Two ERC-funded PhD studentships in Philosophy at the University of Leeds Application deadline: 23rd January 2019.
Contact prhspgr@leeds.ac.uk for more information about how to apply.
The School of Philosophy, Religion and History of Science at the University of Leeds is offering two studentships for students commencing a full-time PhD in Philosophy in October 2019. These form part of the ERC-funded project Group Thinking: New Foundations.
Group Thinking: New Foundations draws on several fields of philosophy including:
- Philosophy of mind and language (e.g. metasemantics, metaphysics of mental content, collective intentionality, group attitudes in psychological theory).
- Metaphysics (e.g. social ontology, personal identity, group persistence).
- Formal Epistemology (e.g. representation theorems, social choice, analysis of common knowledge, judgement aggregation)
- Philosophy of action (e.g. nature and grounding of intention, collective action).
- Philosophy of normativity (e.g. nature of reasons and rationality, group reasons)
- Ethics/political philosophy (e.g. group attitudes and duties, legitimacy, complicity).
Applications for the studentships should be for PhD projects in one or more of these project areas. You should be willing to participate in project activities, including regular meetings and workshops with project members across the various project topics. You will be expected to assist other members of the project team who will be organizing these events.
The studentship is tenable for up to 3 years. Renewal of the studentship each year is subject to satisfactory academic progress. Applicants should normally have, or expect soon to be awarded, a Masters degree (or the equivalent thereof) in a relevant discipline. The studentship includes support sufficient for to cover fees (at home/EU rates) and maintenance (currently £14,777 p/a). There will be additional support and benefits associated with the studentships.
The award is not suitable for part-time PhD study. International students may apply for this as a partial scholarship: to be eligible, applicants will be expected to demonstrate their ability to pay the remainder of their international fees (approx. £14,000 p.a.)
Contact the project director J.R.G.Williams@leeds.ac.uk for more information on this opportunity, or prhspgr@leeds.ac.uk for details about how to apply.
Details of Group Thinking: New Foundations.
Group Thinking is a five-year project, commencing in 2019, on the metaphysics and epistemology of collective representation. Funded by the European Research Council, it explores group thought: its nature, and its significance for explanatory projects inside and outside philosophy. It seeks to reveal the underlying unity between the facts that constitute the beliefs and desires of individuals, and the facts that constitute the beliefs and desires of groups. It will provide criteria for demarcating which groups genuinely have beliefs and desires, distinguishing this situation from circumstances when attributing beliefs and desires is mere “loose talk”. The aim is new and rigorous foundations for theory and for public discourse about group belief and desire.
The project is located at the University of Leeds under the direction of Prof Robert Williams. The project team will include local experts, two postdoctoral researchers and two PhD studentships. The project will run regular seminars, host visits from international experts, and run conferences and workshops.
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Foundations of Thought 