Research Output per year
Personal profile
Research interests
Bob Brecher is a moral and political philosopher with special interests in the philosophical issues surrounding conflict, torture and medicine, and in the ethics of education.
Scholarly biography
Having initially started his career as a philosopher of religion, Bob Brecher moved into moral and political philosophy, in response partly to developing teaching duties, partly to the trajectory of actually existing neo-liberalism. During his tenure as a professor he has focused on applying the rationalist ethics he began to develop theoretically in Getting What You Want? A Critique of Liberal Morality (1998) in both his research and his institutional activities, a trajectory recognized by his Research Fellowship in the Centre for Philosophy & Public Affairs at St Andrews University.
Brecher founded the journal Res Publica in 1995; Torture and the Ticking Bomb was published by Blackwell in its Public Philosophy series in 2007; and he serves on a variety of NHS and other research and clinical ethics committees, editorial boards and other ventures combining academic research and teaching with public engagement and dissemination.
On the basis of his earlier remit to develop ethics in the Faculty of Health, he has founded the Centre for Applied Philosophy, Politics & Ethics (CAPPE) and lead the current development of an innovative MA Programme in Applied Ethics, a cross-Faculty, University-wide initiative, validated in July 2007, as well as developing the Centre’s range of activities both in the public arena and the University.
Brecher is an external advisor for Edgehill University Research Ethics and Governance Committee and is the organiser of CAPPE's Public Controversies series.
Supervisory Interests
I supervise PhD students in moral philosophy and metaethics; applied philosophy and ethics; history of ideas; and interdisciplinaryareas. Particular interests include torture, so-called terrorism, medical and healthcare ethics, and neoliberalism.
Over the past few yers I have supervised to successful completion more than ten students.
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Research Output 2002 2019
Justifying too much: is Utilitarianism a moral theory at all?
Brecher, B., 2019, (Accepted/In press) Interrogation and torture: research on its efficacy and its integration with legality and morality. Barela, S., Fallon, M., Gaggioli, G. & Ohlin, D. (eds.). Oxford: Oxford University PressResearch output: Chapter in Book/Conference proceeding with ISSN or ISBN › Chapter
Universities: the neoliberal agenda
Brecher, B., 30 Jul 2018, (Accepted/In press) Interrogating the Neoliberal Lifecycle. Clack, B. & Paule, M. (eds.). London: Palgrave MacmillanResearch output: Chapter in Book/Conference proceeding with ISSN or ISBN › Chapter
Violence and moral philosophy
Brecher, B., 8 Sep 2018, The Wiley handbook of violence and aggression. Sturmey, P. (ed.). Chichester, UK: Wiley, Vol. 1. p. 171-180 10 p.Research output: Chapter in Book/Conference proceeding with ISSN or ISBN › Chapter
Against charity: some preliminary consideratrions
Brecher, B., 26 Jun 2017, In : Ethics & Bioethics (in Central Europe). 7, 1-2, p. 97-103 7 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
Intellectual Complicity in Torture
Brecher, B. & Neu, M., 1 Jan 2016, Exploring Complicity: Concept, Cases and Critique. Neu, M., Dunford, R. & Afxentiou, A. (eds.). London: Rowman and Littlefield, p. 143-160 18 p.Research output: Chapter in Book/Conference proceeding with ISSN or ISBN › Chapter
Activities 2016 2016
- 1 Editorial work
Rowman and Littlefield international (Publisher)
Bob Brecher (Editor), Robin Dunford (Editor), Michael Neu (Editor)Activity: Publication peer-review and editorial work › Editorial work