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Staff profile

Overview

Dr Mark Robson

Biography

My lifelong interest in Philosophy and Theology initially led me to my Bachelors degree from Newcastle University, followed by a Masters in Ethics and then a PhD in Philosophical Theology both from Durham. In my PhD, I explored the metaphysical and ethical implications of the doctrine of creatio ex nihilo.

Alongside this, I have pursued a professional career as a teacher, with over 30 years' experience  in local comprehensive schools.  This has included the institution and teaching of Philosophy as part of the International Baccalaureate, and as head of department. 

I have now started another PhD in the philosophy of memory, in particular direct realist views. I'm looking at the idea that in remembering one is re-encountering the past. The past, according to the notion I'm examining, continues to exist and can be the object of a person's memorial conceptions. This involves an examination of various philosophers who have held direct realist views of memory as well as looking at the nature of time. I am particularly interested in C D Broad's Growing Block conception of time.

Research Interests
  • Metaphysics of Possible Worlds
  • Novelty and Creation
  • Philosophy of Religion
  • G W Leibniz
  • C S Peirce
  • H Bergson
  • R G Collingwood
  • Philosophy of Memory
Publications

Books:

Ontology and Providence in Creation: Taking Ex Nihilo Seriously, (Continuum, 2008).

Who the Hell is David Hume? (Bowden and Brazil, 2020).

Who the Hell is Immanuel Kant? (Bowden and Brazil, 2021).

Articles: 

'Possible Worlds and the Beauty of God' Religious Studies, 2010.

'Evil, Privation, Depression and Dread', Blackfriars, 2013.

'Divine Maximal Beauty: A Reply to Jon Robson', Religious Studies, 2014.

'Evolutionary Theodicy, Redemption and Time', Zygon, 2015.

'Is Ultimate Moral Responsibility Metaphysically Impossible? A Bergsonian Critique of Galen Strawson's Argument' Philosophy, 2017.

'Acts of Thought and Re-Enactment in Collingwood's Philosophy of History, History and Theory, 2023.

 

Research interests

  • Metaphysics of Possible Worlds
  • Novelty and Creation
  • Philosophy of Religion
  • G W Leibniz
  • C S Peirce
  • H Bergson
  • R G Collingwood
  • Philosophy of Memory
  • Edwin B Holt and The American New Realists