Political Philosophy
Political Philosophy is the philosophical investigation of politics. Traditionally, it asks us to reconsider the concepts taken for granted in political discussions and practices: What is democracy, and why is it valuable? Must we obey the state? What is justice? Under what conditions can we be said to be free or equal? More broadly, though, political philosophy is interested in the moral, metaphysical, and epistemological commitments involved in social movements, civic and political action, and state-making. It therefore considers questions such as: What does the current generation owe to future generations, and how should we share global resources? How can we solve collective action problems in the absence of a powerful coordinating entity? When is it legitimate to engage in civil disobedience, or even overthrow the current political regime? How should we punish the criminally guilty? Under what circumstances can a country justly go to war with another? And what do rich countries owe to poor countries?
At Sheffield, political philosophy has long been a strength. We have been successful in attracting research grants in this area. Recent examples include:
- Jules Holroyd, Matthew Cull and Fiona Woollard have a funded knowledge exchange project on inclusive language in perinatal care, advocating a pluralistic approach which is sensitive to the moral and communicative goals of a context.
- Joshua Forstenzer received a Higher Education Innovation Fund grant to work with the organisations Union of Justice and Synergie Family on a project investigating the future of education in response to the climate crisis. Josh’s work in this area has included developing a leadership training programme for European leaders of colour, discussions with parliamentarians in the EU, Westminster, and Holyrood, and developing pedagogic activities linking primary school children in the poorest neighbourhoods of Marseille with primary school children in Madagascar working on environmental projects.
- Our expertise in implicit bias training has resulted in a consultancy with the UK Civil Service and our expertise in theories of political education and social change led to a consultancy with a Member of European Parliament.
The Centre for Engaged Philosophy houses regular activities on the philosophy of education, environmental justice, implicit bias, philosophy of race, and decolonization. Our Masters in Political Theory (run in collaboration with the Politics department) and the continual presence of a significant number of PhD students undertaking research in this field ensures a vibrant community which runs regular reading groups.
We have particular strengths in the following areas of political philosophy, as well as in social philosophy.
Global Justice and Environmental Justice
Megan Blomfield’s research concerns global justice, including reparations for historical injustice, justice in migration, and environmental justice. Most of her work falls within this latter category, with a focus on the normative dimensions of climate change. Her 2019 book on this topic, Global Justice, Natural Resources, and Climate Change, asks what the world would look like if natural resources were shared fairly and then explains how this can help us to better understand the kind of problem that climate change presents and what a just response to it would look like. In related work, she investigates the question of responsibility for climate change, and the connections between climate change and injustices such as colonialism.
Philosophy of Law
Chris Bennett has worked on numerous areas of criminal law and criminal justice. These include the nature and justification of punishment (including in his book The Apology Ritual); the nature of criminal responsibility; the authority of criminal law; the role of eyewitness testimony in criminal trials; the role of emotion in excuses in the criminal law; and the prospects of greater public participation in criminal justice, and the connection between criminal justice and democracy. Chris also researches and teaches across both Philosophy and Law departments at Sheffield in recognition of his inter-disciplinary expertise. Jules Holroyd has worked on how we should interpret the reasonable person standard in the context of claims of self-defence, and on the notion of integrity in evidence law.
Theories of Social Change
Joshua Forstenzer works on theories of democracy, especially on democratic innovation and democratic socialism. He also works on epistemic dimensions of deliberation and methodological debates in political philosophy. His 2019 book, Deweyan Experimentalism and the Problem of Method in Political Philosophy, proposes a middle route between ideal theory and realist political philosophy by drawing on John Dewey’s conceptions of philosophy and democracy. Bob Stern has worked widely on Hegel, and also on his relation to Marx and the Marxist tradition, focusing on ideas such as recognition, alienation, and perfectionism. Chong-Ming Lim works on issues of political resistance, especially on the justifications of civil and uncivil disobedience, and the differentiation of law-breaking protesters from criminals. Max Khan Hayward is interested in the rationality of cooperation, in particular the kinds of large-scale action required to bring about political reform and social change.
Health Justice
Ben Davies works on issues of justice in healthcare, including resource allocation, discrimination, and responsibility. He is co-editor of the book Responsibility and Healthcare. More recently, he has worked on the role of democracy in making health decisions. Jules Holroyd has a project on gender inclusive perinatal care, which focuses on how the language of perinatal care providers can be appropriately accurate while also inclusive of trans and gender non-conforming parents. Chong-Ming Lim works on issues of disability justice, especially how the claims of disabled citizens can be included within theories of (distributive) justice