Dr Iain Law MA (Aberdeen), MPhil, PhD (Birmingham)

Senior Lecturer in Philosophy

Contact details

Telephone: +44 (0) 121 414 8336
Email: i.law@bham.ac.uk

View my research portal

Address: ERI Building
University of Birmingham
Edgbaston
Birmingham
B15 2TT
UK

Staff details
Policy information

Qualifications

MA Philosophy (Aberdeen)
MPhil (Birmingham)
PhD (Birmingham

Biography

I’m a Senior Lecturer in Philosophy and also Head of Education for the School of Philosophy, Theology & Religion. My main interests are in meta-ethics, applied ethics and ethical theory, and I’m currently working on papers in moral theory, moral psychology, the philosophy of medicine and applied ethics. I’m also, with Lisa Bortolotti and Heather Widdows, a founding member of the Health and Happiness Research Cluster. This cluster undertakes research, runs a Masters programme on Health and Happiness and various workshop and seminar series on these themes, as well as producing co-authored publications. I published in Lisa Bortolotti’s collection on happiness, for example. In addition together Iain, Lisa and Heather supervise a number of students working on definitions of health, and health practice and policy.

Teaching

I teach Political Philosophy to first years, Virtue Ethics to third years, and various texts/skills modules to second years. I also contribute to several of our MA/MSc programmes.

Postgraduate supervision

Currently supervising PhD students working on: Natural Law approaches to ethics; competence and informed consent; self-deception and doxastic voluntarism.

Find out more - our PhD Philosophy page has information about doctoral research at the University of Birmingham.

Research

Moral theory in general including Kantianism, Utilitarianism, Virtue Ethics, etc.
Moral Psychology, autonomy, (moral) motivation.
The philosophy of health and disease.
Wellbeing and happiness

Publications

Recent publications

Article

Law, I 2011, 'Respect for autonomy: its demands and limits in biobanking.', Health Care Analysis, vol. 19, no. 3, pp. 259-68. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10728-011-0192-x

Law, I & Widdows, H 2008, 'Conceptualising health: insights from the capability approach', Health Care Analysis, vol. 16, no. 4, pp. 303-14. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10728-007-0070-8

Law, I 2008, 'Evil Pleasure is Good for You!', Ethic@, vol. 7, no. 1, pp. 15-23. <http://www.cfh.ufsc.br/ethic@/capa71.htm>

Law, I 2003, 'Autonomy, Sanity and Moral Theory', Res Publica, vol. 9, no. 1, pp. 39-56. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1022580627283

Law, I 2000, 'Morals, Methods and Madness', Res Publica, vol. 6, no. 1.

Law, I 2000, 'Rule-Consequentialism's Dilemma', Ethical Theory and Moral Practice, vol. 2, no. 3.

Chapter

Law, I 2009, Happiness and Preference-Satisfaction. in L Bortolotti (ed.), Philosophy and Happiness. Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 167-182.

Law, I 2009, Motivation, Depression and Character. in Psychiatry as Cognitive Neuroscience: Philosophical perspectives. Oxford University Press, pp. 351-364.

Law, I, van den Anker, C & Smith, R 2005, Utilitarianism and Human Rights. in The Essential Guide to Human Rights.

Review article

Law, I 2000, 'Review of George W. Harris, Agent-Centered Morality and G. Felicitas Nunzel Kant's Conception of Moral character', The Philosophical Quarterly, vol. 51, pp. 261-264.

Law, I 2000, 'Review of Nicos Stavropoulos, Objectivity in Law', Mind, vol. 109, no. 435, pp. 650-653.

Web publication/site

Law, I, The irrelevance of direction of fit, 2007, Web publication/site.

Law, I, UoB Research Archive: "Constrained Desire Accounts of Well-Being", 2007, Web publication/site.

View all publications in research portal

Expertise

Philosophy of wellbeing and happiness
Ethics in general
Sexual consent
Sexual ethics