The Department of Philosophy is pleased to announce the establishment of a new research centre, the Centre for Research in Post-Kantian European Philosophy. The new Centre aims to provide a unique forum for discussion and research in 19th and 20th century European philosophy, including interdisciplinary research with scholars across the humanities and social sciences.It will organise regular seminars, workshops and conferences to promote scholarly and innovative work in the field of post-Kantian European philosophy and provide a stimulating research environment for MA and PhD students and for Faculty.

In his new publication, Quassim Cassam investigates the origins and purpose of conspiracy theories. Why are conspiracy theories so different from ordinary theories about conspiracies? Why are they so prevalent in our own turbulent times? What dangers do they pose for us as a society - and why we ignore them at our peril - undermining as they do our established intellectual and political frameworks. In four focused chapters, Quassim Cassam explores the reasons why conspiracy theories originate, their appeal in a world of media deluge and instant news feeds, and the role they serve as insidious forms of propaganda, harnessed to promote specific political agendas. He concludes with some pertinent observations about how we - both as a society and as individuals - should respond, if we are to create an effective means of defence to counteract them.

Published by Polity Books as part of their Think Series.

A forthcoming workshop to be held at the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Spain, between 15-17 April 2020 will focus exclusively on the philosophical work of Quassim Cassam, and in particular the nature of intellectual vices explored by him in his recent publication Vices of the Mind: From the Intellectual to the Political (2019), which investigates intellectual vices that block the way of self-knowledge, responsible belief formation or enquiry.

Philosophers who are interested in Quassim Cassam's work are invited to submit proposals for evaluation on topics relating to Vice Epistemology, Self and Self-Knowledge, Perception, Neo-Kantian Epistemology, Conspiracy Theories and the Philosophy of Terrorism. Submissions should be no longer than 15 pages (about 5000 words) and should represent a 40-minute presentation, followed by a 30-minute Q&A session. Extended abstracts of about 2000 words will also be accepted for review. Deadline is 23 January 2020.

The workshop is sponsored by the SEFA (Spanish Society for Analytic Philosophy) and funded by the Spanish Research Agency through the research grant Intellectual Autonomy in Environments of Epistemic Dependence. See here for further information: https://listserv.liv.ac.uk/cgi-bin/wa?A2=PHILOS-L;ccb335a.1909

We are delighted to announce that Dr Benjamin Ferguson has been appointed as Assistant Professor in PPE and will join the Philosophy Department in October 2019.

Dr Ferguson was previously Assistant Professor of Ethics and PPE Co-ordinator at Vrije University, Amsterdam. Prior to that, he was a lecturer in Political Philosophy at the University of Bayreuth, where he taught courses in the Philosophy and Economics programme.

Ben Ferguson's research is focused on moral and political philosophy and, in particular, the ethics of market-based interactions such as exploitation and fraud. He has written extensively on love, moral reasons, and moral worth. He is currently three years into a four year 'Veni' grant on the topic of fair transactions, provided by the Dutch Research Council (NWO).

Professor Kimberley Brownlee will deliver the prestigious Julius Stone Address 2019 at the Julius Stone Institute of Jurisprudence, Sydney Law School, University of Sydney, on Tuesday 13 August 2019. Her Address is entitled 'Punishment and Precious Emotions: A Defence of a Hope Standard for Punishment'.

The Julius Stone Address, inaugurated in 2000, is an annual lecture given by a leading international scholar of jurisprudence and held at the Julius Stone Institute of Jurisprudence, which was opened in 1999 in recognition of the achievements of Julius Stone, who was Professor of Jurisprudence and International Law at the University of Sydney between 1942 and 1972.

The Address is attended by judges, academics, leading members of the legal profession and the wider community. Further information here: https://sydney.edu.au/law/our-research/research-centres-and-institutes/julius-stone-institute-of-jurisprudence.html

We are delighted to announce that Dr Lucy Campbell has been appointed as an Assistant Professor in Philosophy. Lucy will take up her new role from 1 September 2019. Lucy is currently already with the Philosophy Department, on a Leverhulme Early Career Fellowship, which she will retain.

Lucy completed her PhD at Cambridge University in 2015, and has previously held teaching positions at Oxford (2017-18) and in Edinburgh (2015-16). She also completed an Analysis Studentship, also based in Oxford (2016-17).

Lucy's research interests are in philosophy of mind and action, in epistemology and - especially - in the intersection of these areas. She is currently developing her research on action-theory, particularly in relation to Elizabeth Anscombe.

We are delighted to announce that Sameer Bajaj has been appointed as Assistant Professor in the Department of Philosophy, and will take up his post in September 2019. Sameer received his PhD in Philosophy from the University of Arizona and his JD in Law from Columbia University Law School. He was previously Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Franklin & Marshall College, Lancaster, USA. Sameer's main research interests lie in political and moral philosophy. He is currently undertaking research into why and how citizens of large, pluralistic democracies ought to participate in politics. He is also working on a project that examines how the demands of achieving collective ends distribute among individuals. Sameer's work has been published widely, including in Philosophical Studies and in Politics, and Philosophy and Economics. This autumn, Sameer will be teaching a new module on Democracy and Political Authority.

Dr David Woods, Teaching Fellow in the Philosophy Department, has received a commendation in the Warwick Awards for Teaching Excellence 2019 (WATE).

Chris Noonan, a postgraduate student in the Department, is a winner in the Warwick Awards for Teaching Excellence for Postgraduates Who Teach category (WATE PGR).

Many congratulations to both David and Chris from all our students and colleagues for their well-deserved accolades, in recognition of their outstanding contribution to teaching in the Philosophy Department over the past year.

The winners of this year's undergraduate Philosophy in the Wild' essay competition are Maya Kokerov (winner), Euan McGinty (runner up) and Neville Birdi (runner up). The judges were impressed by the quality of all the essays submitted, and the choice was a difficult one. However, the essays produced by Maya, Euan and Neville were selected for the way they imaginatively interpreted the brief, and how all three pieces of work demonstrated the importance and value of philosophy in the world today. The winners were awarded vouchers worth £100 (first prize) and £50 (runners up) respectively.

Maya (first prize), applied metaphysical ideas on personhood to the contemporary issue of social media: "I was interested in tackling the common idea that the internet is solely used to express superficial aspects of our lives - but it is possible to use social media smartly if we think about it in philosophical terms".

Euan channelled his interest in the Philosophy of Language to explore the way certain words and terms can influence our perception of the world, relating particularly to environmentalism. He focused on John Baird Callicott's discussion about the historical baggage associated with the term 'wilderness'. Says Euan: "my aim was to apply some of the knowledge I've gained from studying philosophy and put it in the context of issues that concern me".

Neville's inspiration came directly from Professor Kimberley Brownlee's lectures on Ideas of Freedom, and particularly 'freedom of thought' and 'freedom of expression'. Writing the essay allowed Neville to draw links between the philosophical theory and the real world: "everyone now knows we live in a 'post-truth' and 'fake news' age, so when better to discuss the value of thought, expression, and the press?" he says.

Congratulations to all three winners on their achievement from everyone in the Department!

Professor Keith Ansell-Pearson will feature in a forthcoming edition of In Our Time, to be broadcast on BBC Radio Four on Thursday 9 May 2019 at 0900. Professor Ansell-Pearson, who specialises in modern European philosophy and is the author of monographs on Bergson and Nietzsche, will discuss Bergson and the Question of Time with Melvyn Bragg and his fellow expert guests.

In Our Time is BBC Radio Four's flagship discussion programme exploring the History of Ideas, and has been presented by Melvyn Bragg since its inception in 1998. The programme's reputation and cultural impact is such that it is claimed to have "transformed the landscape for serious ideas at peak listening time".