last updated: April 17, 2012

David S. Oderberg, B.A., L.L.B. (Melbourne), D.Phil. (Oxford), Professor of Philosophy

Department of Philosophy, University of Reading, Reading RG6 6AA, U.K.; phone (44-[0]118-378 5277); contact           

articles   reviews   speaking engagements   miscellaneous writings   recent papers and other activities   bits and pieces

Available in paperback via Routledge and Amazon

       

        Reviews:

        E.J. Lowe, The Philosophical Quarterly 60 (2010): 648-52

        Crawford Elder, Analysis 69:2 (2009): 376-8

        Sebastian Rehnman, The Review of Metaphysics 62 (2009): 678-80

        Edward Feser, Faith and Philosophy 27 (2010)

        Patrick Madigan, The Heythrop Journal 52 (2011): 302

        Maya Eddon, Mind 119 (2010):1210-1212

        Amazon

                                A review by Tuomas Tahko     

        What's new

Books (authored):

              4. Real Essentialism (London: Routledge, 2007; paperback 2009) ISBN-10: 0415323649; ISBN-13: 978-0415323642 (h/b); 978-0-415-87212-6 (p/b); Amazon link; Publisher link

      3. Applied Ethics: A Non-Consequentialist Approach (Oxford: Blackwell, 2000; 248pp.) ISBN 0 631 21905 6 (p/b; also available in h/b, 0 631 21904 8) Amazon link; Publisher link; Portuguese translation, 2008.

      2. Moral Theory: A Non-Consequentialist Approach (Oxford: Blackwell, 2000; 197pp.) ISBN 0 631 21903 X (p/b; also available in h/b, 0 631 21902 1) Amazon link; Publisher link; Portuguese translation, 2008.

      1. The Metaphysics of Identity over Time (London/New York: Macmillan/St Martin's Press, 1993; 228 pp.) ISBN 0 333 59351 0 (UK); 0 312 10208 9 (USA) (h/b) Amazon link; Publisher link; abstract

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Books (edited):

4. The Old New Logic: Essays on the Philosophy of Fred Sommers (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2005; 242pp.) ISBN 0-262-15113-8 (h/b), 0-262-65106-8 (p/b) Amazon link; Publisher link

                                           

Articles:  

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45. 'No Potency without Actuality: The Case of Graph Theory', in Tuomas E. Tahko (ed.) Contemporary Aristotelian Metaphysics (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2012): 207-28 (abstract; you can email me for a copy).

44. 'Graph Structuralism and its Discontents: Rejoinder to Shackel', Analysis 72 (2012): 94-8 (abstract; full text).

43. 'Disembodied Communication and Religious Experience: The Online Model', Philosophy and Technology (Online First, 18 Oct. 2011: http://www.springerlink.com/content/121828/?Content+Status=Accepted) (abstract; you can email me for a copy).

42. 'Essence and Properties', Erkenntnis 75 (2011): 85-111 (abstract; full text)

41. 'Morality, Religion, and Cosmic Justice', Philosophical Investigations 34 (2011): 189-213. (Invited contribution to special issue on the theme 'Ethics and Religion'.) (abstract; full text)

40. 'The World is not an Asymmetric Graph', Analysis 71 (2011): 3-10 (abstract; full text)

39. 'The Metaphysical Foundations of Natural Law', in H. Zaborowski (ed.) Natural Moral Law in Contemporary Society (Washington, DC: Catholic University of America Press, 2010): 44-75 (abstract; full text)

38. 'The Doctrine of Double Effect', in T. O'Connor and C. Sandis (eds) A Companion to the Philosophy of Action (Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell, 2010): 324-30 (abstract; full text)

37. ‘"Whatever is Changing is Being Changed by Something Else": A Reappraisal of Premise One of the First Way', in J. Cottingham and P. Hacker (eds) Mind, Method, and Morality: Essays in Honour of Anthony Kenny (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010): 140-64 (abstract; full text)

36. 'Persistence', in J. Kim, E. Sosa, and G. Rosenkrantz (eds) A Companion to Metaphysics, 2nd ed. (Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell, 2009): 55-65 (abstract; full text)

35. 'The Non-Identity of the Categorical and the Dispositional', Analysis 69 (2009): 677-84 (abstract; full text)

34. 'The Metaphysical Status of the Embryo: Some Arguments Revisited', Journal of Applied Philosophy 25 (2008): 263-76 (abstract; full text). Ingmar Persson replies to this in ‘The Origination of a Human Being: A Reply to Oderberg’, Journal of Applied Philosophy 26 (2009): 371-8. My unpublished rejoinder is here.

33. 'Concepts, Dualism, and the Human Intellect', in A. Antonietti, A. Corradini, and E.J. Lowe (eds) Psycho-Physical Dualism Today : An Interdisciplinary Approach (Lanham, MD: Lexington Books/Rowman and Littlefied, 2008): 211-33 (abstract; full text)

32. 'Self-Love, Love of Neighbour, and Impartiality', in N. Athanassoulis and S. Vice (eds), The Moral Life: Essays in Honour of John Cottingham (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2008): 58-84. (abstract; full text)

31. 'Teleology: Inorganic and Organic', in A.M. González (ed.), Contemporary Perspectives on Natural Law (Aldershot: Ashgate, 2008): 259-79. (abstract; full text)

30. 'The Cosmological Argument', in C. Meister and P. Copan (eds) The Routledge Companion to Philosophy of Religion (London: Routledge, 2007): 341-50. (abstract; full text)

29. 'Instantaneous Change without Instants', in C. Paterson and M.S. Pugh (eds) Analytical Thomism: Traditions in Dialogue (Aldershot: Ashgate, 2006): 101-18 (abstract; full text)

28. (with J.A. Laing) 'Artificial Reproduction, the "Welfare Principle", and the Common Good', Medical Law Review 13 (2005): 328-56 (abstract; full text)

27. 'Towards a Natural Law Critique of Genetic Engineering', in N. Athanassoulis (ed.) Philosophical Reflections on Medical Ethics (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2005): 109-134 (abstract; full text)

26. 'Hylemorphic Dualism', in E.F. Paul, F.D. Miller, and J. Paul (eds) Personal Identity (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005): 70-99. (Originally in Social Philosophy and Policy 22 (2005): 70-99.) (abstract; full text)

25.'Predicate Logic and Bare Particulars', in D.S. Oderberg (ed.) The Old New Logic: Essays on the Philosophy of Fred Sommers (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2005): 183-210 (abstract; full text)

24.'The Structure and Content of the Good', in D.S. Oderberg and T. Chappell (eds) Human Values: New Essays on Ethics and Natural Law (London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2004; rev. ed. p/back 2007): 127-65 (abstract; full text) (Spanish trans. with reply by E. Ortiz, Scio 2 (2008).)

23. 'The Beginning of Existence', International Philosophical Quarterly 43 (2003): 145-57 (abstract; full text)

22. 'Temporal Parts and the Possibility of Change', Philosophy and Phenomenological Research 69 (2004): 686-708 (abstract; full text)

21. 'The Ethics of Co-operation in Wrongdoing', in A. O'Hear (ed.) Modern Moral Philosophy (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004; Royal Institute of Philosophy Annual Lecture Series 2002-3): 203-27 (abstract; full text)

20. 'Intelligibility and Intensionality', Acta Analytica 17 (2002) 171-8 (abstract; full text)

19. 'The Tristram Shandy Paradox: A Reply to Graham Oppy', Philosophia Christi 4 (2002): 353-6 (abstract; full text)

18. 'Traversal of the Infinite, the “Big Bang” and the Kalam Cosmological Argument', Philosophia Christi 4 (2002): 305-34 (abstract; full text). Graham Oppy replies to this in 'The Tristram Shandy Paradox: A Response to David S. Oderberg', Philosophia Christi 4 (2002): 335-49. My rejoinder is item 19 above.

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17. 'Hylomorphism and Individuation', in J. Haldane (ed.) Mind, Metaphysics, and Value in the Thomistic and Analytical Traditions (University of Notre Dame Press, 2002: 125-42) (abstract; full text)

16. 'How to Win Essence Back from Essentialists', Philosophical Writings (No. 18, Autumn 2001): 27-45 (abstract; full text)

15.  'The Kalam Cosmological Argument Neither Bloodied nor Bowed: A Response to Graham Oppy', Philosophia Christi 3 (2001): 193-6 (abstract; full text)

14. 'Is There a Right to be Wrong?', Philosophy 75 (2000): 517-37 (abstract; full text)

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8.'Voluntary Euthanasia and Justice', in D.S. Oderberg and J.A. Laing (eds.) Human Lives: Critical Essays on Consequentialist Bioethics (London: Macmillan, 1997): 225-40 (abstract; full text)

4. 'Reply to Sprigge on Personal and Impersonal Identity', Mind 98 (1989): 129-34 (abstract; full text)

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 Reviews:

21. G. Klosko, Jacobins and Utopians, Philosophy 81 (2006): 690-4

20. T. Gendler and J. Hawthorne, Conceivability and Possibility, International Philosophical Quarterly 44 (2004): 587-9

19. James Franklin, Corrupting the Youth: A History of Philosophy in Australia, Times Literary Supplement, 10.6.04; full text (.htm)

18. Timothy Williamson, Knowledge and its Limits, Ratio 16 (2003): 99-104

17. Paul M. Pietroski, Causing Actions, Philosophy 78 (2003): 128-32

16. R. Hursthouse, Virtue Ethics, Philosophical Books 43 (2002), pp.159-63

15. P. Horwich, Meaning, International Philosophical Quarterly 41 (2001): 102-4

14. A. O'Hear, Beyond Evolution, Philosophical Books 40 (1999): 68-70

13. C. Dilworth, Scientific Progress and The Metaphysics of Science, Ratio 10 (1997): 188-194

12. A. Dyson and J. Harris (eds.), Ethics and Biotechnology, Philosophical Books 37 (1996): 56-9

11. G. Klempner, Naive Metaphysics, Times Higher Education Supplement, 23.6.95, p.23

10. D. Owens, Causes and Coincidences, Ratio 8 (1995): 108-12

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9. M. Heller, The Ontology of Physical Objects, International Journal of Philosophical Studies 1 (1993): 394-5

8. K. Lehrer, Theory of Knowledge, International Journal of Philosophical Studies 1 (1993): 395

7. C. Taylor, Sources of the Self, Philosophical Studies (Ireland) 33 (1992): 291-301

6. P. Singer, H. Kuhse et al., Embryo Experimentation, Philosophical Studies (Ireland) 33 (1992): 276-83

5. J. Glover, I: The Philosophy and Psychology of Personal Identity, Noûs 26 (1992): 360-5

4. N.M.L. Nathan, Will and World, Times Higher Education Supplement, 17.7.92, p.23

3. T. Williamson, Identity and Discrimination, Philosophical Books 33 (1992): 89-92

2. C. Macdonald, Mind-Body Identity Theories, Philosophical Books 32 (1991): 45-47

1. C.J.F. Williams, What is Identity?, Times Literary Supplement, 30.11.90, p.1297

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Speaking Engagements:

Recent papers and other activities:

  • March, 2012, Wake Forest University, North Carolina: conference on 'Engineering Human Nature and the Future of Human Values'. Speakers include Robert Audi, Paul Churchland, Patricia Churchland, William Hurlbut.

  • September 2011, Institut Catholique, Paris: 'Hume, the Occult, and the Substance of the School' (conference on 'The Legacy of David Hume')

  • June, 2011, Univ. of Hertfordshire: 'Disembodied Communication and Religious Experience: The Online Model'; workshop on 'Personal Identities after the Information Revolution', part of an AHRC-funded project on 'The Construction of Personal Identities Online'.

  • November 2010, Univ. of Hertfordshire: 'Morality, Religion, and Cosmic Justice'

  • June-July 2010, Charles University, Prague: 'Essence and Properties'

  • March 2010, King's College, London: 'Why I am not a Consequentialist'

  • March 2010, Rewley House, Univ. of Oxford: two lectures on Aquinas

  • February 2010, Christ Church, Oxford: 'Appearance and Reality: What Plato can Teach Journalists and the Media' (seminar series 'The Public Responsibility of the Media', organized by Reuters Institute of Journalism and McDonald Centre for Theology, Ethics, and Public Life; audio will be posted shortly)

  • November 2009, University of Leipzig: on essentialism

  • May 2009, Butler Society, Oriel College, Oxford: on the First Way (audio below)

  • February 2009, Southampton: on Peter Singer's bioethics

  • October 2008, Oxford: 'The Individuality of the Embryo' (student-sponsored event)

  • May 2008, University of Exeter: on concepts and dualism

  • April 2008, King's College, London, workshop on philosophy of religion: on Kenny on the First Way

  • September 2007, Catholic University of Valencia: lectures on consequentialism and on euthanasia.

  • October 2007, University of Birmingham conference: Nature and its Classification, 'The Nature and Classification of Life'

  • August 2007, Princeton: Witherspoon Institute Thomistic Seminar; classes for graduate students on essentialism, teleology, dualism, and natural law

  • May 2007, University of Lisbon: lectures on consequentialism and euthanasia

  • April 2007, Georgetown: 'The Structure of Essence'; workshop on double effect

  • December 2006, Princeton: 'Why Peter Singer is Wrong' (student-sponsored event)

  • December, 2006, University of Sussex: 'Teleology: Inorganic and Organic'

  • March, 2006: University of Navarra, Spain: natural law

  • January, 2006: University of Oxford Moral Philosophy Seminar , 'The Metaphysical Foundations of Natural Law'

  • September, 2005: Catholic University of America, Washington, DC: 'The Metaphysical Foundations of Natural Law'

  • June, 2005: Address to the International Society for Stem Cell Research, San Francisco, on the ethics of human embryonic stem cell research

  • May, 2005: Public debate with Prof. Julian Savulescu at the National Portrait Gallery, London, sponsored by The Times Higher, on the ethics of cloning; accompanying article in the Higher available below.

  • April, 2005: State University of Valencia, Spain, and Catholic University of Valencia - papers on dualism and on natural law theory

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  • November, 2004: 'Ordinary and Extraordinary Means', conference on Ethical Issues in Intensive Care, at the University of Reading, in conjunction with the Royal Berkshire Hospital

  • November, 2004, University of Saarbrücken: 'A Defence of an Aristotelian/Thomistic Account of Personal Identity'

  • June, 2004: University of Brighton: 'Why You Should be a (Certain Kind of) Dualist'

  • April, 2004: Bowling Green State University, conference on Personal Identity at the Social Philosophy and Policy Center: 'Hylemorphic Dualism'

  • June, 2003: Royal Academy of Arts, Piccadilly, London: 'Perennial Philosophy's Theory of Art'

  • July-August, 2003: Visiting Scholar at Bowling Green State University, Ohio, Social Philosophy and Policy Center

  • 2003: Royal Institute of Philosophy Annual Lecture Series, Modern Moral Philosophy: 'The Ethics of Co-operation in Wrongdoing'

  • November, 2001: American Academy of Religion Annual Meeting: on the Kalam Cosmological Argument (in debate with Wes Morriston)

  • October, 2001: Philosophical Society, Oxford: temporal parts and change

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Miscellaneous Writings (full text; all rights reserved; reproduced with permission; not to be cited without complete reference):

13. 'Appearance and Reality: What Plato Can Teach Journalists and the Media', MercatorNet, 13 May 2010.

12. 'Why I am not a Consequentialist', Intellectum 6 (December 2009; full text)

11. 'Bioethics Today', Human Life Review (Fall, 2008): 98-109 (full text)

10. 'Science, Stem Cells, and Fraud', Intellectum 1 (June 2006; full text)

  9. 'What's Wrong with Human Embryonic Stem Cell Research?', Human Life Review (Fall, 2005): 21-33 (full text)

  8. 'Ordinary Duties, Extraordinary Means', Human Life Review (Winter, 2004): 50-6 (full text)

  7. 'Perennial Philosophy's Theory of Art', Quadrant (Jan-Feb, 2004): 68-74 (full text; Powerpoint slide show)

  6. 'Why I am a Relativist', Quadrant (May, 2003): 38-43 (full text)

  5. 'Starved to Death by Order of the Court', Human Life Review (Summer, 2001): 103-12 (full text)

  4. 'The War Against the Elderly', Quadrant (Oct. 2000): 47-52 (full text)

  3. 'The Illusion of Animal Rights', Human Life Review (Spring-Summer, 2000): 37-45 (full text)

  2. Review of Gordon Moran, Silencing Scientists and Scholars in other Fields, The Spectator (20 Feb. 1999): 35-6 (full text)

  1. A founding myth in the history of science: review of Jeffrey Burton Russell, Inventing the Flat Earth, Quadrant (Jan.-Feb. 1993): 110-11 (full text)

Bits and pieces

Audio of talk 'Appearance and Reality: What Plato Can Teach Journalists and the Media', Christ Church College, Oxford, Feb. 2010. The talk is 1 hr 26 min., including Q&A. mp3 (80 mb); wma (40 mb). For the text of the talk, see here.

Audio of talk on Aquinas's First Way, given at the Joseph Butler Society, Oriel College, Oxford, May 2009. The talk is 1 hour, followed by 1 hour of Q&A. mp3 (113 mb); wma (57 mb).

Audio of talk 'Why Peter Singer is Wrong', with accompanying PowerPoint slideshow, delivered at Princeton on 6 Dec. 2006. The text of the talk is available from me by email. (audio file is 44 mb; 1 hr 33 min.)

Video of a lecture, followed by Q&A, on 'The Metaphysical Foundations of Natural Law' (delivered at the Catholic University of America, Washington D.C., Sept. 2005. Both files are .wmv and can be played on Windows Media Player; lecture is 1 hr 16 min., Q&A is 53 min.)

Interview with Victor Tsilonis, originally published in the University of Nottingham law school magazine; this version appeared in Intellectum, a Greek publication.

Has a mysterious mental affliction crept its way into Australian philosophy? Click here to find out.

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