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Reader in Philosophy and Director of the Forum for Philosophy and Religion

School of Humanities

University of Glasgow

Glasgow

United Kingdom

Summary biography: 

I am Reader in Philosophy and Director of the Forum for Philosophy and Religion (formerly known as the Centre for Philosophy and Religion). My research interests focus on analytic philosophy of religion and, within that, on the problems generated by religious diversity. I also have interests in classical Indian and Chinese philosophies. My PhD research (University of London, 1997) focused on religious epistemology; developing an internal realist approach to the rationality of religious convictions. I have continued to expand on this work and have applied it within a range of contexts; most recently I have been exploring its implications for intercultural and interreligious dialogue and conducting workshops in which the theory I have developed, known as 'Exemplar Reasoning', is put into practice.

To inquire about 'Exemplar Reasoning', or to book a session, please contact me.

My interests extend to the relationship between philosophy and museums and I am currently working with a group of scholars and museums professionals in the UK, USA and China on a project exploring the philosophical dimensions of the ways in which museums represent objects of interreligious or intercultural significance.

I am a core member of the Scottish Centre for China Research and am on the academic committee of the Confucius Institute at the University of Glasgow. Additionally, I am on the committee of the British Society for the Philosophy of Religion and on the committee of the European Society for the Philosophy of Religion as well as being an an active member of the international Beyond Diversity: Re-situating Pluralism project which is based in Cornell University.