Research interests
Robert Cowan is a Lecturer in Moral Philosophy. He was previously Assistant Professor in Philosophy at the University of Warwick. He received his PhD in Philosophy from the University of Glasgow, where he also did his undergraduate degree in Economics and Politics. His principal research interests lie at the intersection between ethics, epistemology, and the philosophy of mind. He is also interested in political philosophy and the philosophy of economics.
Robert is currently working on a series of papers on moral epistemology: (i) considering the prospects for the view that ordinary agents can gain moral and evaluative knowledge on the basis of emotional experience, (ii) assessing different accounts of a priori ethical knowledge, and (iii) assessing the view that understanding the ultimate goal of evaluative and ethical thought. He is also currently co-editing a collection of papers on Evaluative Perception, to be published with Oxford University Press.
Supervision
Robert is keen to supervise PhD and other research students on the following topics:
- Metaethics
- Moral and Value Epistemology
- Normative Ethics (especially Kantian ethics)
- Philosophy of Emotion
- Philosophy of Economics
- Political Philosophy
- Rationality of Experiences
Robert is currently supervising PhD students on the following topics:
- Liberal Conservatism
- The Ethics of Suicide
- Reid, Findlay
Are Agents Morally Assessible for Dreams or Dream-Acts?
Teaching
Current courses taught: 1K Critical Thinking (Convenor), 2M Hobbes and Locke on Political Obligation, Junior Honours History of Moral Philosophy, and Masters Critical Thinking.
Additional information
Robert is on the Executive Committee of the Centre for the Study of Perceptual Experience.
Robert is Careers Officer for Philosophy and the School Quality Officer for Humanities.