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Research is at the heart of the Philosophy Department at the OU. Our full-time members of staff are all active researchers, specialising in a range of subjects across the disciplines. The department hosts the innovative Open University Ethics Centre, and staff regularly work with and consult for other institutions and multimedia broadcasters, particularly concerning ethics, morality, aesthetics, and metaphysics. Recent themes of research include making good decisions, bioethics, knowing and deciding, and justice. In addition to research under the headings of ‘value’ and ‘mind, meaning and rationality’, we welcome applications in modern French philosophy and political philosophy.
Key facts
- Competitive Faculty of Arts Studentships available.
- Annual dedicated Graduate Student research conference.
- Frequent research talks and seminars held, recently sponsored by the Royal Institute of Philosophy.
- Established record of attracting research funding.
- Philosophy’s academics are internationally renowned – having been individually invited to Sci Foo 2010 ‘un-conference’ at Googleplex, collaborating with museums and galleries, leading the world in podcasting (regularly in iTunes top 20 downloads), and consulting for leading media broadcasters.
Facilities
The department hosts the Open University Ethics Centre, which seeks to clarify our understanding of the key ethical concepts we all use, develops imaginative teaching methods and innovative e-resources to spread ethical understanding as widely as possible, and promotes public debate at national and international levels about the pressing moral problems faced by society.
Further information
If you have an enquiry specific to this research area please contact:
- Name:
- Professor Timothy Chappell
- Email:
- arts-philosophy-enqs@open.ac.uk
- Phone:
- +44 (0)1908 659214
For general enquiries please contact the Research Degrees Team via the link under ‘Your questions’ on the right of the page.
Publications
Research publications by Open University staff are available through Open Research Online (ORO), the university's repository of research publications and other research outputs. ORO can be searched or browsed by staff name or subject.
The following list, generated from ORO, provides a flavour of the most recently published work in Philosophy:
- Barber, Alex (2013). Science's immunity to moral refutation. Australasian Journal of Philosophy .
- Chimisso, Cristina (2013). The life sciences and French philosophy of science: Georges Canguilhem on norms. In: Andersen, H.; Dieks, D.; Gonzalez, W. J.; Uebel, T. and Wheeler, G. eds. New Challenges to Philosophy of Science. The Philosophy of Science in a European Perspective (4). Dordrecht: Springer, (In Press).
- Chimisso, Cristina (2013). Gaston Bachelard e le lezioni filosofiche della chimica. In: Bonicalzi, Francesca; Mottana , Paolo; Vinti, Carlo and Wunenburger, Jean-Jacques eds. Bachelard e la ‘provocazioni’ della materia. Genova: Il Nuovo Melangolo, pp. 93–104.
- Belshaw, Christopher (2013). Harm, change and time. Journal of Medicine and Philosophy, 37(5) pp. 425–444.
- Chimisso, Cristina (2013). A matter of substance? Bachelard on chemistry's philosophical lessons. In: Galavotti, Maria Carla; Nemeth, Elisabeth and Stadler, Friederich eds. European Philosophy of Science - Philosophy of Science in Europe and the Viennese Heritage. Vienna Circle Institute Yearbook (17). Springer, (In press).
- More publications relating to Philosophy
Research degrees
Your questions
For advice about applying for a research degree, or sponsoring a research student, send us an email or call +44 (0)1908 654882.