Professor David Oderberg
Responsibilities
Head of Department
Areas of Interest
My chief area of research is contemporary metaphysics. I have special interests in moral philosophy, philosophy of religion, and the philosophies of Aristotle and Aquinas.
My latest book, The Metaphysics of Good and Evil, was published in 2020.
I am also the author of Opting Out (IEA, 2018), Real Essentialism (Routledge, 2007), Moral Theory (Blackwell, 2000), Applied Ethics (Blackwell, 2000), and The Metaphysics of Identity over Time (Palgrave, 1993).
In addition, I am: editor of Classifying Reality (Blackwell, 2012); editor of Form and Matter: Themes in Contemporary Metaphysics (Blackwell, 1999); The Old New Logic: Essays on the Philosophy of Fred Sommers (MIT Press, 2005); co-editor of Human Lives: Critical Essays on Consequentialist Bioethics (Palgrave, 1997); and co-editor of Human Values: New Essays on Ethics and Natural Law (Palgrave, 2004).
PhD supervision:
I usually supervise around five PhD students, mainly in my areas of expertise. I am happy to supervise doctoral research students in the following areas: metaphysics, Aristotle, Aquinas, ethics, philosophy of religion.
Undergraduate Teaching:
I currently lecture the Part 3 module Society and State in Ancient Greece.
Research groups / Centres
I am the editor of Ratio, an international journal of analytic philosophy, and on the editorial boards of Metaphysica and Studia Neo-Aristotelica.
Publications
Y
Number of items: 50.
2019
- Oderberg, D. (2019) The Metaphysics of Good and Evil. Routledge, pp226. ISBN 9780367408640
- Oderberg, D. S. (2019) Death, unity and the brain. Theoretical Medicine and Bioethics, 40 (5). pp. 359-379. ISSN 1573-1200 doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11017-019-09479-8
- Oderberg, D. S. (2019) How special is medical conscience? The New Bioethics, 25 (3). pp. 207-220. ISSN 2050-2885 doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/20502877.2019.1651078
- Oderberg, D. (2019) On a so-called demonstration of the causal power of absences. Studia Neoaristotelica, 16 (1). pp. 141-148. ISSN 1804-6843 doi: https://doi.org/10.5840/studneoar20191614
2018
- Oderberg, D. (2018) The impossibility of natural necessity. In: Carruth, A., Gibb, S. C. and Heil, J. (eds.) Ontology, Modality, and Mind: Themes from the Metaphysics of E.J. Lowe. Oxford University Press, Oxford. ISBN 9780198796299
- Oderberg, D. S. (2018) Opting out: conscience and cooperation in a pluralistic society. Institute of Economic Affairs, pp. 1-155. ISBN 9780255367615
- Oderberg, D. (2018) The great unifier: form and the unity of the organism. In: Simpson, W. M. R., Koons, R. C. and Teh, N. J. (eds.) Neo-Aristotelian Perspectives on Contemporary Science. Routledge Studies in the Philosophy of Science. Routledge, pp. 210-232. ISBN 9780415792561
2017
- Oderberg, D. S. (2017) No beginning, no explanation: the kalām cosmological argument and the principle of sufficient reason. In: Copan, P. and Lane Craig, W. (eds.) The Kalām Cosmological Argument Philosophical Arguments for the Finitude of the Past. Bloomsbury.
- Oderberg, D. S. (2017) Finality revived: powers and intentionality. Synthese, 194 (7). pp. 2387-2425. ISSN 1573-0964 doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11229-016-1057-5
- Oderberg, D. S. (2017) Should there be freedom of dissociation? Economic Affairs, 37 (2). pp. 167-181. ISSN 1468-0270 doi: https://doi.org/10.1111/ecaf.12231
- Oderberg, D. S. (2017) Further clarity on co-operation and morality. Journal of Medical Ethics, 43 (4). pp. 192-200. ISSN 1473-4257 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/medethics-2016-103476
- Oderberg, D. S. (2017) Co-operation in the age of Hobby Lobby: when sincerity is not enough. Expositions: Interdisciplinary Studies in the Humanities, 11 (1). pp. 15-30. ISSN 1747–5376
2016
- Oderberg, D. S. (2016) Divine premotion. International Journal for Philosophy of Religion, 794 (3). pp. 207-222. ISSN 1572-8684 doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11153-015-9536-z
2015
- Oderberg, D. S. (2015) Religion and normative ethics. In: Oppy, G. (ed.) The Routledge Handbook of Contemporary Philosophy of Religion. Routledge, London, pp. 316-328. ISBN 9781844658312
- Oderberg, D. S. (2015) All for the good. Philosophical Investigations, 38 (1-2). pp. 72-95. ISSN 1467-9205 doi: https://doi.org/10.1111/phin.12070
2014
- Oderberg, D. S. (2014) Being and goodness. American Philosophical Quarterly, 51 (4). pp. 345-356. ISSN 2152-1123
- Oderberg, D. S. (2014) Could there be a superhuman species? The Southern Journal of Philosophy, 52 (2). pp. 206-226. ISSN 0038-4283 doi: https://doi.org/10.1111/sjp.12057
- Oderberg, D. S. (2014) Is form structure? In: Novotny, D. D. and Novak, L. (eds.) Neo-Aristotelian Perspectives in Metaphysics. Routledge Studies in Metaphysics. Routledge, London, pp. 164-180. ISBN 9780415709392
- Oderberg, D. S. (2014) The metaphysics of privation. In: Huntelmann, R. and Hattler, J. (eds.) New Scholasticism Meets Analytic Philosophy. Heusenstamm: Editiones Scholasticae, pp. 63-68. ISBN 9783868385458
2011
- Oderberg, D. S. (2011) No potency without actuality: the case of graph theory. In: Tahko, T. E. (ed.) Contemporary Aristotelian Metaphysics. Cambridge University Press, pp. 207-228. ISBN 9781107000643
- Oderberg, D. S. (2011) The world is not an asymmetric graph. Analysis, 71 (1). pp. 3-10. ISSN 1467-8284 doi: https://doi.org/10.1093/analys/anq115
2010
- Oderberg, D. S. (2010) Appearance and reality: what Plato can teach journalists and the media. MercatorNet.
- Oderberg, D. S. (2010) 'Whatever is changing is being changed by something else': a reappraisal of premise one of the first way. In: Cottingham, J. G. and Hacker, P. (eds.) Mind, method, and morality: essays in honour of Anthony Kenny. Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK, pp. 140-164. ISBN 9780199556120
- Oderberg, D. S. (2010) The doctrine of double effect. In: O'Connor, T. and Sandis, C. (eds.) A companion to the philosophy of action. Blackwell companions to philosophy. Wiley-Blackwell, Oxford, UK, pp. 324-330. ISBN 9781405187350
- Oderberg, D. S. (2010) The metaphysical foundations of natural law. In: Zaborowski, H. (ed.) Natural moral law in contemporary society. Studies in philosophy and the history of philosophy (53). Catholic University of America Press, Washington DC, USA, pp. 44-75. ISBN 9780813217864
2009
- Oderberg, D. (2009) The non-identity of the categorical and the dispositional. Analysis, 69 (4). pp. 677-684. ISSN 1467-8284 doi: https://doi.org/10.1093/analys/anp098
- Oderberg, D. (2009) Persistence. In: Kim, J., Sosa, E. and Rosenkrantz, G. (eds.) A companion to metaphysics. 2nd edition. Blackwell Companions to Philosophy. Blackwell, Oxford, pp. 55-65. ISBN 9781405152983 doi: https://doi.org/10.1111/b.9781405152983.2009.x
2008
- Oderberg, D. (2008) The metaphysical status of the embryo: some arguments revisited. Journal of Applied Philosophy, 25 (4). pp. 263-276. ISSN 0264-3758 doi: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-5930.2008.00421.x
- Oderberg, D. (2008) Concepts, dualism, and the human intellect. In: Antonietti, A., Corradini, A. and Lowe, E. (eds.) Psycho-physical dualism today: an interdisciplinary approach. Lexington Books (Rowman & Littlefield Group), Lanham, MD, pp. 211-233. ISBN 9780739123843
- Oderberg, D. (2008) Teleology: inorganic and organic. In: Gonzalez, A. (ed.) Contemporary perspectives on natural law. Ashgate, Aldershot, pp. 259-279. ISBN 9780754660545
- Oderberg, D. (2008) Self-love, love of neighbour and impartiality. In: Athanassoulis, N. and Vice, S. (eds.) The moral life: essays in honour of John Cottingham. Palgrave Macmillan, London, pp. 58-84. ISBN 9780230527560
2007
- Oderberg, D. (2007) The cosmological argument. In: Meister, C. and Copan, P. (eds.) The Routledge companion to philosophy of religion. Routledge, London, pp. 341-50. ISBN 9780415380386
- Oderberg, D. (2007) Real Essentialism. Routledge Studies in Contemporary Philosophy. Routledge, London, pp314. ISBN 9780415872126
2006
- Oderberg, D. (2006) Review: George Klosko, Jacobins and Utopians. University of Notre Dame Press, 2003. Philosophy, 81 (4). pp. 690-694. ISSN 1469-817X doi: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0031819106318104
- Oderberg, D. (2006) Instantaneous change without instants. In: Paterson, C. and Pugh, M. S. (eds.) Analytical Thomism: traditions in dialogue. Ashgate, Aldershot, pp. 101-118. ISBN 9780754634386
2005
- Oderberg, D. (2005) Predicate logic and bare particulars. In: Oderberg, D. (ed.) The old new logic: essays on the philosophy of Fred Sommers. MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, pp. 183-210. ISBN 9780262651066
- Oderberg, D., ed. (2005) The old new logic: essays on the philosophy of Fred Sommers. MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, pp254. ISBN 9780262651066
- Oderberg, D. and Laing, J. A. (2005) Artificial reproduction, the 'welfare principle', and the common good. Medical Law Review, 13 (3). pp. 328-356. ISSN 0967-0742 doi: https://doi.org/10.1093/medlaw/fwi022
- Oderberg, D. (2005) Hylemporhic dualism. In: Paul, E. F. and Miller, F. D. (eds.) Personal identity. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp. 70-99. ISBN 9780521617673
- Oderberg, D. (2005) Towards a natural law critique of genetic engineering. In: Athanassoulis, N. (ed.) Philosophical reflections on medical ethics. Palgrave Macmillan, Basingstoke, pp. 109-134. ISBN 9781403945273
2004
- Oderberg, D. S. and Chappell, T., eds. (2004) Human values: new essays on ethics and natural law. 1st edition. Palgrave Macmillan, Basingstoke, UK. ISBN 9781403918109
- Oderberg, D. S. (2004) Perennial philosophy's theory of art. Quadrant (Jan-Feb 20). pp. 68-74. ISSN 0033-5002
- Oderberg, D. S. (2004) Temporal parts and the possibility of change. Philosophy and Phenomenological Research, 69 (3). pp. 686-708. ISSN 1933-1592 doi: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1933-1592.2004.tb00523.x
- Oderberg, D. S. (2004) The ethics of co-operation in wrongdoing. In: O'Hear, A. (ed.) Modern moral philosophy. Royal Institute of Philosophy Supplement (54). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK, pp. 203-227. ISBN 9780521603263 doi: https://doi.org/10.1017/S1358246100008511
- Oderberg, D. S. (2004) The structure and content of the good. In: Oderberg, D. S. and Chappell, T. (eds.) Human values: new essays on ethics and natural law. 1st edition. Palgrave Macmillan, Basingstoke, UK, pp. 127-165. ISBN 9781403918109
2003
- Oderberg, D. S. (2003) Review of 'Causing actions' by P. Pietroski. Philosophy, 78. pp. 128-132. ISSN 1469-817X
- Oderberg, D. S. (2003) Review of 'Paradoxes from A to Z' by M. Clark. Times Higher Education Supplement. ISSN 0049-3929
- Oderberg, D. S. (2003) Review of 'Summulae de dialectica' by J. Buridan, edited by G. Klima. Times Literary Supplement. p. 9. ISSN 0307-661X
- Oderberg, D. S. (2003) Why I am a Relativist. Quadrant. pp. 38-43.
- Oderberg, D. S. (2003) The beginning of existence. International Philosophical Quarterly, 43 (2). pp. 145-157. ISSN 2153-8077