Liz McKinnell
Associate Lecturer

Profile

Biography

I'm an Associate Lecturer in Philosophy at the University of York. Before coming to York, I taught at Durham and Norwich, having completed my PhD on Environmental Rights at Durham in 2011.

I am also a Research Associate on the project ‘Perception, Action and the Genesis of Everyday Ethics. The Philosophy of Elizabeth Anscombe, Philippa Foot, Mary Midgley and Iris Murdoch’ at Durham University.

Research

Overview

My research is mainly in ethics and political philosophy. I have specific interests in environmental politics, environmental ethics, feminism, the connections between ethics and literature and the philosophy of Mary Midgley.

Projects

Mary Midgley

I am co-editor of the book Science and the Self. Animals, Evolution, and Ethics: Essays in Honour of Mary Midgley. I have written several book chapters on Midgley’s thought, and I am currently writing her entry in the Oxford Bibliographies series.

Ethics and Literature

I am interested in the ways that literature can help with the process of ethical self-development. I have published articles on John Stuart Mill’s connection with Wordsworth, and on the ethical (and political) import of fairy tales.

Philosophy of Pregnancy

I have given several conference papers on pregnant embodiment, and how the lived experience of pregnancy and pregnancy loss can inform debates on the identity of the foetus, personal identity more generally and debates on reproductive rights.

Teaching

Undergraduate

• Ethics and Public Policy (third year)