Professor Ben Colburn
- Professor of Political Philosophy (Philosophy)
telephone:
0141 330 4277
email:
Ben.Colburn@glasgow.ac.uk
Room 305, 69 Oakfield Avenue, Glasgow
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1416-1844Research interests
Ben Colburn is Professor of Political Philosophy. He has worked at Glasgow since 2010, and was Head of Philosophy from 2017 to 2020. Before arriving in Glasgow he studied and worked in Cambridge, receiving his PhD in 2008, and holding a research fellowship at Corpus Christi College from 2008 to 2010.
His main research interests are in political philosophy and ethics, with a particular interest in the nature and value of autonomy and its importance in liberal political philosophy. He is currently writing on various questions in this area, and also some topics in the theory of responsibility, including coercion, vicarious responsibility, and the role of responsibility in the autonomous life.
Ben has a further interest in exploring how foundational philosophical ideas (like autonomy and responsibility) can be put to use in policy and practice. He has a number of ongoing collaborative research projects along these lines, including work on refugee education, on end of life care, and on architecture and urban design.
Supervision
Ben has supervised students working within political philosophy, ethics, and nearby fields. Specific topics have included neutrality, the philosophy of education, egalitarianism, multiculturalism, political economy, decision theory, and applied ethics.
He is happy to supervise doctoral work in most areas of political philosophy, and in many areas of ethics. Prospective students should drop him a line.
Current PhD students:
- Acar, Hatice
Priority View in Human Rights - Angelici, Victoria
As You Wish: On the Moral Duty to Come Out - Ding, Yiheng
Freedom and the ethics of nudge - a moral assessment - Gillies, Olga
Returns of the Benin City objects from Britain's non-national museums: an internal critique of positions and foundational concepts. - Hodgson, Calum
Answering Formal and Substantial Paradoxes of Democracy. - Nunziante, Allison
Paternalistic Interferences to Personal Bodily Autonomy - Quinn, Michael
What are the pedagogical possibilities of engaging with speculative fiction to teach philosophical concepts?
- Stollard, Sorley
An Analysis of Theories of Ownership - MacDougall, Graham
An Epistemic Theory of State Duties and Political Legitimacy - Acar, Hatice
The Priority View in Human Rights - Gopal, William
Poiesis and Virtual Epistemology: towards the virtuous design and use of digital technologies for epistemic purposes - Nunziante, Allison
Bodily Autonomy and Reproductive Rights - Quinn, Michael
Using Engagement with Speculative Fiction to Teach Philosophical Concepts
Completed PhD students:
- Carole Baillie (2015) Revealing the Multiculturalist's Illusion: A Liberal Critique
- James Humphries (2016) Authority, Autonomy and Anarchy
- Catherine Robb (2017) The Nature and Value of Talent
- Patrick Kaczmarek (2017) A Fairness Based Astronomical Waste Argument
- Frodo Podschwadek (2018) Rawlsian Liberalism and Public Education
- Daniel Abrahams (2020) A philosophical approach to satire and humour in social context.
- Ewan Burns (2020) Conservatism: towards a traditionalist moral and political epistemology
- Philipp Dapprich (2020) The philosophical basis of a socialist planned economy
- Maria Pia Mendez (2020) Self-authorship in the political sphere: Collective self-government and autonomy
- Luke Armstrong (2021) Autonomy in Political Liberalism
- Imants Latkovskis (2021) Capabilities, Autonomy, and Education: a comprehensive anti-perfectionist capability approach to justice
Teaching
Ben is on sabbatical leave in 2020-21. He usually teaches a combination of courses in ethics, political philosophy and the history of philosophy.
Additional information
Ben is Secretary of the Analysis Trust, and sits on the executive committee of the Mind Association and the editorial board of The Philosophical Quarterly. He is a member of the Glasgow End of Life Studies Group, of the Glasgow Law and Philosophy Network, and the Cross-Party Group on End of Life Choices at the Scottish Parliament.
