Founded in 1974, Philosophy at Essex is internationally recognized for its unique combination of Anglo-American and European continental philosophy, with particular specialisms in critical theory, phenomenology, and Kant and the post-Kantian tradition. The department is committed to fostering a wide variety of philosophical approaches and to developing links between philosophy and other disciplines. We are partnered with Art History to form the School of Philosophy and Art History (SPAH).
The Times Higher Education Awards rated the University of Essex ‘University of the Year’ in 2018, with the philosophy department ranked in the top 10 in the UK for research quality in the Research Excellence Framework (REF) 2014. More than three-quarters of our research was deemed ‘world leading’ or ‘internationally excellent’.
Our academic staff are involved in several major research projects, including the Essex Autonomy Project and the Ethics of Powerlessness project. We offer a wide range of degree schemes for undergraduates, taught postgraduates, and doctoral research students.
Full-time faculty include Matthew Burch, Lorna Finlayson, Fabian Freyenhagen, Steven Gormley, Marie Guillot, Beatrice Han-Pile, Fiona Hughes, Timo Jütten, Thomas Khurana, Wayne Martin, Irene McMullin, Jörg Schaub, Ellisif Wasmuth, and Dan Watts. We have close ties both with Europe and with the US, and around 30 graduate students from many different countries.
Philosophy specialisms include:
- Ancient philosophy
- Autonomy and the philosophy of agency
- Classical German philosophy
- Contemporary French philosophy
- Ethics, including applied ethics
- Feminist theory
- Frankfurt School and critical theory
- Phenomenology
- Philosophical aesthetics, philosophy of art and literature
- Philosophy and human rights
- Philosophy and psychiatry
- Philosophy and psychoanalysis
- Philosophy and public policy
- Philosophy and religion
- Social and political philosophy
Updated February 12, 2019