The Faculty of Philosophy and Corpus Christi College intend to appoint to the Sekyra and White’s Professorship of Moral Philosophy with effect from 1 October 2024, or as soon as possible thereafter.
This post is a statutory professorship, which is the most senior academic grade at Oxford. Earlier holders of the post include Bernard Williams, R. M. Hare, J. L. Austin and W. D. Ross. Statutory professors have a world-leading research reputation and exercise broad academic leadership across their faculty and college, and more widely in their subject at national and international level. Please see click here for a description of the different types of academic posts at Oxford.
The Sekyra and White’s Professor will play a leading role in research and teaching in moral philosophy at Oxford. We are looking for a philosopher of the highest international standing, with an outstanding record of research and publication in moral philosophy (broadly construed, to include normative ethics, metaethics, moral psychology, the philosophy of action, the philosophy of value, and history of ethics). The Professor will have a breadth of interests within moral philosophy, and enthusiasm for engaging with those working in other areas of philosophy. They will have the ability to teach and inspire students at all levels, and the ability and readiness to undertake senior administrative roles. They will play a special role in graduate teaching within the Faculty. The Professor will have demonstrated academic leadership of the highest quality, and be ready to represent and promote the interests of moral philosophy in Oxford, and to generate interest in the subject within the academic community and beyond.
Oxford is one of the world’s great centres for philosophy, and the Faculty contains one of the world’s largest philosophical communities. Many members of the Faculty have active research interests in moral philosophy, and the well-known Moral Philosophy Seminar runs fortnightly during term time. Oxford hosts a number of major externally funded research centres in areas of moral philosophy, including the Institute for Ethics in AI and the Uehiro Centre for Practical Ethics. Moral philosophy forms a central and flourishing part of the Oxford Philosophy Faculty’s undergraduate and graduate programmes.
As part of its commitment to fostering world class research, the University offers a generous sabbatical leave policy, which allows one term to be taken as sabbatical for every six terms worked.
The Sekyra and White’s Professor will be a Professorial Fellow of Corpus Christi College, and will be provided with an office and dining rights in the College.
If you would like to discuss this post, please contact Professor Ursula Coope, Chair of the Philosophy Faculty Board (ursula.coope@philosophy.ox.ac.uk). All enquiries will be treated in strict confidence and will not form part of the selection decision. Candidates may also contact the Senior Tutor of the College, Dr Mark Wormald (mark.wormald@bioch.ox.ac.uk) specifically about the College aspects of the role.
For the job description and how to apply click here.