Dr Anna Bergqvist

Reader in Philosophy

My profile

Biography

I am Reader in Philosophy at Manchester Metropolitan University since 2021, and have been Postgraduate Reserach Coordinator and AHRC North West Doctotal Pathway Consortium Lead for Philosophy since 2020. I was elected to a Visiting Fellowship at St Catherine’s College University of Oxford for Michaelmas Term 2021. My service to the profession outwidth the University includes acting as Secretary of the World Psychiatric Association (WPA) Section for Philosophy & Humanities in Psychiatry (October 2020 – present), Executive Committee Member of the Royal College of Psychiatry (RCPsych) SIG in Philosophy (February 2020 - present) and External Examiner, University of Liverpool (November 2019 – present, four-year tenure). I am also Director of the Values-based Theory Network at St Catherine’s Collaborating Centre for Values-based Practice at the University of Oxford, and Member of  its Whiteness and Race Equality Network.

My approach to philosophy bridges the disciplines of moral philosophy, moral psychology and philosphy of psychiatry to improve lives through my reputable expertise in moral perception and co-production as a mechanism for change. 

Areas of Specialisation: Moral Perception, Metaethics and Aesthetics, Philosophy of Medicine and Psychiatry, and selected issues in Philosophy of Language and Perception.

Areas of Competence: Social Epistemology, Applied Phenomenology, Philosophical Psychopathology, Philosophy of Scince and Mind

I am currently Co-Investigator for a major 4-year project, funded by the NIHR Policy Research Programme, to support the government’s announced reform of the Mental Health Act. The topicality of my research on lived experience and patient values in psychiatry has also led to my current project working with the Mental Health Foundation, including a collaborative PhD studentship award, funded by an AHRC Collaborative Award, to develop a new public mental health approach to severe and enduring mental illness (SMI).

I am married to the wonderful Dr Philip Mallaband.  We have a Siamese cat called Paddy. We like travelling, contemporary opera and post-rock bands, hiking and cycling - and fresh water swimming.

Words of wisdom

“Hello babies. Welcome to Earth. It’s hot in the summer and cold in the winter. It’s round and wet and crowded. On the outside, babies, you’ve got a hundred years here. There’s only one rule that I know of, babies - ‘God damn it, you’ve got to be kind.’” Kurt Vonnegut

Academic and professional qualifications

Academic qualifications:

  • PhD in Philosophy (2005 – 2009). University of Reading, financed by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) Doctoral Fees and Maintenance Award. Pass with no corrections required.
    • Thesis title: Understanding Moral Situations: An Essay in Particularist Epistemology.
    • Supervisor: Professor Jonathan Dancy
    • Examiners: Professor Maximilian De Gaynesford and Professor Pekka Väyrynen
  • MA by Research in Philosophy (2002 – 2003). University of Leeds. Pass with distinction and no corrections.
    • Thesis title: The Possibility of Perceptual Moral Knowledge
    • Supervisor: Professor Mark T. Nelson
    • Examiner: Professor Alan Millar
  • BA (Hons) in Philosophy (2000 – 2001). University of Leeds.
    • BA Dissertation Supervisor: Professor Matthew Kieran
  • Fil. kand. in Practical Philosophy (1997 – 2000).  Stockholm University. First Class.
    • Included one semester as Visiting Student at the University of Leeds under the Erasmus scheme (January – June 2000).

Professional qualifications:

  • Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (HEA). Manchester Metropolitan University. 2016.
  • Postgraduate Certificate in Teaching and Learning in HE (PGCert). Award date: 17 November 2017. Manchester Metropolitan University.

Other academic service (administration and management)

  • External Examiner. Transfer PhD viva voce examination, Edge Hill University. September 2012.
  • Philosophy Subject Dissertation Coordinator, Manchester Metropolitan University, June 2013 – present
  • International Strategy Officer for the Department of History, Politics and Philosophy, Manchester Metropolitan University, January 2013 – present.
  • Coordinator, Invited Speaker Senior Seminar. Philosophy, School of Humanites, University of Glasgow, 2012-13.
  • Outreach Philosophy Programme Developer and Course Designer. School of Continuing Education, University of Reading and Workers’ Educational Association, Southern Region, 2009-2010.
  • Convener, Philosophy Society Speaker Programme. University of Reading, 2008-09.
  • Department Philosophy Society Liaison. University of Reading, 2008-09.

Languages

  • Fluent in English and Swedish.
  • Full comprehension of other Scandinavian languages.
  • Fair comprehension of French and German.

External examiner roles

  • External Examiner, University of Liverpool. 1 November 2019 – present (four-year tenure).
  • PhD Internal Examiner, Mr David Hirst. Thesis title: Evidence-Based Medicine. 29 November 2017
  • PhD Internal Examiner, Mr Mark Thomas Fowler. Thesis title: Mental Models and Meaning: An Analysis into the Validity of Philip Johnson-Laird’s Adaptation of Peircean Iconism. 22 January 2015.
  • Transfer PhD External Examiner, Mr Chris Lawton of Edge Hill University. 23 September 2012.

Expert reviewer for external funding bodies

a) Member of the AHRC Peer Review College, 1 October 2015-31 December 2018.

b) Journal Scholarly Article Referee:

- The British Journal of Aesthetics

- Journal of Applied Philosophy

- Journal of Moral Philosophy

- Journal of Evaluation in Clinical Practice

- Philosophy, Psychiatry & Psychology

- Logique et Analyse

-Philosophical Quarterly

c) Conference Scholarly Article Referee

- American Philosophical Association

- American Society for Aesthetics

- Western Canadian Philosophical Society

- Philosophy and Museums Conference

- Evaluative Perception Conference

Community, charity and NGO links

Outreach Philosophy Programme for the Worker’s Educational Association (South Division, Reading Branch):

  • The later philosophy of Wittgenstein (Spring 2010).
  • Introduction to Aesthetics (Spring 2010)
  • Introduction to the Philosophy of Religion (Autumn 2009)
  • History of Philosophy (Autumn 2009)

Government and industry links

  • AHRC Doctoral Fees and Maintenance Award. 01/10/2005 – 30/09/2009.
  • Winner of the American Society of Aesthetics annual graduate essay prize 2007.
  • Winner of British Society of Aesthetics graduate student conference grant, 2006.

Expert reviewer for external funding bodies

AHRC Peer Review College, academic (early career).

Visiting and honorary positions

  • Associate Researcher, Department of Philosophy, Harvard University. 6 April 2014 – 1 May 2014. Host: Professor Susanna Siegel. MMU IHSSR Special Reserach Grant.
  • Visiting Scholar, Department of Philosophy, University of Missouri at St Louis. May 2011. Swedish Research Council Travel Grant.

Membership of professional associations

Member of the Consortium for Applied Research and Professional Education (CARPE) Future of Health Care theme. March 2014 – present.
Elected Member of European Society for Person-Centred Healthcare (ESPCH) special interest group ‘Health Philosophy’, October 2013 – present.

Personal website address

http://appliedparticularism.wordpress.com/?p=16&preview=true

Get in touch

0161 247 3030
450 Geoffrey Manton Building
Monday 1pm-2pm, Tuesday 5-6pm, Wednesday 11am-1pm, or by appointment

Projects

  • Principal Investigator: Particularism in Bioethics, Professional Ethics and Medicine transnational reserach consortium (between MMU, Tilburg University, University of Oslo, Diakonhjemmet University College and Uppsala University). Website: http://appliedparticularism.wordpress.com/?p=16&preview=true
  • Co-Organiser: IHSSR Humanities in Public Lecture Series (with Professor Joanna Hodge). Theme: Women in Philosophy. February-March 2014.
  • Co-Organiser: IHSSR Humanities in Public Festival (with Dr Ginette Carpenter, PhD Candidate Caroline Baylis-Green and IHSSR project manager Helen Malarky). Theme: Women in Philosophy. 5 March 2014.
  • Organiser: TRAUMA Film Group series of public film screenings of the Cinematography of Terrence Malick, January 2014.

Teaching

Why do I teach?

For me, one central aspect of teaching philosophy lies in its capacity to free peoples’ minds: the continuous work that it takes in deciding for yourself what is valuable and living your life in accordance with that decision. In practice, one of the central challenges as a teacher is to give students the opportunity to take ownership of the ideas they are offered.

How I’ll teach you

My lectures are structured so as to provide the student an engaging learning-experience. I produce substantive handouts that students can use as a starting place for their own further research for each lecture so they do not need to concentrate on copying down the material from the PowerPoint slides, but rather focus on the lecture itself. My seminars are run so as to give students more of an opportunity to express their own ideas, demonstrate their own understanding of the issue at hand, and to explore other related issues. As a supervisor I encourage, inspire and ‘point in the right direction’ in a way that enables the students to develop their own mark on the arguments and philosophical thoughts under discussion.

Keywords: rigour, passion, integrated learning

Why study…

Philosophy teaches you not only how to think, but also how to think critically: it enables you to assess which belief that have inevitably been passed down to you are worth holding onto, and on what grounds. This is a key principle that informs all my work, both teaching and reserach.

My approach to teaching is to give students opportunity to take ownership of the ideas by engaging actively in learning, by thinking about the ways in which abstract philosophical ideas can bear on everyday life, to engage with different perspectives, and to feel confident in independently reach conclusions and articulate ideas in discussing complex issues with your peers.

Postgraduate teaching

  • MA Key Texts in Modern European Philosophy: Perception, Action and Embodiment - themes from the work of John McDowell (as from Autumn 2013).
  • MA Philosophy and Film (as from Autumn 2014)

Outwidth MMU I have also thaught postgraduate modules in:

  • Metaethics
  • Philosophy and Film

Subject areas

Moral Philosophy (Metaethics, Normative Ethics and Practical Rationality), Aesthetics, Epistemology and selected issues in Philosophy of Language and Perception

Supervision

PhD Completions

  • Dr Scott Biagi (PhD in Philosophy). Manchester Metropolitan University. November 2015 – December 2018. Thesis title: Ethnomethodology, Brandom’s Pragmatism and Ordinary Language Philosophy: A Reflection on the Status of Formal-Analytic Work. PhD awarded on 8 February 2018.
  • Dr Chris Lawton (PhD in Philosophy). Edge Hill University. November 2012 – June 2016. Thesis title: Wittgenstein and the Generalism/Particularism Debate: An Alternative, Therapeutic Approach. PhD awarded on 10 June 2016

Current Supervision

  • Liam McCaffrey (PhD candidate in Philosophy). MMU, April 2020 – present. Thesis title: The Ontological Assumptions of Computational Humour and their Ethical Consequences for Artificial Intelligence. Primary Supervisor.
  • Pietro Cattorini (PhD candidate in Philosophy). MMU, October 2020 – present. Thesis title: The Role of the Moral Self in Psychopathology and Discernment. Primary Supervisor.
  • Kenneth Sweeney (PhD candidate in Philosophy). MMU, October – present. Thesis title: Re-evaluating the Philosophy of Higher Education: Embracing Stoicism and Mindfulness to Reinforce the Purpose and Value of Study and Wellbeing for the Individual. Primary supervisor.
  • Kelly Dannielle (PhD in Clinical Law). MMU, September 2017 – present. Thesis title: The Use of Foetal Tissue for Medical Therapy. First Supervisor.
  • Ernesto Diaz (PhD candidate in Philosophy). MMU, October 2020 – present. Thesis title: Perspectivism and Wicked Problems: Patterns in the discovery process of Leibniz, Bohr, and Turing. Second Supervisor.

Master by Research

  • Peter Tuck, 1-year FT. (Philosophy). October 2020- present. Primary Supervisor.

Research outputs

I am interested in the significance of the first-person perspective in any domain where normativity, the sense that we all have of things going better or worse in a given context, is at issue. One way of describing this inquiry is to say that my research interests surround Particularism, a thesis that is often thought to be restricted to moral philosophy, but in fact its conception of rationality, which I term ‘situated evaluative thought’, is of a more general importance. I have published on aesthetic particularism, thick evaluative concepts, semantic contextualism, and objectivity in criticism. My current work concentrates on the methodological implications of particularism for debates about perspectivalism and objectivity in aesthetics and metaethics, as well as wider debates about the role of context and professional judgement in medicine and bioethics. I am also involved in work at the intersection between ethics and philosophy of perception, where I deploy the idea of situated evaluative thought to illuminate the notion of affordances and the idea of action-oriented perception.

Press and media

Media appearances or involvement

Newspaper article:

  • Bergqvist, A. (2012). ‘Freedom of Speech, Social Media, and Shamelessness’, Scotland Sunday Herald 1 April 2012. [Shortened on-line version published under a symposium entitled ‘Should we take the hatred out Twitter?’]