Tel: +44 (0)1524 592674 Fax: +44 (0)1524 592503
Dr Neil Manson
Senior Lecturer
Degree: BA Philosophy King's College London MPHIL Philosophy University College London DPhil Philosophy University of Oxford
Associated research centres and groups: Centre for Bioethics and Medical Law, Philosophy of Mind and Psychology
Current Teaching
PHIL201 - Knowledge and Reality
PHIL100 - Introduction to Philosophy
PHIL202 - Philosophy of the Human Sciences
Research Interests
After mis-spending his early 20s trying to be a musician (ranging from indie-guitar to experimental rock/funk/noise) Neil C. Manson studied philosophy in London , taking his BA at King's College London in 1992 and his MPhil at University College London in 1995. He then went to Corpus Christi College Oxford, gaining his DPhil in 1998 with a thesis entitled Conscious Thought. From 1998 to 2005 he had research fellowships at King's College Cambridge. He has taught philosophy in London, Oxford and Cambridge.
His research is, broadly, to do with the ethics and epistemological significance of communication. It falls into two broad areas:
Consent, informed consent, and the ethics of communication.
First, in applied philosophy he is working on the conceptual and ethical underpinnings of informed consent by situating informed consent in a broader framework that focuses on the normative aspects of communication and knowledge (including: information privacy; data protection; the nature and significance of genetic information and genetic knowledge). He is working on issues to do with how consent relates to, differs from, and can be integrated with, other ways of rendering actions permissible (what he calls "mixec permission" models).
Part of this ongoing research project is focused on questions to do with the scope limits and future of consent and informed consent. He currently holds an AHRC workshop grant, with Prof Dave Archard, for an international project "The Future of Consent" involving participants from the UK, USA and China.
Epistemic pragmatics: the conscious/unconscious contrast in a communicative context
His second area of research interest is in unconscious mind and the contrast between conscious and unconscious mentality. He is currently working on a number of papers (to be woven into a monograph) on how the epistemology of mind needs to be supplemented by considerations to do with what he calls the "epistemic pragmatics" of communication..
Potential Doctoral Proposals
Informed consent
Consent as a communicative act.
Ethics of communication and information
Unconscious Mind
Epistemology of psychology and mind
Applied ethics and social epistemology.
Epistemic Continence.
Career details
2002 - 2005. Research Fellow in Philosophy, King's College Cambridge. Wellcome Trust 3 year research project 'Informed Consent and Genetic Data'.
1998-2002. Junior Research Fellow in Philosophy, King's College Cambridge.
Selected Publications
MONOGRAPH
(2007) with Onora O'Neill Rethinking Informed Consent in Bioethics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
FULL-LENGTH ARTICLES & BOOK CHAPTERS
(2009 forthcoming) 'The medium and the message: tissue samples, genetic information and data protection legislation' in H. Widdows and C. Mullen (eds) Who Decides: Exploring the Governance of Genetic Information. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
(2007) 'Contemporary naturalism and the concept of consciousness,' Consciousness: From Perception to Reflection in the HIstory of Philosophy. ed. by Sara Heinämaa and Pauliina Remes, Springer, 287-310
(2006) What is genetic information and why is it significant? Journal of Applied Philosophy 23:1 1-16
(2004) 'Reason explanation: a first-order normative account,' Philosophical Explorations, 7, 2, 113-130
(2004) 'Brains, vats and neurally-controlled animats' Studies in History and Philosophy of Science 35, 2, 249-268
(2003) 'Consciousness' in B. Smith (ed.) John Searle. New York: Cambridge University Press, 128-153
(2003) 'Freud's own blend: functional analysis, idiographic explanation, and the extension of ordinary psychology,' Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society II, 179-195
(2002) 'What does language tell us about consciousness? First-person mental discourse and higher-order thought theories of consciousness' Philosophical Psychology 15, 2002, 221-238
(2002) 'Epistemic Consciousness' Studies in History and Philosophy of Science 33 (2002) 425-441
(2000) 'A tumbling-ground for whimsies? The history and contemporary role of the conscious/unconscious contrast' in Tim Crane and Sara Patterson (eds) The History of the Mind-Body Problem (London: Routledge, 2000) 148-168
SHORTER ARTICLES
(2010) 'Informed Consent' in H. LaFollette, J.Deigh, and S. Stroud (eds) International Encyclopedia of Ethics (Wiley)
(2009) 'Epistemic Inertia and Epistemic Isolationism' Journal of Applied Philosophy (forthcoming)
(2009) 'Consciousness and the Unconscious',in H. Pashler (ed.)Encyclopedia of theMind, Sage Publishing.
(2007) 'Consent and Informed Consent,' Richard Ashcroft, Angus Dawson, Heather Draper and John McMillan (eds.), Principles of Health Care Ethics (2 nd ed), London , John Wiley, 297-304
(2007) (with Mairi Levitt) 'My genes made me do it? The implications of behavioural genetics for responsibility and blame,' Health Care Analysis (forthcoming)
(2005) How not to think about genetic information. Hastings Center Report 35, 4 July 2005 (3)
(2004) 'Presenting behavioural genetics: spin, ideology and our narrative interests' Journal of Medical Ethics 30, 601-604
(2003) 'Why is consciousness a mongrel concept?' London Review of Philosophy 1, Spring, 24-30
(2001) 'The limitations and costs of Lycan's "simple" argument.' Analysis 61, 319-323.
(2000) 'State consciousness and creature consciousness: a real distinction,' Philosophical Psychology 13, 3, 405-410
CRITICAL NOTICES/BOOK SYMPOSIA
(2005) 'Consciousness-dependence and the conscious/unconscious contrast' Philosophical Studies Book Symposium on J. Campbell's Reference and Consciousness, 126, 115-129
(2002) 'Consciousness-dependence and the explanatory gap' Review discussion of J. Levine's Purple Haze, Inquiry, 45, 1-20
Applied philosophy/public policy
Neil Manson is currently treasurer of the Society of Applied Philosophy and is on the management committee of the Journal of Applied Philosophy.
Spring 2008- invited member of the NHS Organ Donation Taskforce 'Ethics Working Group', working on issues to do with consent (e.g., opt-in, opt out, mandated choice) for organ donation.
March 08 -invited participant and respondent inBritish Academy workshop: 'Philosophy and Public Policy'.
May 08 - invited participant in MRC/Wellcome workshop: 'Regulation and Biomedical Research'
May 08 - invited participant in (UK) Human Tissue Authority workshop on directed deceased (organ) donation.
July 08 - invited participant in Nuffield Council on Bioethics fact-finding meeting on (ethics of) dementia.
Other Interests and Hobbies
His leisure time is spent avoiding DIY, in the much more enjoyable pursuit of lazing around with his family,- Liz, Daisy, Nell and Laurie who have kindly learned to- or at least appear to - tolerate his poor jokes and quips. On a rare occasion he finds a few minutes or so to play a bit on his rather nice Strat through an ever expanding array of FX. He used to noodle around with ambient loops and such things, but now has no time.
He is not identical with another philosopher called Neil Manson: Neil A. Manson. If youare looking for the Neil Manson with an interest in metaphysics, philosophy of religion (especially the design argument) you will find him (or, rather, his webpage) here.
Associated Keywords: Philosophy of mind, Public policy
View all research activities, news and events associated with Neil Manson.
Contact Details
Tel: +44 (0)1524 594668
Room: Furness, C25
Office Hour: Wednesday 12.00 - 1.00
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