Staff profile

I am interested in issues in metaphysics, epistemology, and the philosophy of mind in early modern and nineteenth-century philosophy.

I spend a lot of my time working on forgotten figures in the history of philosophy (James Ward, Charles Renouvier, and Clarisse Coignet, to name a few), but I have recently been focusing my research on the more well known philosophers William James and Hegel. I am writing a book on William James and the relationship between his metaphysics and his pragmatism, and I hope to finish that relatively soon. I am also writing a book on habit in the history of philosophy (from Descartes to Dewey), which will no doubt take a lot longer.

Before coming to work at Durham, I held a Levehulme Early Career Fellowship at the University of Sheffield, a Visiting Fellowship at the University of Chicago's Commitee on Social Thought, and an Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities Research Fellowship at the University of Edinburgh.

I am also the treasurer for the British Society for the History of Philosophy: http://www.bshp.org.uk/

My Office Hours are 12.00-14.00 on Tuesdays and 13:00-14:00 on Fridays every week during term time. Please sign up using this tool https://open-tower.com/s/Dunham

• Early Modern Philosophy
• Habit
• Idealism
• Nineteenth-Century French Philosophy
• Pragmatism
• William James

Authored book

• Idealism: The History of a Philosophy.
  
  Dunham, J., Grant, I., & Watson, S. (2014). Idealism: The History of a Philosophy. Routledge.

Chapter in book

• Creatures of Habit: Condillac on the Abilities of Animals
  
  Dunham, J. (2024). Creatures of Habit: Condillac on the Abilities of Animals. In S. Bender & D. Perler (Eds.), Powers and Abilities in Early Modern Philosophy (pp. 245-264). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003305316-13
• Charles Renouvier, Modern French Philosophy, and the Great Learned Men of Germany
  
  Dunham, J. (2023). Charles Renouvier, Modern French Philosophy, and the Great Learned Men of Germany. In K. Chepurin, A. Efal-Lautenschläger, D. Whistler, & A. Yuva (Eds.), Hegel and Schelling in Early Nineteenth-Century France (pp. 199-215). Springer Verlag. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-39326-6_10
• Bergson and William James
  
  Dunham, J. (2021). Bergson and William James. In M. Sinclair & Y. Wolf (Eds.), The Bergsonian Mind. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429020735
• "Monkeys and Monads"
  
  Dunham, J. (2020). "Monkeys and Monads". In J. Weckend & L. Strickland (Eds.), Leibniz’s Legacy and Impact. Routledge.
• James and the Metaphysics of Intentionality: Royce, Bergson, and the Miller-Bode Objections
  
  Dunham, J. (2018). James and the Metaphysics of Intentionality: Royce, Bergson, and the Miller-Bode Objections. In A. Klein (Ed.), The Oxford Handbook of William James.. Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199395699.001.0001
• Leibniz et la philosophie français du XIXe siècle’.
  
  Dunham, J. (2017). Leibniz et la philosophie français du XIXe siècle’. In M. Laerke, C. Leduc, & D. Rabouin (Eds.), Leibniz: Lectures et commentaires.. Librairie philosophique J. Vrin.
• A Universal and Absolute Spiritualism: Maine de Biran’s Leibniz.
  
  Dunham, J. (2016). A Universal and Absolute Spiritualism: Maine de Biran’s Leibniz. In D. Meacham & J. Spadola (Eds.), The Relationship between the Physical and Moral in Man: The Philosophy of Maine de Biran. (pp. 157-197). Bloomsbury.

Edited book

• Monadologies
  
  Dunham, J., & Phemister, P. (Eds.). (2018). Monadologies. Routledge.

Journal Article

• Flights in the resting places: James and Bergson on mental synthesis and the experience of time
  
  Dunham, J. (2023). Flights in the resting places: James and Bergson on mental synthesis and the experience of time. British Journal for the History of Philosophy, 31(2), 183-204. https://doi.org/10.1080/09608788.2022.2136138
• On the Experience of Activity: William James's Late Metaphysics and the Influence of Nineteenth-Century French Spiritualism
  
  Dunham, J. (2020). On the Experience of Activity: William James’s Late Metaphysics and the Influence of Nineteenth-Century French Spiritualism. Journal of the History of Philosophy, 58(2), 267-291. https://doi.org/10.1353/hph.2020.0039
• Overcoming the Divide between Freedom and Nature: Clarisse Coignet on the Metaphysics of Independent Morality
  
  Dunham, J. (2020). Overcoming the Divide between Freedom and Nature: Clarisse Coignet on the Metaphysics of Independent Morality. British Journal for the History of Philosophy, 28(5), 987-1008. https://doi.org/10.1080/09608788.2019.1668351
• Habits of Mind: A Brand New Condillac
  
  Dunham, J. (2019). Habits of Mind: A Brand New Condillac. Journal of Modern Philosophy, 1(1), Article 1. https://doi.org/10.32881/jomp.11
• Offsetting Race Privilege
  
  Dunham, J., & Lawford-Smith, H. (2017). Offsetting Race Privilege. Journal of Ethics & Social Philosophy, 11(2), 1-23. https://doi.org/10.26556/jesp.v11i2.109
• Monadologies: An Historical Overview
  
  Dunham, J., & Phemister, P. (2015). Monadologies: An Historical Overview. British Journal for the History of Philosophy, 23(6), 1023-1032. https://doi.org/10.1080/09608788.2015.1111191
• From Habit to Monads: Félix Ravaisson’s Theory of Substance.
  
  Dunham, J. (2015). From Habit to Monads: Félix Ravaisson’s Theory of Substance. British Journal for the History of Philosophy, 23(6), 1085-1105. https://doi.org/10.1080/09608788.2015.1078775
• Idealism, Pragmatism, and the Will to Believe: Charles Renouvier and William James.
  
  Dunham, J. (2015). Idealism, Pragmatism, and the Will to Believe: Charles Renouvier and William James. British Journal for the History of Philosophy, 23(4), 756-778. https://doi.org/10.1080/09608788.2014.1002074
• Was James Ward a Cambridge Pragmatist?
  
  Dunham, J. (2014). Was James Ward a Cambridge Pragmatist?. British Journal for the History of Philosophy, 22(3), 557-581. https://doi.org/10.1080/09608788.2014.928609