We are delighted to announce the appointment of four new members of Philosophy staff in spring and summer 2020.
Professor Michael Beaney joins Aberdeen as Regius Chair of Logic. This distinguished position was established by James IV of Scotland in 1505 just ten years after the University was founded. Prof. Beaney is internationally recognized for his work on the history of analytic philosophy, particularly the thought of Frege, Wittgenstein, Stebbing, and Collingwood. He also has interests in creativity, historiography, and Chinese philosophy of language and logic. He welcomes enquiries from prospective PhD students in these areas, and he will offer our first ever course on Ancient Chinese Philosophy starting in January 2021. Prof. Beaney will lead Aberdeen’s Centre for Knowledge and Society. He holds the Regius Chair jointly with a Professorship at the Humboldt University of Berlin.
Professor Jesper Kallestrup joins Aberdeen from the University of Copenhagen where he was Dean of Humanities and Professor of Philosophy. He works in epistemology, philosophy of mind and philosophical methodology, all areas in which he will offer courses and postgraduate supervision. Recent research interests include topics in social epistemology such as testimony, trust and group knowledge, and the metaphysics of mind and knowledge such as extended knowledge and cognitive integration. Prof. Kallestrup will lead Aberdeen’s new MLitt in Philosophy and Society, due to commence in September 2021.
Professor Vikki Entwistle is an interdisciplinary scholar who has been jointly appointed to Philosophy and the Institute of Applied Health Sciences. She combines philosophy with social research to understand and address challenges in public health and healthcare provision in relation to human wellbeing and social justice. Joining Philosophy for one day per week, Prof. Entwistle will contribute to teaching and supervision in ethics and philosophy of medicine, and will lead on interdisciplinary projects and collaborations through the Centre for Knowledge and Society.
Dr. Edward Thornton joins Aberdeen as Lecturer in 2020-21. His expertise is in the history of European philosophy, with current research examining 20th-century French thinkers’ responses to the major problems of the philosophical canon. Dr Thornton joins us from Royal Holloway, University of London where he completed his PhD in 2018 and worked as a Teaching Fellow in Philosophy. Dr Thornton will teach Life, Death, and Meaning, and a new course on Freedom, Power, and the Self.