious Studies, pp. 1–4. DOI:10.1017/S0034412524000726
Playford, Richard C. (2020) ‘Book Review: The Nature of Human Persons: Metaphysics and Bioethics by Jason T. Eberl’ The New Bioethics, Vol. 27 No. 2, pp. 190-194. DOI: 10.1080/20502877.2020.1832808
Playford, Richard C. (2018) ‘Book Review: Julius Rocca (ed.) Teleology In The Ancient World: Philosophical And Medical Approaches’ Ratio. Vol. 31, No. 2, pp. 267-272. DOI: 10.1111/rati.12187
Selected Invited Talks Presented
We Come in Peace – Our Metaphysical Obligations to Aliens (2022) Global Perspective on Exotheology Conference, hosted by the RACS Network and Leeds Trinity University, December 2022.
Could Heritable Genome Editing be used without undermining equality in particular circumstances? (2022) The Heritable Genome Editing and Equality Workshop, Hosted by the Social Trends Institute and the Scottish Council on Human Bioethics, April 2022
Embryonic Persons (2021) The Tyndale Fellowship Conference, Tyndale House, June 2021
(Don’t) Beam Me Up, Scotty! (2021) University of Cape town, Department of Philosophy Visiting Speakers Programme, June 2021
A Response (or Addendum) to Oderberg on the Concept of a Species (2021) University of Reading, Department of Philosophy Visiting Speakers Programme, January 2021
One of Us: Humans, Transhumans and Posthumans (2020) The Centre for Bioethics and Emerging Technologies at St Mary’s University Twickenham with the Scottish Council on Human Bioethics: Is it possible to ethically engender posthuman persons? 10th – 11th January 2020
Elective Abandonment: A Male Legal Equivalent to Abortion (2015) MANCEPT Conference (for the ‘Parental rights in non-ideal circumstances’ workshop), September 2015
Journalism
Playford, Richard C. and Thomas, Mark (2023) ‘Is market fundamentalism compatible with morality and religion?’, West Country Voices, 08/03/2023, available here: https://westcountryvoices.co.uk/is-market-fundamentalism-compatible-with-morality-and-religion/
This was also published on the 99% Organization’s website: https://99-percent.org/is-market-fundamentalism-compatible-with-morality-and-religion/
Grants, Awards and Funding
Centre for Excellence in Learning and Teaching (CELT) at Leeds Trinity University Co-Creation Seed Fund (2023) worth £978 to fund a research project titled ‘The Use of Fantasy Roleplaying Games in Philosophy Education’. This was a co-creation project which meant it had both academics and students on the research team and we were interested in exploring whether Dungeons and Dragons could be used to teach philosophy. The project resulted in a study, a dissemination event, and will result in a forthcoming peer-reviewed academic paper summarising our results more fully.
Leeds Trinity University Research Grant (2022) worth £410 to fund a conference for the RACS Network.
Regional Network Grant (2021) worth £55,062 (£16,470 + £38,592 in-kind contributions) from the International Research Network for the Study of Science and Belief in Society to fund the creation of the Religion and Astrobiology in Culture and Society (RACS) Network. www.racsnetwork.org
British Postgraduate Philosophy Association (BPPA) Conference Organiser at the University of Reading (2016). Total funding raised: £4450. Conference held 14 – 16 September 2016. Total number of speakers: 34. Keynote speakers: Brad Hooker, William MacAskill, David Papineau and Laurie Paul
Works in Progress
A project on the metaphysics of the human person from an Aristotelian-Thomistic perspective which will eventually result in a book. I am currently publishing a series of papers exploring the various issues and questions within the metaphysics of the human person. When I have published these papers, they will be rewritten and turned into a book.
Grant Applications Submitted and in Progress
Suffering Robots: Sentience, Suffering and Artificial Intelligence, £2000, to be submitted.
Teaching
Managerial Responsibilities
2022 – Present: Programme Leader for the BA (Hons) in Philosophy, Ethics and Religion at Leeds Trinity University
2018 – 2019: Programme Lead for the BA (Hons) in Theology and Religious Studies and the BA (Hons) in Theology, Religion and Ethics at St Mary’s University
Personal Tutoring
I am personal tutor for many of our undergraduates. In this capacity, I support my personal tutees should any pastoral issues occur which affect their studies. I offer guidance, point them towards other appropriate resources and sources of support, and act as an intermediary between them and other staff members.
PhD Supervision
Lewis Howeth – commenced 2023 on animal ethics and Thomism.
Gregory Jackson – commenced 2019 on the metaphysics of gender at St Mary’s University. I supervised Gregory until I left St Mary’s in 2022. He successfully completed his PhD in 2024.
Selected Courses Developed and Delivered as a Module Convener:
Thinking Critically, Creatively and Ethically (L3)
Introduction to Ethics (L4)
Introduction to Philosophy (L4)
Key Concepts in World Religions (L4)
Reason, Evidence and Argument (L4)
Ancient Philosophy (L5)
Medieval Islamic Thought (L5)
Religion and Reason (L5)
Metaethics (L6)
Flourishing Adults: This is an online curriculum examining values, particularly the concept of flourishing, in education (particularly primary and secondary schools) for the Church of England’s National Society for Education (NSE) to be taken by their apprentices. It will initially be rolled out to a select number of apprenticeships in 2025 before hopefully being expanded nationwide.
What’s the Big Idea? Key Concepts in Philosophy: This was a course for the Workers’ Educational Association (WEA) which introduced mature students to philosophy and some of its key debates.
YouTube Channel: I have my own YouTube channel, The Philosopher’s Cave, which has videos on philosophy, ethics, politics and theology.
Available here: https://www.youtube.com/c/ThePhilosophersCave
Awards, Prizes and Markers of Esteem
Leeds Trinity Student Union (LTSU) Special Recognition Award (2025): Star Award: Nominated and shortlisted for Student Voice Champion Award
Other Professional Activities
September 2024 – Present: Member of the Faculty Leadership Group for the Faculty of Health, Wellbeing and Life Science representing the School of Children, Young People and Families
December 2022 – Present: Head of the Catherine of Alexandria Research Group for Philosophy and Religion at Leeds Trinity University
September 2021 – February 2022: Member of the Student Experience and Enhancement Committee at St Mary’s University
August 2020 – Present: Member of the Society of Christian Philosophers (SCP).
August 2019 – Present: Member of the Benedict XVI Centre for Religion and Society at St Mary’s University
September 2018 – February 2022: Member of the Faculty Academic Development Committee for the School of Education, Humanities and Social Sciences at St Mary’s University
September 2018 – Present: Member of the Centre for Bioethics and Emerging Technologies (CBET) at St Mary’s University
14th September 2016: Public debate organiser between William MacAskill and Brad Hooker on Effective Altruism
September 2014 – August 2015: Postgraduate Research Student Representative for the philosophy department at the University of Reading
Reviewer for:
Religious Studies, The New Bioethics, The Linacre Quarterly, The Society of Christian Philosophers 2021 Conference, Journal of Evaluation in Clinical Practice, Bloomsbury, Routledge