I am a teaching assistant in Philosophy at the University of Manchester.
Research
I work in social and political philosophy, specifically questions related to social ontology, groups, group identity, and conceptual engineering. I have argued, with Frederique Janssen-Lauret, that the Kripkean thesis of material-origin essentialism does not hold when we consider the widespread belief in reincarnation (paper in Philosophical Quarterly). I have also argued, with several other philosophers, that we have reasons to be sceptical of the conceptual innovations proposed by incels even if we grant that they face meaningful social marginalisation, insights from standpoint epistemology notwithstanding (paper in Synthese). Most recently, I have made the case for including caste as a social kind in the literature on social ontology (paper in Journal of Applied Philosophy). You can see all my published work here.
I am currently working on ideas of conceptual justice and conceptual sovereignty. I am also interested in the philosophy of attention as it relates to human wellbeing.
I have presented this and other related research at conferences and workshops in Manchester, Keele (UK), Neuchatel (Switzerland), Vienna (Austria) and Hamilton (New Zealand). You can find details of these presentations here.
Awards & Distinctions
In 2023, I was awarded The Royal Institute of Philosophy’s Jacobsen Studentship. From 2019 till 2022, I was a recipient of the School of Social Sciences PhD Studentship awarded by the University of Manchester. In 2018, I was awarded a Mobility Grant for Learners and Staff as part of the Erasmus+ Programme to guest-lecture at The University of Latvia, Riga. In 2009, I was awarded the Government of Australia’s Endeavour Mobility Grant to spend a semester at the University of Queensland where I earned the Dean of Students’ Commendation for High Achievement.
Teaching
I have tutored courses in Ethics, Critical Thinking (Formal Logic), Applied Philosophy, Philosophy of Race,and 20th Century Analytic Philosophy at the University of Manchester. I have also been a grader for a course on Gender & Race at the University of Glasgow. Full details of my teaching can be found here.
Academic Service
In 2022, I was the Secretary & Communications Officer for the British Postgraduate Philosophy Association (BPPA). In 2021, I was co-organiser of the 15th edition of The University of Manchester’s flagship philosophy graduate conference Open Minds. We proposed and secured funding from the Society for Applied Philosophy, The Aristotelian Society, and The Mind Association. In 2020, I was co-organiser of the British Postgraduate Philosophy Association’s flagship annual conference, that year on the theme of Radical Philosophy (in association with Minorities and Philosophy (MAP)). Details of my academic service can be found here.
Public Philosophy & Outreach
I have addressed school students on what doing philosophy looks like, taught a summer school in logic and critical thinking as applied to issues of social justice, and consulted on philosophical labour for a theatre group.
Occasionally, I write for general audience on issues dear to me. This can take the form of media articles or Wikipedia pages. Details of such interests are here.
Ajinkya Deshmukh 