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About me



Lisa and olive tree, with t-shirt saying: Made in Bologna
I like this picture, but I no longer look like this


Hello!

I am Professor of Philosophy at the University of Birmingham, affiliated with the Philosophy Department in the School of Philosophy, Theology, and Religion; and with the Institute for Mental Health in the School of Psychology. 

I am also Professor of Philosophy at the University of Ferrara, affiliated with the Department of Neurosciences and Rehabilitation.

I am the Editor in Chief of Philosophical Psychology (Taylor and Francis).

My research is in the philosophy of the cognitive sciences. I write about the limitations of human cognition and human agency, investigating faulty reasoning and irrational beliefs, delusions, confabulations, poor knowledge of the self, unreliable self narratives, unrealistic optimism, conspiracy beliefs, and misinformation. I am also interested in the philosophy of medicine and how rationality and agency impact on health and wellbeing.

Check out my website for details of projects, publications, public engagement and outreach.

Popular posts from this blog

Calendar of events in 2025

Here is a list of events in 2025, divided by academic talks, events for schools, and public engagement events. Talks and lectures 30 January: Agency and Justice in Mental Health (with Rose McCabe) at the Agency, Mental Health and Responsibility Conference , Uppsala, Sweden. 6 February: Epistemic Justice, Agency, and Youth Mental Health  (with Rose McCabe) at the PHaR  Being and Feeling Understood conference, Aston University, UK. 4 March: Spiritual or pathological? Resilient beliefs, agency and identity (with Aneela Khan) at the Women in Philosophy seminar, University of Birmingham, UK. 10-12 March: Is it a mistake to attribute responsibility or blame to people seeking support during a mental health crisis? (with Rose McCabe) at the  Big Mistake! Big! Huge!  Graduate Conference, University of Milan, Italy. 11-12 June: Expertise as Afforded and Perspectival (with Michael Larkin) at the  Who knows what in mental healthcare?  conference, Radboud Un...
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Talks during study leave in 2024

Taking advantage of a concentrated period of research, I have planned a series of talks on my research on delusions, conspiracy beliefs, and epistemic injustice and a series of talks in or for schools. Academic talks Medical reasons to promote epistemically just communication in mental health clinical encounters. OZSW Conference , Eindhoven, 30-31 August 2024. Epistemically just medicine is good medicine. Bioethics and Social Justice , Prague, 12-13 September 2024. Conspiracy Beliefs and Delusions as Implausible and Unshakeable Identity Beliefs. Conspiracy Beliefs Between Secret Evidence and Delusion . Berlin, 26-27 September 2024. Are conspiracy theories epistemically innocent? Pre-talk with Egenis graduate students. Exeter, 30 September 2024. Medical reasons to promote epistemically just interactions in healthcare. Egenis seminar . Exeter, 30 September 2024. Epistemically just interactions are good medicine. PhenoLab . Online, 1 October 2024. Speaker and panel member at the Annual Me...
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Developments at The Philosophy Garden

The resources available at The Philosophy Garden have significantly expanded in recent months, thanks to the generous support of the University of Birmingham AHRC Impact Acceleration Account. In particular, new videos address issues surrounding disagreement and the difficulty and importance of trusting reliable sources and being socially connected in order to gain the information we need and achieve our most basic goals. These videos can be conversation starters, prompting reflection and discussion, and introducing some interesting concepts in concrete and engaging ways. We have been using them with primary school children, from age 7, and with secondary school students and sixth-formers as well. We use them in class with our undergraduate and Masters students to test intuitions and contextualise problems.  On the site, there are recommendations for readings, games young people can play online to challenge themselves, a video library, and handouts, worksheets, and slides for teach...
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