Research seminars
The Philosophy Department Research Seminar is every other Wednesday, from 3.10 - 4.50pm. See past research seminars below.
2026/27
| Date | Location | Speaker & Abstract |
|---|---|---|
| 30/09/2026 | Roscoe 2.2 |
David Liggins (University of Manchester) Title: The richness and strangeness of higher-order metaphysics Abstract: Unlike first-order logic, higher-order logic permits quantification into syntactic positions other than name position, such as predicate position and sentence position. The contemporary movement called ‘higher-order metaphysics’ is based on higher-order logic. But there is significant confusion about how higher-order metaphysics relates to existing questions in metaphysics, which in turn clouds our understanding of the merits and demerits of higher-order metaphysical theories. Building on work done by Lukas Skiba, I use the notion of conceptual engineering to offer clarification, with the aim of helping us appreciate the full richness and strangeness of theories in higher-order metaphysics. |
| 14/10/2026 | Roscoe 2.2 |
Michael Hannon (University of Nottingham) Title: Believing in Philosophy Abstract: Peer disagreement in philosophy is widespread and persistent. This has led some to conclude that philosophers are not justified in believing their own theories. In response to this skeptical challenge, many theorists have proposed alternative attitudes—such as speculation, acceptance, or endorsement—that allow one to ‘have a view’ without believing it. I argue that these belief-substitutes are inadequate. Instead of replacing belief with some other attitude, I defend a permissivist metaphilosophy that justifies belief in the face of peer disagreement. |
| 28/10/2026 | Roscoe 2.2 |
Sarah Kerr (University of Manchester) Title: What is wealth as a social problem? Abstract: TBA |
| 05/11/2026 | Reading Week | |
| 11/11/2026 | Roscoe 2.2 |
Stephen Ingram (University of Manchester) Title: TBA Abstract: TBA |
| 25/11/2026 | Roscoe 2.2 |
Emile Chan (University of Manchester)
Abstract: TBA |
| 09/12/2026 | Roscoe 2.2 |
Joel Smith (University of Manchester) Title: TBA Abstract: TBA |
|
Date |
Location |
Speaker |
|
03/02/2027 |
TBA |
TBA |
|
17/02/2027 |
TBA |
TBA |
|
03/03/2027 |
TBA |
TBA |
|
17/03/2027 |
TBA |
TBA |
| 24/03/2027 |
Easter break |
|
|
03/04/2027 |
Easter break |
|
|
07/04/2027 |
Non-Teaching Week |
|
|
14/04/2027 |
TBA |
TBA |
|
28/04/2027 |
TBA |
TBA |
|
12/05/2027 |
TBA |
TBA |
Previous speakers
- 2025/26: Joel Smith (Manchester), Alexandra Trofimov (Manchester), Joseph Bentley (Manchester), Slater Simek (Manchester), David Beaver (Texas), Catarina Dutilh Novaes (VU Amsterdam), Ezequiel Zerbudis (Buenos Aires), Chris Cousens (Manchester), Adrian Currie (Exeter), Karl Egerton (Nottingham).
- 2024/25: John O’Neil (Manchester), Emily Caddick Bourne (Manchester), Justina Berškytė (Manchester), Emile Chan Emily (Manchester), James Andow (Manchester), Michael Beaney (HU Berlin), Jon Williamson (Manchester), Saori Kon (Hokkaido), Somayeh Tohidi (Manchester), Katherine Furman (Liverpool), Stephen Ingram (Manchester), Graham Stevens (Manchester), Yafeng Shan (Hong Kong UST)
- 2023/24: David Liggins (Manchester), Ed Witherspoon (Colgate College), Mihaela Popa-Wyatt (Manchester), Sean Crawford (Manchester), Graham Stevens (Manchester), Wouter Cohen (Manchester), Emily Caddick Bourne (Manchester), Justina Berškytė (Manchester), Paul Roth (UC Santa Cruz), Raamy Majeed (Manchester), Thomas Smith (Manchester), Joel Smith (Manchester).
- 2021/22: Frederique Janssen-Lauret (Manchester) and Ajinkya Deshmukh (Manchester), Rob Trueman (York), Siobhan Chapman (Liverpool), Jessie Munton (Cambridge), and Benedetta Magro (Manchester), Prof Mike Ridge (Edinburgh), Prof Ingrid Robeyns (Utrecht), Anne-Marie McCallion (Manchester), Gong Chen & Luiz Leal (Manchester).
- 2020/21: Joe Morrison (Queen's University Belfast), Oliver Spinney (Manchester), Leonie Smith (Manchester), John Schwenkler (Florida State University), Simon Walgenbach (Manchester), Natasha McKeever (Leeds), Elisabeth Camp (Rutgers), Emile Chan (Manchester), Alex Silk (Birmingham), Justina Berškytė (Manchester), and Andre Carus (LMU).
- 2019/20: David Liggins (Manchester), Luke Russell (Sydney), Sonia Roca Royes (Stirling), Nakul Krishna (Cambridge), Jonathan Mitchell (Manchester), Wesley Buckwalter (Manchester), and Tom Smith (Manchester).
- 2018/19: Stephen Ingram (Manchester), Andreas De Jong (Manchester), Catharine Abell (Manchester), Samuel Lebens (Haifa), Stephen Gardiner (Washington), Marie Guillot (Essex), Joseph Kisolo-Ssonko (Nottingham), Graham Stevens (Manchester), Leonie Smith (Manchester), Penelope Orr (Manchester), Jeroen Smid (Manchester), Thomas Uebel Manchester), Rachael Wiseman (Liverpool), Jani Jakkarainen (Tampere), Dawn Wilson (Hull), and Jon Bebb (Manchester).
- 2017/18: Abigail Connor (Manchester), Sean Crawford (Manchester), Frederique Janssen-Lauret (Manchester), Francois Recanati (Institute Jean Nicod), Andy Kirton (Manchester), Sophie Grace-Chappell (Open University), Richard Christian (Manchester), Kevin Mulligan (Lugano), Roberta Ballarin (University of British Columbia), Fraser MacBride (Manchester), and Sean Crawford (Manchester).
- 2016/17: Lubomira Radoilska (Kent), Sylvia Barnett (Manchester), Lea-Cecile Salje (Leeds), Jules Holroyd (Sheffield), Alex Grzankowski (Birkbeck), Chris Hughes (KCL), Helen Beebee (Manchester), Pilar Lopez-Cantero (Manchester), Fred Horton (Manchester), Catharine Abell (Manchester), Joel Smith (Manchester), Joey Montgomery (Manchester), Lydia Farina (Manchester), Michael Scott (Manchester) and Graham Stevens (Manchester), Paula Satne (Manchester), Stephen Ingram (Manchester), and Richard Yetter Chappell (York).
- 2015/16: Nikk Effingham (Birmingham), Al Mele (FSU), Jess Leech (Sheffield), David A. Nicolas (Jean Nicod), Michaela Massimi (Edinburgh), Catherine Z. Elgin (Harvard), Stacie Friend (Birkbeck), Lee Walters (Southampton), Finn Malcolm (Manchester), Tom Crowther (Warwick), Chris Ovenden (Manchester), Yu Gu (Manchester), Marcello Orieste Fiocco (UC Irvine), Nathan Duckett (Manchester), Helen Yetter Chappell (York), Luke Russell (Sydney), Thomas Smith (Manchester), Pila Lopez-Cantero (Manchester).
- 2014/15: Nicholas Jones (Birmingham), Emily Caddick Bourne (Cambridge), Kathleen Stock (Sussex), Debbie Roberts (Edinburgh), Christy Mag Uidhir (Houston), Peter Vickers (Durham), Johannes Roessler (Warwick), Heather Logue (Leeds), John Heil (Washington St. Louis), Matthew Smith (Leeds).
2013/14: Ian Proops (Austin), Daniel Whiting (Southampton), Ian Phillips (UCL), Jonathan Farrell (Manchester), Jason Turner (Leeds), Steinvör Thöll Árnadóttir (Stirling), Barry Dainton (Liverpool), Louise Richardson (York), Miranda Fricker (Sheffield), Jani Haikkarainen and Markku Keinanen (Tampere, Finland), Tom Smith (Manchester), Josh Parsons (Oxford), James Maclaurin (Otago).