Dr Garrath Williams

PhD Supervision Interests

I have research interests across normative ethics, political theory and applied ethics, and would be especially interested to hear from potential doctoral students considering research on Kant's practical philosophy, Hannah Arendt, and the philosophy of responsibility.

Current Teaching

I have taught moral philosophy, political thought and applied ethics. My recent teaching at Lancaster includes 

• Continental Philosophy, on Nietzsche, Foucault and Arendt (PPR302, available in 2013-14) 
• Philosophy of the Human Sciences, on philosophy of social science (PPR203, available in 2013-14)
• Ethics, Philosophy and Religion (EPR100), on existentialism
• Reading Political Theory, on Hobbes and Arendt (with Sam Clark)
• Ethics, especially Kantian ethics
• Bioethics

 I am on sabbatical in Lent and Summer terms 2013-14.

Profile

I took all my degrees at Manchester University - BA (Hons) in Philosophy and Politics, MA in Health Care Ethics, and my PhD (on theory of action in Kant's philosophy) in the Department of Government. I subsequently lectured in Political Theory in Manchester's Department of Government, then in philosophy at the Centre for Professional Ethics, University of Central Lancashire, before coming to Lancaster University.

I have held visiting fellowships at the University of St Andrews (in its Centre for Ethics, Philosophy and Public Affairds), at the European Academy for the Study of the Consequences of Scientific and Technological Advances, Bad Neuenahr-Ahrweiler, Germany, and most recently at Copenhagen Business School's Department of Intercultural Communication and Management.

Research Interests

My main interest over the past several years has been the concept of responsibility. The concept brings together a number of fundamental areas of enquiry, not all of which have received much attention from philosophers. Contemporary philosophers have focussed on two related topics. One is the nature of responsible agency - especially what distinguishes sane adult human beings from other, non-responsible agents. The other is the justification of blame and punishment, as modes of holding people (or organisations) responsible for wrong-doing. I am also interested in two further topics: One is how we define and allocate responsibilities to people - not only general moral duties, but also more particular responsibilities attaching to particular social roles. The other concerns the virtue of responsibility: if all sane adults are responsible, it is still true that some are more responsible than others.

In the history of philosophy, I have worked on Kant (going back to my doctoral thesis), Hannah Arendt (editing four volumes of 'Critical Assessments' of her work), Nietzsche and Hobbes.

I also work in applied ethics, with colleagues in Lancaster's Centre for Bioethics and Medical Law. I am currently involved in an large EU funded project on childdren, diet and health, called I.Family. This follows an earlier project, IDEFICS, focussed on childhood obesity. Both projects are coordinated by BIPS (Bremer Instituts für Präventionsforschung und Sozialmedizin) and Bremen University. Previously, I have done training and consultancy in police ethics (with the Lancashire Constabulary), training and writing in research ethics, and research on the storage of genetic materials, especially from human donors.

Research Grants

I have been involved in a series of European funded collaborative projects relating to health and biotechnology, contributing especially in the ethics and public policy. I am currently Principal Investigator at Lancaster for the EU Framework 7 project I.Family - Determinants of eating behaviour in European children, adolescents and their parents, March 2012 to February 2017. Coordinated by Wolfgang Ahrens at Bremen University, this major collaborative project investigates the determinants of dietary and health-related behaviours in a large cohort of European families. Lancaster University is responsible for ethical aspects, policy implications and stakeholder involvement, and I sit on the project Steering Committee both as a chair and co-chair.

I.Family follows an earlier project, IDEFICS (Identification and prevention of dietary-and lifestyle-induced health effects in children and infants), funded by the EU under Framework 6 from 2007-2012. This was an epidemiological and intervention project on childhood obesity, involving over 16,000 children. Lancaster's contribution focussed on the ethical and public policy dimensions of the study and its findings. Again, I was Principal Investigator at Lancaster for this project and sat on the project Steering Committee as a co-chair.

Earlier projects in which I was involved include INES - Institutionalisation of Ethics in Science Policy (FP6) and Eurogenbank (FP4), on genetic banking in six European countries. I have also done training and consultancy in police ethics and in research ethics.

Additional Information

Follow me on Twitter: @GarrathWilliams

Office Hours

No office hours in Lent or Summer terms 2013-14 - please contact by e-mail

• FP7: I.Family: Determinants of eating behaviour in European children, adolescents and their parents

  01/03/2012 →
  The I Family Study is investigating the determinants of food and lifestyle choices in European children, adolescents and their parents and the impact on lifelong health. How does family life, built ... Read more»

• Two blogs on our book on Childhood Obesity

  11/06/2014
  A short piece explaining our choice of cover image for our recently published book, Childhood Obesity: Ethical and Policy Issues, has just been published as a Lancaster University blog: http://www.l ... Read more»

• Advisory Board Membership - new EU project on gut microbiome

  27/05/2014
  Garrath has joined the scientific advisory board of the EU-funded project "MyNewGut" (Microbiome influences on energy balance and brain development/function put into action to tackle diet-related dis ... Read more»

• Book on childhood obesity now published

  25/04/2014
  Childhood Obesity: Ethical and Policy Issues, by Kristin Voigt, Stuart Nicholls and Garrath Williams, is published today by Oxford University Press. A short feature appears on the university news fee ... Read more»

• Hannah Arendt on political responsibility - article just published

  08/03/2014
  "Every actor wishes that people will follow him. The deed is always also an example... Responsibility means, in its essence: to know that one sets an example, that others will ‘‘follow’’; in t ... Read more»

• Opinion piece - 'Empirical findings should inform policy – but cannot dictate it'

  19/02/2014
  As part of the EU-funded I.Family project on children, families and health, Garrath Williams has written a short 'point of view' on why scientific evidence doesn't - and shouldn't - autonmatically lea ... Read more»

• Open access to recent article on responsibility and personal relationships

  30/07/2013
  In 'Sharing responsibility and holding responsible' I consider how questions of holding responsible operate in personal relationships. I follow Arthur Ripstein's idea that each of us bears a special r ... Read more»

• Plenary presentation at the 4th European Forum for Evidence Based Health Promotion and Prevention

  18/06/2013
  As part of his work on the I.Family project, Garrath Williams has delivered a plenary lecture entitled 'Obesity Prevention: Dividing Responsibiliities for Action.' The full talk and questions can be ... Read more»

• Opinion piece - 'Regulating food companies: restricting or empowering?'

  05/12/2012
  As part of the EU-funded I.Family project on children, families and health, Garrath Williams has published a short opinion piece on how rules and regulations aren't simply restrictive. Instead, he arg ... Read more»

• Election to Honorary Treasureship of the Society of Applied Philosophy

  02/07/2011
  Garrath Williams was elected to the Honorary Treasureship of the Society of Applied Philosophy at the Society's annual conference in Manchester. He takes over from Neil Manson (also in PPR at Lancaste ... Read more»

• Promoting Health Equity: Action on the Social Determinants of Health - conference in Toronto

  02/02/2011
  Dr Stuart Nicholls will be presenting his work at the"Promoting Health Equity: Action on the Social Determinants of Health" conference in Toronto. The work, co authored by Dr Kristin Voigt and colleag ... Read more»

• The Centre for Bioethics and Medical Law was officially opened in March 2007

  22/11/2007
  The Centre promotes high quality interdisciplinary research in bioethics and medical law across a number of disciplines within the University with a clear unifying focus upon the legal and medical dim ... Read more»

• Publication of Hannah Arendt: Critical Assessments

  01/04/2006
  This month saw the publication of the four volume collection, Hannah Arendt, edited by Garrath Williams, Lecturer in Philosophy in the Institute for Philosophy and Public ... Read more»