James Laing

Biography

I’m a Postdoctoral Researcher funded by the Mind Association. I tend to write about topics in the Philosophy of Mind, Ethics, and the Phenomenological Tradition. Prior to joining the department, I studied for an MPhil and PhD at University College London, visited the University of Chicago and the Universität Leipzig, and spent three happy years at York as an undergraduate. My other interests include fermentation, Scotland and the fine art of clawhammer banjo.

Research

My research centres on the nature and ethical significance of ‘interpersonal self-consciousness’, the awareness one has of oneself as being the object of another’s awareness. How should we understand the experience of being the object of another’s gaze, or what goes on between two people who are making eye contact? Why are we so concerned with the variety of ways in which we are seen by others, wanting to be esteemed and loved? And what role, if any, should this concern play in human ethical life? 

I have explored questions such as these in papers on ‘the feeling of self-consciousness’, eye contact, joint attention, shame and humiliation. I’m currently thinking about related issues concerning love, friendship and grief.