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Faculty of Philosophy

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Oxford is one of the world's great centres for philosophy. More than one hundred and fifty professional philosophers work in the University and its colleges, between them covering a vast range of subjects within philosophy. Many are international leaders in their fields. The Faculty of Philosophy is one of the largest departments of philosophy in the world, and is widely recognized to be amongst the best.
Its reputation draws many distinguished visiting philosophers; each year around fifty philosophers from around the world give lectures or seminars in Oxford. Almost every major philosopher speaks in Oxford at some time.
Each year, more than five hundred undergraduates are admitted to study philosophy in Oxford, always in combination with another subject. The Faculty also has more than a hundred graduate students, who are either taking a taught graduate degree or working for a doctorate.
Oxford is a collegiate university, and every registered student becomes a member of one of the colleges. In this way, he or she has access, not only to the very extensive libraries and facilities of the University, but also to the varied and more intimate life of a college. Colleges offer their students excellent libraries and facilities of their own.
Teaching at Oxford is by lectures and seminars, and by tutorials or supervisions. Courses of lectures and seminars are offered on a very large range of topics, for both undergraduates and graduates. Tutorials are a special feature of Oxford; undergraduates receive regular and frequent tutorials either individually or in pairs from members of the Faculty. All graduate students also receive frequent individual supervisions.
Oxford University dates from the 12th Century or before. The first colleges were founded in the 13th Century. The ancient buildings remain, mingled with magnificent architecture from subsequent centuries, to make Oxford one of the most inspiring and beautiful cities in the world. Within this setting, Oxford remains at the forefront of philosophy.

Series associated with Faculty of Philosophy

2013 Carnegie-Uehiro-Oxford Ethics Conference: Happiness and Well-Being
Accelerating AI Ethics
Aesthetics and Philosophy of Art lectures
Alan Turing on Computability and Intelligence
Bio-Ethics Bites
David Hume (2018)
Ethics in AI
Euthydemus - Platonic Dialogue
From Conscience to Robots: Practical Ethics Workshops
General Philosophy
General Philosophy (2018)
Global Poverty: Philosophical Questions
Hume's Central Principles
Introduction to David Hume's Treatise of Human Nature Book One
John Locke Lectures in Philosophy
Journal of Practical Ethics
Kant's Critique of Pure Reason
Metaphor: Philosophical Issues
Nietzsche on Mind and Nature
Philosophical perspectives on the causes of mental illness
Philosophy - Ethics of the New Biosciences
Philosophy of Religion
Philosophy Special Lectures
Power Structuralism in Ancient Ontologies
Practical Ethics Bites
Reid's Critique of Hume
Religious Epistemology, Contextualism, and Pragmatic Encroachment
Rethinking Moral Status
Science and Religious Conflict Conference
The Pandemic Ethics Accelerator Podcasts
The View from Above: Structure, Emergence, and Causation
Thinking Out Loud: leading philosophers discuss topical global issues
Uehiro Lectures: Practical solutions for ethical challenges
Uehiro Oxford Institute
# Episode Title Description People Date
38 Creative Commons 3.2 Responses to Hume's Famous Argument Part 3.2. Responses to and justifications of Hume's argument concerning the problem of induction. Peter Millican 08 Apr 2010
37 Creative Commons General Philosophy Lecture 3 PDF slides from Peter Millican's General Philosophy lecture 3. Peter Millican 08 Apr 2010
36 Creative Commons 3.1 Hume's Argument Concerning Induction Part 3.1. Briefly introduces the problem of induction: that is, the problem that it is difficult to justify claims to knowledge of the world through pure reason, i.e. without experience. Peter Millican 08 Apr 2010
35 Creative Commons 2.7 Overview: Kant and Modern Science Part 2.7. Concludes a historical survey of philosophy with Immanuel Kant, who thought Hume was wrong in his idea of human nature and how we gain knowledge of the world. Peter Millican 08 Apr 2010
34 Creative Commons General Philosophy Lecture 2 PDF slides from Peter Millican's General Philosophy lecture 2. Peter Millican 08 Apr 2010
33 Creative Commons 2.6 David Hume Part 2.6. Introduces 18th Century Scottish philosopher David Hume, 'The Great Infidel', including his life, works and a brief look at his philosophical thoughts. Peter Millican 16 Mar 2010
32 Creative Commons 2.5 Nicolas Malebranche and George Berkeley Part 2.5. Focuses on Malebranche, a lesser-known French Philosopher, and his ideas on idealism and the influence they had on English philosopher George Berkeley. Peter Millican 16 Mar 2010
31 Creative Commons 2.4 John Locke Part 2.4. Introduction to the philosophy of John Locke, 'England's first Empiricist', he also gives a very simplistic definition of Empiricism; we obtain knowledge through experience of the world, through sensory data (what we see, hear, etc). Peter Millican 16 Mar 2010
30 Creative Commons 2.3 Robert Boyle and Isaac Newton Part 2.3. An introduction to Robert Boyle's theory of corpuscularianism and Isaac Newton's ideas on mathematics and the universe. Peter Millican 16 Mar 2010
29 Creative Commons 2.2 Thomas Hobbes: The Monster of Malmesbury Part 2.2. A brief introduction to Thomas Hobbes, 'The Monster of Malmsbury', his views on a mechanistic universe, his strong ideas on determinism and his pessimistic view of human nature: 'The life of man is solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short'. Peter Millican 16 Mar 2010
28 Creative Commons 2.1 Recap of General Philosophy Lecture 1 Part 2.1. A brief recap on the first lecture describing how Aristotle's view of the universe, dominant throughout the middle ages in Europe, came to be gradually phased out by a modern, mechanistic view of the universe. Peter Millican 16 Mar 2010
27 Unfit for Life: Genetically Enhance Humanity of Face Extinction A St Cross Special Ethics Seminar - If we are to avoid annihilation, we must either alter our political institutions, severely restrain our technology or change our nature (22 February 2010). Julian Savulescu 03 Mar 2010
26 Creative Commons 1.4 From Galileo to Descartes Part 1.4. Outlines Galileo's revolutionary theories of astronomy and mechanical science and introduces Descartes' (the father of modern philosophy) ideas of philosophical scepticism. Peter Millican 19 Feb 2010
25 Creative Commons General Philosophy Lecture 1 PDF slides from Peter Millican's General Philosophy lecture 1. Peter Millican 19 Feb 2010
24 Creative Commons 1.3 Science from Aristotle to Galileo Part 1.3. Describes briefly the Aristotelian view of the universe; the basis for natural science in Europe until the 15th century and its conflict Galileo's theories. Peter Millican 19 Feb 2010
23 Creative Commons 1.2 The Background of Early Modern Philosophy Part 1.2. Gives a very brief history of philosophy from the 'birth of philosophy' in Ancient Greece through the rise of Christianity in Europe in the Middle Ages through to the Renaissance, the Reformation and the birth of the Modern Period. Peter Millican 19 Feb 2010
22 Creative Commons 1.1 An Introduction to General Philosophy Part 1.1. Outlines the General Philosophy course, the various topics that will be discussed, and also, more importantly, the philosophical method that this course introduces to students. Peter Millican 19 Feb 2010
21 Nietzsche Source. Scholarly Nietzsche editions on the web Introduction to the scholarly editions of Nietzsche Source: the digital critical edition based on Colli/Montinary, the digital edition of the Nietzsche estate including works, manuscripts and letters and the future genetic edition of Nietzsche's works. Paolo D’Iorio 23 Dec 2009
20 Nietzsche's Value Monism - Saying Yes to Everything Lecture on Nietzsche's attack on Value Dualism, as well as the view he offers instead and whether Nietzsche can sustain his Value Monism-the view that everything is good-given the pressures that pull him back into saying no as well as yes. John Richardson 23 Dec 2009
19 Nietzsche's Metaphysics Nietzsche rejects a persisting self; real distinctions of objects and properties, categorical and dispositional properties, causes and effects; free will. He holds that determinism is true, reality is one and fundamentally experiential. Galen Strawson 22 Dec 2009
18 Consciousness, Language and Nature: Nietzsche's Philosophy of Mind and Nature On the triangulation between consciousness, language and nature in Nietzsche's philosophy and contemporary philosophy of mind and proposes a philosophy of signs and interpretation as a basis for a philosophy of mind, language and nature. Gunter Abel 22 Dec 2009
17 Who is the 'Sovereign Individual?' Nietzsche on Freedom Nietzsche's Sovereign Individual (SI) argues that 1. Nietzsche denies free will and moral responsibility. 2. SI in no way supports a denial of 1. 3. Nietzsche engages in a 'persuasive definition' of the language of Freedom and Free Will. Brian Leiter 22 Dec 2009
16 Nietzsche on Soul in Nature This keynote speech examines if, according to Nietzsche, experience of nature is inevitably conditioned by some archetypal phantasm or cultural construction process or if unmediated apprehension of nature is possible. Graham Parkes 22 Dec 2009
15 The Genealogy of Guilt Nietzsche's objective is not to challenge the Christian non-naturalistic account of guilt but to show that Christian representation of guilt is a product of the exploitation of human susceptibility to guilt as instrument of self-directed cruelty. Bernard Reginster 22 Dec 2009
14 The Flipside of Scientific Freedom Scientists have always had to contend with the idea that their research may be misused. The problem, weighing scientific freedom of inquiry against the possibility that research could be used for harm, is known as the 'dual-use dilemma'. Tom Douglas 12 Aug 2009
13 Julian Savulescu's Monash Distinguished Alumni Julian Savulescu and the other Monash Distinguished Alumni discuss how Monash University has influenced their careers. Julian Savulescu 30 Jun 2009
12 2008 Lecture 6: The Revisability Puzzle Revisited. This is the sixth lecture in the 2008 John Locke Lecture series entitled 'Logic, Normativity, and Rational Revisability'. Hartry Field 24 Jul 2008
11 2008 Lecture 5: Epistemology without Metaphysics This is the fifth lecture in the 2008 John Locke Lecture series entitled 'Logic, Normativity, and Rational Revisability'. Hartry Field 24 Jul 2008
10 2008 Lecture 4: Is that Really Revising Logic? This is the fourth lecture in the 2008 John Locke Lecture series entitled 'Logic, Normativity, and Rational Revisability'. Hartry Field 24 Jul 2008
9 2008 Lecture 3: A Case for the Rational Revisability of Logic. This is the third lecture in the 2008 John Locke Lecture series entitled 'Logic, Normativity, and Rational Revisability'. Hartry Field 24 Jul 2008
8 2008 Lecture 2: What is the Normative Role of Logic? This is the second lecture in the 2008 John Locke Lecture series entitled 'Logic, Normativity, and Rational Revisability'. Hartry Field 24 Jul 2008
7 2008 Lecture 1: A Puzzle about Rational Revisability This is the first lecture in the 2008 John Locke Lecture series entitled 'Logic, Normativity, and Rational Revisability'. Hartry Field 24 Jul 2008
6 2007 Lecture 6: Knowing what we are thinking The sixth lecture will try to resolve a familiar tension between externalism about mental content and the assumption that we have some kind of privileged knowledge of the contents of our own thoughts. Robert Stalnaker 10 Jul 2008
5 2007 Lecture 5: Acquaintance and essence Russell held that we must be acquainted with the constituents of the contents of our thoughts, and remnants of this doctrine persist in the work of a number of more recent philosophers. Robert Stalnaker 10 Jul 2008
4 2007 Lecture 4: Phenomenal and epistemic indistinguishability The fourth lecture will begin with a variation on the thought experiment about Mary that is the focus of the knowledge argument, using it to develop the analogy between self-locating knowledge and knowledge of phenomenal experience. Robert Stalnaker 10 Jul 2008
3 2007 Lecture 3: Locating ourselves in the world One strategy for responding to the knowledge argument exploits an analogy between knowledge of phenomenal experience and essentially indexical or self-locating knowledge. Robert Stalnaker 10 Jul 2008
2 2007 Lecture 2: Epistemic possibilities and the knowledge argument The second lecture will begin with Frank Jackson's knowledge argument. The argument and the responses to it turn on assumptions about the nature of the contents of belief and the objects of knowledge. Robert Stalnaker 10 Jul 2008
1 2007 Lecture 1: Starting in the middle Our topic is a subject's knowledge of his own phenomenal experience and of the content of his thought, but I will approach the topic from the outside, treating the subject as an object in the world. Robert Stalnaker 26 Jun 2008