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Overview

Dr Clare Mac Cumhaill

Associate Professor/ DPGR


Affiliations
Affiliation
Associate Professor/ DPGR in the Department of Philosophy

Biography

About

On leave until October 2025

I have broad interests in philosophy, though most of my thinking circles around space-perception, the nature of human action, and form in art. 

My approach tends to be fairly historical and I enjoy collaboration. Since 2015 I have been working closely with Rachael Wiseman on the Women In Parenthesis project, one of the fruits of which is our co-authored book Metaphysical Animals. We've also run a number of spin-off activities, the latest of which is Philosophy in the Wild. You can join the Mapping the Quartet network (for researchers working on one or all of Iris Murdoch, Elizabeth Anscombe, Philippa Foot or Mary Midgley) here. I am also part of the research collaboration Sense Perception in the North (SPIN) with fellow philosophers of perception from Leeds, York and Liverpool.

This year I am working on a number of areas/papers: Iris Murdoch's aesthetics, Midgley's treatment of evil as a formal feature of practical reasoning, Midgley's conception of 'mixed community', and (with Rachael Wiseman), the idea of 'practical nonsense', as it shows up in Anscombe and Midgley. We are also working more broadly on orientation with respect to value across multiple spatio-temporal scales.

Aside from Quartet-inspired papers, I am almost always on the verge of starting to write a book that links forms of structural explanation in metaphysics, ethics and aesthetics.

I am originally from Dublin and my name Mac Cumhaill is pronounced Mac 'Cool' (a gaelified version of the anglicized Mc Cool, which is the name of this mythical person)

Administrative Role

From October 2025 - Director of Research

Research interests

  • History of Philosophy (esp. mid-century British moral philosophy)
  • Philosophy of Action
  • Philosophy of Perception

Publications

Authored book

Chapter in book

  • Sensation in Intention
    Mac Cumhaill, C. (2022). Sensation in Intention. In A. Haddock & R. Wiseman (Eds.), The Anscombean Mind. Routledge.
  • The Importance of Murdoch's Early Encounters with Anscombe and Marcel
    Mac Cumhaill, C., & Wiseman, R. (2022). The Importance of Murdoch’s Early Encounters with Anscombe and Marcel. In M. Hopwood & S. Panizza (Eds.), The Murdochian Mind. Routledge.
  • Sensation and the Grammar of Life: Anscombe’s Procedure and Her Purpose
    Mac Cumhaill, C., & Wiseman, R. (2021). Sensation and the Grammar of Life: Anscombe’s Procedure and Her Purpose. In H. Logue & L. Richardson (Eds.), Purpose and Procedure in Philosophy of Perception (pp. 276-294). Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780198853534.003.0014
  • 'Raum' and 'room': Comments on Anton Marty on Space Perception
    Mac Cumhaill, C. (2019). ’Raum’ and ’room’: Comments on Anton Marty on Space Perception. In H. Leblanc & G. Bacligalupo (Eds.), Anton Marty and Contemporary Philosophy. Palgrave McMillan.
  • Nonsense and Visual Evanescence
    Mac Cumhaill, C. (2018). Nonsense and Visual Evanescence. In T. Crowther & C. Mac Cumhaill (Eds.), Perceptual Ephemera. Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780198722304.003.0014
  • Night Fight
    Mac Cumhaill, C. (2017). Night Fight. In H. Naar & F. Teroni (Eds.), The ontology of emotion. (pp. 187-208). Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/9781316275221.011

Edited book

  • Perceptual Ephemera
    Mac Cumhaill, C., & Crowther, T. (Eds.). (2018). Perceptual Ephemera. Oxford University Press.

Journal Article

Supervision students