Biography

Peter’s research specialises in the history of philosophy, covering two areas: Early Modern Philosophy and History of Analytic Philosophy. His work is underwritten by a commitment to expanding the canon of philosophy’s history and recovering the work of figures from typically marginalised backgrounds.
He is currently the lead on two funded-research projects:

New Digital Methods for Understanding the Impact of Early Women Writers on the Development of Science and Philosophy. A digital humanities project that examines the mutual influence of Margaret Cavendish (1623-1673) on members of the Royal Society. [co-leads: Sarah Connell (NU Boston), Julia Flanders (NU Boston), and Brian Ball (NU London)]

Women at the Dawn of Analytic Philosophy. A study of three women in early 20th century British philosophy: Susan Stebbing, Margaret Macdonald, and Dorothy Emmet. [funded by the British Academy]

Qualifications

Higher Education Academy
Fellow (FHEA) (May 2024)
Associate Fellow (AFHEA) (August 2022)

Trinity College Dublin
PhD in Philosophy (September 2015 – March 2020).
Supervisor: Kenneth L. Pearce
Examiners: Peter Kail (St. Peter’s College, University of Oxford) and Katia Saporiti (University of Zurich)

The University of Edinburgh
MSc (taught) in Philosophy (September 2013 – August 2014), with Distinction.

The University of Leeds
BA in Philosophy (September 2010 – June 2013)

Research

Publications

Monographs

Thinking as Human Beings: Women and the Story of Twentieth Century British Philosophy. Oxford University Press. Under contract.

Berkeley’s Doctrine of Signs, co-edited with Manuel Fasko. De Gruyter. 2024. [open access].

Peer-reviewed journal publications

‘The Role of Intentions in Anton Wilhelm Amo’s Philosophical Project’ (with Manuel Fasko), Journal for the History of Philosophy, forthcoming. 

‘Mary Shepherd on Minds and Space’ (with Manuel Fasko), Oxford Studies in Early Modern Philosophy, forthcoming.

‘The Depth of Margaret Cavendish’s Ecology’ (with Manuel Fasko), Ergo an Open Access Journal in Philosophy, 12:2. 2025.

‘What is Western Philosophy? Lessons from the case of ‘Analytic Philosophy’’’ (with Matyáš Moravec) Journal for the History of Analytic Philosophy, 13:2. 2024.

‘Philosophy is not a science: Margaret Macdonald on the nature of philosophical theories’ HOPOS: The Journal of the Society for the History of Philosophy of Science. 14:2. 2024.

‘The Philosopher Versus the Physicist: Eddington’s Rejoinder to Stebbing’ British Journal for the History of Philosophy, 1-16, first view. doi.org/10.1080/09608788.2024.2363390.

‘Teaching Margaret Cavendish: Early Modern Women and the Question of Biography’ ABO: Interactive Journal for Women in the Arts, 1640-1830, 14:1 (2024).

‘British Empiricism’ (with Manuel Fasko), Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy: https://iep.utm.edu/british-empiricism/ 

‘Seeing Life Steadily: Dorothy Emmet’s philosophy of perception and the crisis in metaphysics’ British Journal for the History of Philosophy, 32:6. 2024.

‘Stebbing and Eddington in the Shadow of Bergson’ (with Matyáš Moravec) History of Philosophy Quarterly, 40:1 (2023), 59-84.

‘Getting Beyond the “Curtain of the Fancy”: Anti-Representationalism in Berkeley and Sergeant’ Berkeley Studies 30 (2023).

‘Teaching and Learning Guide for: Mind-Body Commerce: Occasional Causation and Mental Representation in Anton Wilhelm Amo’ Philosophy Compass 18:3 (2023).

‘Mind-Body Commerce: Occasional Causation and Mental Representation in Anton Wilhelm Amo’ Philosophy Compass 17:9(2022).

‘Margaret Cavendish on Conceivability, Possibility, and the Case of Colours’ British Journal for the History of Philosophy 30:3 (2022), 456-476. 

‘The Philosopher Versus the Physicist: Susan Stebbing on Eddington and the Passage of Time’ British Journal for the History of Philosophy 30:1 (2022), 130-151.

‘L. Susan Stebbing, Philosophy and the Physicists (1937): a re-appraisal’ British Journal for the History of Philosophy 30:5 (2022), 859-873.

‘Why Can An Idea Be Like Nothing But Another Idea? A Conceptual Interpretation of Berkeley’s Likeness Principle’ Journal of the American Philosophical Association 7:4 (2021), 530-548.

‘The Irish Context of Berkeley’s Resemblance Thesis’ (with Manuel Fasko) Royal Institute of Philosophy Supplements 88 (2020), 7-13.

‘Reid and Berkeley on Scepticism, Representationalism, and Ideas’ Journal of Scottish Philosophy 17:3 (2019), 191-210.

‘Berkeley on Abstract Ideas and Language in Alciphron VII’ Ruch Filozoficzny 74:4 (2019).

Public Engagement

‘Philosophy is an art: Margaret Macdonald on the nature of philosophical theories’ Aeon, April 2024 (https://aeon.co/essays/philosophical-theories-are-like-good-stories-margaret-macdonald) 

‘The Common Sense Myth’ Institute of Art and Ideas, November 2023 (https://iai.tv/articles/the-common-sense-myth-peter-west-auid-2670) 

‘On the ‘Cancellation’ of Berkeley’ The Philosopher, May 2023 (https://www.thephilosopher1923.org/post/on-the-cancellation-of-berkeley) 

‘Hosepipe ban: should you snitch on your neighbour’s water use? A philosopher’s take’ The Conversation, August 2022 (https://theconversation.com/hosepipe-ban-should-you-snitch-on-your-neighbours-water-use-a-philosophers-take-188240) 

‘Margaret Cavendish and the power of debating with yourself’ Aeon/Psyche, March 2022 (https://psyche.co/ideas/margaret-cavendish-and-the-power-of-debating-with-yourself) 

‘Can we ever fully separate our work and home lives? Philosophy suggests we should stop trying’, The Conversation, April 2022 (https://theconversation.com/can-we-ever-fully-separate-our-work-and-home-lives-philosophy-suggests-we-should-stop-trying-177582) 

‘In Praise of Co-Authoring’ (with Matyáš Moravec), The Philosopher, Autumn 2021 (https://www.thephilosopher1923.org/essay-moravec-west)

‘The dangers of Mark Zuckerberg’s metaverse’ Institute of Art and Ideas, November 2021 (https://iai.tv/articles/dont-fall-for-zuckerbergs-metaverse-auid-1961) 

‘Five lessons on bringing truth back into politics from Britain’s first female philosophy professor’ The Conversation, July 2021 (http://theconversation.com/five-lessons-on- bringing-truth-back-to-politics-from-britains-first-female-philosophy-professor-16419).

‘On Susan Stebbing and the role of public philosophy’ Aeon, February 2021 (https://aeon.co/essays/on-susan-stebbing-and-the-role-of-public-philosophy).

‘Why Boris Johnson must stop talking about “good British common sense”’ The Conversation, June 2020 (https://theconversation.com/why-boris-johnson-must-stop- talking-about-good-british-common-sense-141008).