51cg

The School of Divinity, History, Philosophy & Art History

Professor Beth Lord

In this section
Professor Beth Lord
Professor Beth Lord
Professor Beth Lord

Head of School, Personal Chair

Accepting PhDs

51cg
Email Address
s.b.lord@abdn.ac.uk
Telephone Number
+44 (0)1224 272367
Office Address
104 50/52 College Bounds
Old Aberdeen Campus
College Bounds
AB24 3DS

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School/Department
School of Divinity, History, Philosophy & Art History


Biography

I am currently Head of the School of Divinity, History, Philosophy & Art History.

I obtained my PhD from the University of Warwick in 2004. From 2004 to 2012 I worked in the Philosophy Department at the University of Dundee. I joined the 51cg in January 2013, where I have held various roles including Head of Discipline and School Director of Postgraduate Research.

I teach and research the history of philosophy (modern and early modern) and recent continental philosophy. At Aberdeen I have taught courses on Descartes, Hume, Kant, history of political philosophy, history of ethics, and aesthetics. My research interests are mainly in early modern and modern metaphysics and political philosophy, especially Spinoza, Kant, German Idealism, and Deleuze. I am currently working on a book on Spinoza and Equality, and am developing a new project on Spinoza and the climate crisis.

I am the author of and .

I am the editor of and and co-editor of the .

 

Memberships and Affiliations

Internal Memberships

I am a member of the Centre for Knowledge and Society and the Centre for Early Modern Studies.

External Memberships

Philosophy sub-panel member and interdisciplinary adviser for

Member of the executive board of the

Member of the

Member of the executive committee of the

Latest Publications

  • Spinoza and the Galenic idea of the human body

    Lord, B.
    Spinoza on the Human Perspective. Renz, U., Tropper, S., Toth, O. I., Hutchins, B. R., Waldner, P. (eds.). Oxford University Press, pp. 169-184
    Chapters in Books, Reports and Conference Proceedings: Chapters
    • [ONLINE] DOI:

  • Spinoza's image of thought: ratio and the example of the fourth proportional

    Lord, B.
    The Southern Journal of Philosophy, vol. 63, no. S1, pp. S57-S68
    Contributions to Journals: Articles
    • [ONLINE] DOI:
    • [OPEN ACCESS]
    • [ONLINE]

  • Hobbes and Spinoza on natural equality and political equilibrium

    Lord, B.
    New perspectives on Spinoza's Theologico-Political Treatise: Politics, Power and the Imagination. Taylor, D., Wuth, M. (eds.). Edinburgh University Press, pp. 19-39, 21 pages
    Chapters in Books, Reports and Conference Proceedings: Chapters
    • [ONLINE]

  • Deleuze, Gilles

    Lord, B.
    Chapters in Books, Reports and Conference Proceedings: Entries for Encyclopedias and Dictionaries
    • [ONLINE] DOI:
    • [ONLINE]

  • Equality

    Lord, B.
    Chapters in Books, Reports and Conference Proceedings: Entries for Encyclopedias and Dictionaries
    • [ONLINE] DOI:
    • [ONLINE]

View My Publications

Research

Research Overview

I work primarily on the history of philosophy, particularly Spinoza and Kant, and its relationship to recent continental philosophy.

I am currently working on a book on Spinoza and Equality. In the book I deny that Spinoza is an egalitarian in the standard sense of holding persons to be moral equals. I argue that Spinoza relies on a largely unacknowledged yet distinctive and historically grounded concept of equality: equality as a state of being. The book explores the significance of this concept for Spinoza's metaphysics and political philosophy, and suggests that it is only through this concept that we can understand the specific sense in which Spinoza is an egalitarian.

The book is partly based on research undertaken in the AHRC project for which I was Principal Investigator (2013-16). The project focused on the connection between Spinoza's concept of equality and architectural theory, drawing on a shared notion of proportion. Our aim was to investigate this distinctive way of thinking about equality, and to consider how it can affect the wellbeing of individuals and communities through the built environment. An edited book based on the project, Spinoza's Philosophy of Ratio, was published by Edinburgh University Press (2018).

My next project will focus on Spinoza, the anthropocene, and the affective dimension of the climate crisis. I also conduct occasional interdisciplinary research on philosophy and museums.

Research Areas

Accepting PhDs

I am currently accepting PhDs in Philosophy.

Please get in touch if you would like to discuss your research ideas further.

Philosophy

  • Supervising
  • Accepting PhDs
View Research Area

Supervision

My current supervision areas are: Philosophy.

I currently supervise PhD students working on Spinoza, Kant, political philosophy, Enlightenment thought, contemporary continental philosophy, and Deleuze. I am happy to hear from prospective PhD and MLitt students who are interested in working on topics in my areas of expertise, including interdisciplinary projects.

Funding and Grants

2013-16: AHRC Standard Research Grant for

2012-13: Research Fellowship with the at the Natural History Museum, London

2008-10: AHRC Networks Grant for the

Teaching

Courses

Teaching Responsibilities

I currently contribute lectures to PH1023 Experience, Knowledge and Reality, and seminars to PH5066 Philosophy and Society.

Publications

Page 1 of 2 Results 1 to 50 of 59

  • Spinoza and the Galenic idea of the human body

    Lord, B.
    Spinoza on the Human Perspective. Renz, U., Tropper, S., Toth, O. I., Hutchins, B. R., Waldner, P. (eds.). Oxford University Press, pp. 169-184
    Chapters in Books, Reports and Conference Proceedings: Chapters
    • [ONLINE] DOI:

  • Spinoza's image of thought: ratio and the example of the fourth proportional

    Lord, B.
    The Southern Journal of Philosophy, vol. 63, no. S1, pp. S57-S68
    Contributions to Journals: Articles
    • [ONLINE] DOI:
    • [OPEN ACCESS]
    • [ONLINE]

  • Hobbes and Spinoza on natural equality and political equilibrium

    Lord, B.
    New perspectives on Spinoza's Theologico-Political Treatise: Politics, Power and the Imagination. Taylor, D., Wuth, M. (eds.). Edinburgh University Press, pp. 19-39, 21 pages
    Chapters in Books, Reports and Conference Proceedings: Chapters
    • [ONLINE]

  • Deleuze, Gilles

    Lord, B.
    Chapters in Books, Reports and Conference Proceedings: Entries for Encyclopedias and Dictionaries
    • [ONLINE] DOI:
    • [ONLINE]

  • Equality

    Lord, B.
    Chapters in Books, Reports and Conference Proceedings: Entries for Encyclopedias and Dictionaries
    • [ONLINE] DOI:
    • [ONLINE]

  • State of Nature

    Lord, B.
    Chapters in Books, Reports and Conference Proceedings: Entries for Encyclopedias and Dictionaries
    • [ONLINE] DOI:
    • [ONLINE]

  • Spinoza in the Anthropocene

    Lord, B., Meyns, C.
    What Matters Most: Conversations on the Art of Living. Morgan, A. (ed.). Agenda, pp. 193-202, 10 pages
    Chapters in Books, Reports and Conference Proceedings: Chapters
    • [ONLINE] DOI:
    • [ONLINE]

  • Spinoza's Religion: A New Reading of the Ethics, by Clare Carlisle

    Lord, B.
    Philosophy, vol. 98, no. 1, pp. 103-106
    Contributions to Journals: Reviews of Books, Films and Articles
    • [ONLINE] DOI:

  • Outside of human nature: Spinoza on affective difference

    Lord, B.
    InCircolo: Rivista di filosofia e culture, vol. 10, pp. 421-432
    Contributions to Specialist Publications: Articles
    • [ONLINE]
    • [ONLINE]

  • Spinoza's Political Psychology: The Taming of Fortune and Fear: Book Review

    Lord, B.
    The Philosophical Quarterly, vol. 71, no. 1, pp. 211-214
    Contributions to Journals: Reviews of Books, Films and Articles
    • [ONLINE] DOI:

  • We are nature: Spinoza helps diagnose the bad ideas and sad passions that preclude us from a finer relationship with the natural world

    Lord, B.
    Aeon
    Contributions to Specialist Publications: Articles
    • [ONLINE]
    • [ONLINE]

  • Spinoza and 'no platforming': Enlightenment thinker would have seen it as motivated by ambition rather than fear

    Lord, B., Douglas, A.
    The Conversation
    Contributions to Specialist Publications: Articles
    • [ONLINE]

  • Spinoza and architectural thinking

    Lord, B.
    Intellectual History Review, vol. 30, no. 3, pp. 489-504
    Contributions to Journals: Articles
    • [ONLINE] DOI:
    • [OPEN ACCESS]
    • [ONLINE]

  • Editorial: British Journal for the History of Philosophy, Volume 27 Issue 3

    Beaney, M., Cohen, A., Lord, B.
    British Journal for the History of Philosophy, vol. 27, no. 3, pp. 445
    Contributions to Journals: Editorials
    • [ONLINE] DOI:

  • Our feelings are not our own

    Lord, B.
    The Philosopher, vol. 107, pp. 24-27
    Contributions to Specialist Publications: Articles
    • [ONLINE]

  • Spinoza's Philosophy of Ratio

    Lord, B. (ed.)
    Edinburgh University Press
    Books and Reports: Books

  • Ratio as the basis of Spinoza's concept of equality

    Lord, B.
    Spinoza's Philosophy of Ratio. Lord, B. (ed.). Edinburgh University Press
    Chapters in Books, Reports and Conference Proceedings: Chapters

  • Spinoza on thinking substance and the non-substantial mind

    Lord, B.
    Philosophy of Mind in the Early Modern and Modern Ages. Copenhaver, R. (ed.). Routledge, 21 pages
    Chapters in Books, Reports and Conference Proceedings: Chapters

  • Spinoza and Ranciere on disagreement and equality: (in Japanese)

    Lord, B.
    Menschenontologie, vol. 23, pp. 39-52
    Contributions to Journals: Articles

  • Disagreement in the Political Philosophy of Spinoza and Rancière

    Lord, B.
    Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society, vol. 117, no. 1, pp. 61-80
    Contributions to Journals: Articles
    • [ONLINE]
    • [ONLINE] DOI:
    • [OPEN ACCESS]
    • [ONLINE]

  • The free man and the free market: Ethics, politics, and economics in Spinoza’s Ethics IV

    Lord, B.
    Spinoza's Ethics: A Critical Guide. Melamed, Y. (ed.). Cambridge University Press
    Chapters in Books, Reports and Conference Proceedings: Chapters
    • [ONLINE] DOI:

  • Spinoza on natural inequality and the fiction of moral equality

    Lord, B.
    Reassessing the Radical Enlightenment. Ducheyne, S. (ed.). Routledge, pp. 127-142, 16 pages
    Chapters in Books, Reports and Conference Proceedings: Chapters
    • [ONLINE] DOI:

  • Spinoza on How Inequality Feels

    Lord, B.
    The Philosophers' Magazine, vol. 77, pp. 30-34
    Contributions to Specialist Publications: Articles
    • [ONLINE]

  • ‘A Sudden Surprise of the Soul’: Wonder in Museums and Early Modern Philosophy

    Lord, B.
    Royal Institute of Philosophy Supplements, vol. 79, pp. 95-116
    Contributions to Journals: Articles
    • [ONLINE] DOI:

  • Are we morally equal by nature?

    Lord, S. B.
    The Forum blog
    Contributions to Specialist Publications: Articles
    • [ONLINE]
    • [ONLINE]

  • The Concept of Equality in Spinoza's Theological-Political Treatise

    Lord, B.
    Epoche: a Journal for the History of Philosophy, vol. 20, no. 2, pp. 367-386
    Contributions to Journals: Articles
    • [ONLINE] DOI:
    • [OPEN ACCESS]

  • Equal by Design

    Lord, B., Rawes, P.
    Non-textual Forms: Digital or Visual Products
    • [ONLINE]
    • [ONLINE]

  • Deleuze and Kant's Critique of Judgment

    Lord, B.
    At the Edges of Thought: Deleuze and Post-Kantian Philosophy. Lundy, C., Voss, D. (eds.). Edinburgh University Press, pp. 85-102, 17 pages
    Chapters in Books, Reports and Conference Proceedings: Chapters

  • Koncepcja rownosci w Traktacie teologiczno-politycznym Spinozy

    Lord, B.
    Filozofia Oswiecenia: Radykalizm - religia - kosmopolityzm. Miklaszewska, J., Tomaszewska, A. (eds.). Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Jagiellonskiego, pp. 142-167, 26 pages
    Chapters in Books, Reports and Conference Proceedings: Chapters

  • Spinoza for our time: Politics and Postmodernity

    Lord, B.
    Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews, no. 2014.03.08
    Contributions to Journals: Reviews of Books, Films and Articles
    • [ONLINE]

  • Spinoza, Equality, and Hierarchy

    Lord, B.
    History of Philosophy Quarterly, vol. 31, no. 1, pp. 59-77
    Contributions to Journals: Articles
    • [ONLINE]
    • [OPEN ACCESS]

  • Spinoza on Philosophy, Religion, and Politics

    Lord, B.
    The Philosophical Quarterly, vol. 64, no. 254, pp. 191-193
    Contributions to Journals: Reviews of Books, Films and Articles
    • [ONLINE]
    • [ONLINE] DOI:

  • Spinoza and German Idealism

    Lord, B.
    British Journal for the History of Philosophy, vol. 22, no. 1, pp. 178-181
    Contributions to Journals: Reviews of Books, Films and Articles
    • [ONLINE] DOI:

  • What can we do with Spinoza?

    Lord, B.
    Parallax, vol. 18, no. 4, pp. 125-127
    Contributions to Journals: Reviews of Books, Films and Articles
    • [ONLINE] DOI:
    • [OPEN ACCESS]

  • Becoming cat

    Lord, B.
    Radical Philosophy, vol. 175
    Contributions to Journals: Reviews of Books, Films and Articles

  • Deleuze and Kant

    Lord, B.
    The Cambridge Companion to Deleuze. Smith, D., Somers-Hall, H. (eds.). Cambridge University Press, pp. 82-102, 20 pages
    Chapters in Books, Reports and Conference Proceedings: Chapters

  • Spinoza's Theological-Political Treatise: A Critical Guide

    Lord, B.
    British Journal for the History of Philosophy, vol. 20, no. 3, pp. 636-639
    Contributions to Journals: Reviews of Books, Films and Articles
    • [ONLINE] DOI:

  • Spinoza on Human Freedom: Reason, Autonomy, and the Good Life

    Lord, B.
    The Philosophical Quarterly, vol. 62, no. 246, pp. 206-208
    Contributions to Journals: Reviews of Books, Films and Articles
    • [ONLINE] DOI:

  • Kant and Spinoza

    Lord, B.
    Chapters in Books, Reports and Conference Proceedings: Entries for Encyclopedias and Dictionaries

  • Spinoza Beyond Philosophy

    Lord, B. (ed.)
    Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh. 214 pages
    Books and Reports: Books

  • Between Imagination and Reason: Kant and Spinoza on Fictions

    Lord, B.
    Inventions of the Imagination: Romanticism and Beyond. Gray, R. T., Halmi, N., Handwerk, G. J., Rosenthal, M. A., Vieweg, K. A. (eds.). University of Washington Press, pp. 36-53, 18 pages
    Chapters in Books, Reports and Conference Proceedings: Chapters

  • 'Disempowered by Nature': Spinoza on the political capabilities of women

    Lord, B.
    British Journal for the History of Philosophy, vol. 19, no. 6, pp. 1085-1106
    Contributions to Journals: Articles
    • [ONLINE] DOI:
    • [OPEN ACCESS]

  • Kant and Spinozism: Transcendental Idealism and Immanence from Jacobi to Deleuze

    Lord, B.
    Palgrave Macmillan, Basingstoke. 214 pages
    Books and Reports: Books

  • Spinoza and the Specters of Modernity: The Hidden Enlightenment of Diversity from Spinoza to Freud

    Lord, B.
    British Journal for the History of Philosophy, vol. 19, no. 2, pp. 339-342
    Contributions to Journals: Reviews of Books, Films and Articles
    • [ONLINE] DOI:
    • [OPEN ACCESS]

  • Review of 'Museum origins: readings in early museum history and philosophy'

    Lord, B.
    Museum Management and Curatorship, vol. 25, no. 1, pp. 117-119
    Contributions to Journals: Reviews of Books, Films and Articles
    • [ONLINE] DOI:
    • [OPEN ACCESS]

  • Spinoza's ethics: an Edinburgh Philosophical Guide

    Lord, B.
    Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh. 182 pages
    Books and Reports: Books

  • Introduction

    Lord, B.
    The Bloomsbury Companion to Continental Philosophy. Lord, B., Mullarkey, J. (eds.). Bloomsbury, pp. 1-8, 8 pages
    Chapters in Books, Reports and Conference Proceedings: Chapters

  • The Continuum Companion to Continental Philosophy

    Mullarkey, J. (ed.), Lord, B. (ed.)
    Bloomsbury, London. 432 pages
    Books and Reports: Books

  • Immanuel Kant

    Lord, B.
    Handbook of Whiteheadian Process Thought. Weber, M. (ed.). Ontos, pp. 313-323, 11 pages
    Chapters in Books, Reports and Conference Proceedings: Chapters

  • Against the fanaticism of forces: Kant's critique of Herder's Spinozism

    Lord, B.
    Parallax, vol. 15, no. 2, pp. 53-68
    Contributions to Journals: Articles
    • [ONLINE] DOI:
    • [OPEN ACCESS]
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