We are pleased to announce that the King’s History of Philosophy Seminars (KHOPS) are about to restart. 

We have two invited talks scheduled for this term:

25 January – Sarah Patterson (BBK) on Anne Conway

22 March – Thomas Uebel (Manchester) TBD Both meetings will take place on Wednesday evenings from 17:30 to 19:00, in the King’s Building, room K.1.27. All are welcome!

If you would like to stay informed about our events, you can head over to the website and sign up to themailing list.

Wednesday 29 March, 6-8pm

Venue: KCL Strand Campus, Bush House 8th Floor (North)

30 Aldwych, London, WC2B 4BG

“Trolleys and Drones”

Speaker: Christopher Kutz

C. William Maxeiner Distinguished Professor of Law at UC Berkeley

Abstract: Trolley Problem ethics is not merely empty but pernicious: it founds a radically individualist, acontextual, and libertarian politics that has provided intellectual support for modern forms of remote warfare, with their attendant civilian casualties. Trolley Problem ethics made way for a strand of revisionist thinking about the ethics of war that normalizes and moralizes the killing of civilians.

The lecture will be chaired by Professor Marion Thain, Executive Dean of Arts and Humanities at King’s College London.

A reception will follow at Bush House, 8th Floor (South), as well as the announcement of the winners of the Estella Newsome Memorial Prize essay competition (sponsored by the Christian Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament).

All are welcome! Booking required.

Registration: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/annual-peace-lecture-tickets-522509569187

The Peace Lectures are due to Alan Lacey, a life-long pacifist who taught philosophy at King’s College London for some fifteen years, and who left a generous bequest to fund a lecture series promoting peace. The series is organised by the KCL Philosophy Department.

Check out the latest from the Agora, “What’s the use of hope?” by Keiran Setiya!

Keiran Setiya teaches philosophy at MIT, working mainly in ethics, epistemology, and the philosophy of mind. He is the author of  Life is Hard, Midlife: A Philosophical Guide, Practical Knowledge, Reasons without Rationalism, and Knowing Right From Wrong.

This article is part of the Agora series, a collaboration between the New Statesman and Aaron James Wendland. Wendland is Vision Fellow in Public Philosophy at King’s College, London and a Senior Research Fellow at Massey College, Toronto. He tweets @aj_wendland.

A new Latin Philosophy Reading Group will be starting in the Department next week.

When: Every Monday, 14.00–15.00 (starting January 16th)

Where: Room 508, Philosophy Building

What: The group will be reading Thomas Aquinas’s Summa Theologiae, from the very beginning, translating it from the Latin. The meetings will comprise the translation as well as some philosophical discussion of the text. While some knowledge of Latin is helpful, all levels are welcome.

Anyone interested should get in touch with Zita Toth or Sol Tor to be sent the text and the schedule – but anyone is free just to show up!

The Philosophy Department at King’s College London is seeking an outstanding philosopher with research expertise and teaching experience in Ethics. Research specialisation and ability to teach at all levels and supervise postgraduate students in that area are required.  

The successful candidate will lead or direct their own original and independent programme of research, at an international standard.

Research and/or teaching expertise or competence in areas that will help widen or consolidate some areas of our curriculum are desirable. These areas include, but are not limited to other philosophical traditions (for example Chinese or Indian), and philosophical issues concerning race or gender. 

The Department of Philosophy is one of the largest and most distinguished in the UK. We have particular research strengths in the history of philosophy, philosophy of mind and psychology, philosophy of language and linguistics, metaphysics, epistemology, and philosophy of science and ethics and political philosophy.   

This post will be offered on a full-time, indefinite contract.

For more information and to apply, see https://jobs.kcl.ac.uk/gb/en/job/058085/Lecturer-in-Ethics. The closing date for the post is 16th January 2023.

Please see below for details of two hourly-paid opportunities starting in January 2023, one in the Philosophy department (History of Ethics) and one in the Theology and Religious Studies department (Philosophy of Religion) at KCL.

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KCL Philosophy: Hourly-paid lecturer opportunity- History of Ethics, S2 AY22/3

The Department of Philosophy at King’s College London currently has hourly-paid teaching opportunities for Semester 2, 2022/3 in the History of Ethics.

5AANB006 ETHICS: History of Ethics. The module will introduce students to the ethical theories of past and contemporary moral philosophers, and will explain their significance for modern ethical theory, including debates about a range of ethical questions, such as the nature of moral rationality, moral objectivity, moral virtue and moral obligation.

Duties: Convene and teach (in person) a second-year module, 5AANB006 ETHICS IIB, including ten one-hour weekly lectures and weekly one-hour seminar for five groups of 15 students each (5 groups = 10 hours). Total: 60 hours.

Applicants must hold a PhD in Philosophy at the time of application, and have the right to work in the UK.

The payment is £22 per hour. The role will also include payment for preparation hours, office hours and both formative and summative marking. Total salary for the module (approx.): £8,000 (before tax).

To apply:

Please send a CV and short (500 word) statement outlining the ability, skills and experience you would bring to the role to: justyna.kasprowicz@kcl.ac.uk. Closing date:  Tuesday 22^nd November, 23:59 (GMT).

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Job: hourly-paid Lecturer in Philosophy, KCL, Jan-Dec 2023

The Theology and Religious Studies Department at King’s College London seeks to appoint an Hourly Paid part-time Lecturer in Philosophy for the duration of 2023.  

The Lecturer will teach and examine a second-year module, ‘Faith and Enlightenment: Philosophies of Religion from Anselm to Kant’ from January to Easter 2023, and a third-year module ‘Philosophy of Religious Life’ from September to December 2023.  There will be various marking duties over the course of the year, including over the summer.

The second-year module covers short texts by Anselm, Descartes, Spinoza and Kant; the third-year module focuses on Kierkegaard’s Fear and Trembling and related texts in the history of philosophy and theology.

Candidates should be appropriately qualified to teach these modules, ideally with a PhD in hand (or near completion) in a relevant discipline.  All teaching takes place on campus, and applicants must be eligible to work in the UK.

The contract includes 60 hours of lecture/seminar teaching, 140 hours preparation time, and 40 hours for offering students support and feedback outside class, in addition to hours allocated to marking.  We also offer pro rata holiday pay.  The hourly rate is £22.13 and the total salary for the year, including holiday pay, will be approx. £8,100.

Lectures and seminars for ‘Faith and Enlightenment: Philosophies of Religion from Anselm to Kant’ are scheduled on Wednesdays in Semester 2 of the current academic year.  The teaching timetable for the autumn is negotiable.

To apply, please send a letter of application and an academic CV to trs-hod@kcl.ac.uk. 

There is no application form.  The closing date is midnight on November 25th, 2022.  Interviews will be held in early December.

Please direct informal enquiries to Prof. Clare Carlisle: clare.carlisle@kcl.ac.uk.

Abstract:

Orthodox quantum theory tells us that properties of quantum systems are represented by self-adjoint operators, and that two properties are incompatible just in case their respective operators do not commute. We present a puzzle for this orthodoxy, pinpointing the exact assumptions at play. Our solution to the puzzle specifically challenges the assumption that non-commuting operators represent in compatible properties. Instead, they represent incompatible levels of specification of determinates for a single determinable. This solution yields insight into the nature of so-called quantum indeterminacy and demonstrates a new and fruitful application of the determinable-determinate relation in quantum theory.

Based on joint work with David Taylor (Minnesota)

https://kingsphilosophy.com/bbloc/

https://www.kcl.ac.uk/events/undergraduate-taster-day-philosophy-november-2022

Sign up to our undergraduate taster day to experience what teaching might be like if you study at King’s.

Learn about the puzzles of non-existence, Kant on moral value and get the chance to interact with current students and staff.

Event schedule:

• 14:00-14:20 – Welcome and Introduction with Dr Jess Leech
• 14:20-15:00 – ‘Kant on Moral Value’ with Dr John Callanan
• 15:00-15:40 – Break and refreshments
• 15:40-16:00 – ‘Knowing what you are’ with Dr Adrian Alsmith
• 16:00-16:40 – ‘Puzzles about Non-Existence’ with Professor Mark Textor 
• 16:40-17:00 – Q&A with current students and academics
• 17:00 onwards – Optional campus tours

We hope you can join us!