I discovered philosophy firstly through psychology and then religious studies. I love the “big questions” that have occupied philosophers from various traditions, such as: Does God exist? What can we know, and how can we know it? What is the nature of the mind? How should we live? These are questions that everyone considers from time to time. I don't claim to know the answers to any of these questions; for me, the actual answers - if there are any - are less important than discussion about what possible answers there might be.
B.A. (hons) Lancaster
M.A. Sheffield
Ph.D Lancaster
Before joining MMU, Lloyd taught Philosophy at the University of Wales, Lampeter, Lancaster University and the University of Central Lancashire. He has also worked as a Marketing Manager for an I.T. support company, and as a freelance I.T. consultant.
Leader of Intellectual History research cluster
Faculty co-ordinator for distance learning PhDs
Combined Honours programme leader
Introduction to the History of Philosophy (1st year)
Philosophy of Religion (2nd year)
Key texts in modern European philosophy (MA)
Ernesto Diaz (PhD)
Shandon Guthrie (PhD)
Jeff Law (PhD)
Karen Sieben (PhD)
Paige Simpson (PhD)
Jack Read (PhD)
Oxford University (Department for Continuing Education)
His principal research interests are Early Modern Philosophy (especially Leibniz), and Philosophy of Religion. He has recently completed two book projects, Leibniz's Legacy and Impact (Routledge, 2019) and Leibniz's Key Philosophical Writings: A Guide (Oxford University Press, 2020), and is currently finishing two others: Leibniz's Examination of the Christian Religion (for Oxford University Press) and Leibniz on Binary: The Invention of Computer Arithmetic (for MIT Press, co-authored with Harry R. Lewis, Gordon Mackay Professor of Computer Science at Harvard University). He also runs a website which contains many of his translations of Leibniz's writings: www.leibniz-translations.com . He would love to relax by lounging about, but doesn't seem to have the time for it these days.
L. Strickland (2023). Leibniz's Examination of the Christian Religion. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
L. Strickland, H. Lewis (2022). Leibniz on Binary: The Invention of Computer Arithmetic. MIT Press.
L. Strickland (2022). 100 Awesome Lateral Thinking Puzzles. Olympia.
L. Strickland, P. Lodge (2020). Leibniz’s Key Philosophical Writings: A Guide. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
L. Strickland, J. Weckend (2019). Leibniz’s Legacy and Impact. J. Weckend, L. Strickland. New York: Routledge.
L. Strickland (2018). Proofs of God in Early Modern Europe An Anthology. Waco, TX: Baylor University Press.
L. Strickland (2018). The Philosophical Writings of Prémontval. Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield.
L. Strickland, E. Vynckier, J. Weckend (2017). Tercentenary Essays on the Philosophy and Science of Leibniz. Palgrave.
L. Strickland (2016). Leibniz on God and Religion. London: Bloomsbury.
L. Strickland (2014). Leibniz's Monadology. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.
L. Strickland (2011). Leibniz and the Two Sophies. Toronto: CRRS, University of Toronto Press.
L. Strickland (2006). The Shorter Leibniz Texts. London: Continuum.
L. Strickland (2006). Leibniz Reinterpreted. Continuum.
L. Strickland (2024). Why did Thomas Harriot invent binary?. The Mathematical Intelligencer. 46(1), pp.57-62.
L. Strickland (2020). Prémontval’s “General Misunderstanding on the Question of Optimism”. Philosophical Readings. 12(2), pp.321-330.
L. Strickland (2019). Staying Optimistic: The Trials and Tribulations of Leibnizian Optimism. Journal of Modern Philosophy. 1(1), pp.1-21.
L. Strickland (2018). The problem of religious evil : does belief in God cause evil?. International Journal for Philosophy of Religion. 84(2), pp.237-250.
L. Strickland (2018). The “fourth hypothesis” on the early modern mind-body problem. Ergo. 5(25), pp.665-685.
L. Strickland (2016). Leibniz’s Egypt Plan (1671–1672): from holy war to ecumenism. Intellectual History Review. 26(4), pp.461-476.
L. Strickland (2016). Leibniz’s Harmony between the Kingdoms of Nature and Grace. Archiv fuer Geschichte der Philosophie. 98(3), pp.302-329.
L. Strickland, M. Church (2015). Leibniz's Observations on Hydrology: An Unpublished Letter on the Great Lombardy Flood of 1705. Annals of Science. 72(4), pp.517-532.
L. Strickland (2014). The “who designed the designer?” objection to design arguments. International Journal for Philosophy of Religion. 75(2), pp.87-100.
L. Strickland (2013). Philosophy and the Search for Truth. Philosophia. 41(4), pp.1079-1094.
L. Strickland (2011). Taking scripture seriously: Leibniz and the Jehoshaphat problem. The Heythrop Journal. 52, pp.40-51.
L. Strickland (2010). False Optimism? Leibniz, Evil, and the Best of all Possible Worlds. Forum Philosophicum. 15(1), pp.17-35.
L. Strickland (2010). The doctrine of 'the resurrection of the same body' in early modern thought. Religious Studies. 46(2), pp.163-183.
L. Strickland (2010). False Optimism? Leibniz, Evil, and the Best of all Possible Worlds. Forum Philosophicum. 15(1), pp.17-35.
L. Strickland (2009). Leibniz, The "Flower of Substance," and The Resurrection of The Same Body. The Philosophical Forum. 40(3), pp.391-410.
L. Strickland (2009). The Philosophy of Sophie, Electress of Hanover. Hypatia. 24(2), pp.186-204.
L. Strickland (2009). Leibniz on Eternal Punishment. British Journal for the History of Philosophy. 17(2), pp.307-331.
L. Strickland (2006). God's problem of multiple choice. Religious Studies. 42(02), pp.141-157.
L. Strickland (2005). How modern was Leibniz's biology?. Studia Leibnitiana. 37(2), pp.186-207.
L. Strickland (2021). Leibniz, Gottfried Wilhelm. S. Goetz, C. Taliaferro. In: The Encyclopedia of Philosophy of Religion. Wiley Blackwell,
P. Lodge, L. Strickland (2020). Introduction, including a sketch of Leibniz's life and philosophical works. In: Leibniz's Key Philosophical Writings: A Guide. pp.1-15.
L. Strickland (2020). Discourse on Metaphysics. P. Lodge, L. Strickland. In: Leibniz's Key Philosophical Writings: A Guide. Oxford: Oxford University Press (OUP),
L. Strickland (2017). Leibniz, Purgatory, and Universal Salvation. KKP. Vanhoutte, BW. McCraw. In: Purgatory: Philosophical Dimensions. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, pp.111-128.
L. Strickland, J. Weckend (2017). Leibniz's Philosophy and Science. In: Tercentenary Essays on the Philosophy and Science of Leibniz. Palgrave, pp.1-16.
L. Strickland (2017). How Leibniz would have responded to the Lisbon earthquake. L. Strickland, E. Vynckier, J. Weckend. In: Tercentenary Essays on the Philosophy and Science of Leibniz. Cham: Palgrave, pp.257-278.
L. Strickland (2015). The use of scripture in the beast machine controversy. D. Beck. In: Knowing Nature in Early Modern Europe. London: Pickering & Chatto, pp.65-82.
L. Strickland (2021). Review of "God, Evolution, and Animal Suffering" by Bethany Sollereder. Religious Studies. 57, 776-779.
L. Strickland (2021). Review of "The New Atheism, Myth, and History: The Black Legends of Contemporary Anti-Religion" by Nathan Johnstone. Numen. 68, 303-305.
L. Strickland (2018). Review of "Leibniz: Protestant Theologian" by Irena Backus. Renaissance Quarterly. 71, 1545-1546.
L. Strickland (2018). Review of "Rebirth and the Stream of Life" by Mikel Burley. Numen. 65, 617-619.
L. Strickland (2018). Review of "After we die: theology, philosophy, and the question of life after death" by Stephen T. Davis. International Journal for Philosophy of Religion. 83, 321-323.
L. Strickland (2017). Review of "Leibniz's Mill: A Challenge to Materialism" by Charles Landesman. Heythrop Journal. 58, 545-546.
L. Strickland (2011). Review of "John Locke and Personal Identity: Immortality and Bodily Resurrection in 17th-Century Philosophy". British Journal for the History of Philosophy. 19, 826-830.
Multicultural Philosophy. A 2-day conference held at Manchester Hall, 15-16 July 2019.
The Last Things. A 2-day conference held at the British School at Rome, 25-26 October 2018.
Leibniz - Legacy and Impact. A 1-day conference held at Manchester Metropolitan University, 5 November 2016.
Leibniz - Scientist, Leibniz - Philosopher. A 3-day conference held at the Lampeter campus of the University of Wales, Trinity Saint David, on 3 - 5 July 2015.
I have served as a reviewer for various journals, including Journal of the History of Philosophy, British Journal for the History of Philosophy, Analysis, Archiv für Geschichte der Philosophie, History of Philosophy Journal, Journal of Modern Philosophy, Philosophical Quarterly, History and Philosophy of the Life Sciences, Eighteenth Century Studies, Religions, Sophia, History of Philosophy & Logical Analysis, European Journal of Political Theory, Philosophical Psychology, Journal of the American Philosophical Association, Studies in Christian Ethics, Res Philosophica, Estetika etc. I have also served as a reviewer for presses such as Edinburgh University Press, Routledge, Brill, Palgrave, and Bloomsbury, as well as for promotion committees.
Gerda Henkel research scholarship (2022)
British Academy mid-career fellowship (2018).
British Academy small grant (2016/17).
Various conference grants (2014/15-16/17) from the Mind Association, the Aristotelian Society, British Society for the History of Philosophy, Analysis Trust, British Society for the History of Science, and the Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence.
Radio interview about the existence of God, Voice of Islam Radio, 26 March 2021.
"The best possible world: Leibnizian optimism in the secular West," IAI News, 26 February 2021.
"Why African philosophy matters and why we teach it," MMU comment piece, 12 October 2020.
Radio interview about Shona philosophy, Capitalk (Zimbabwe), 7 October 2020.
"Why I am teaching Shona philosophy in the UK" in Bulawayo 24 News, 30 September 2020.
"How western philosophy became racist" in IAI News, 8 January 2019.
"Four centuries of trying to prove God’s existence" in The Conversation, 17 August 2018. Republished in The Beachwood Reporter, 20 August 2018.
Radio interview about the history of attempts to prove the existence of God, BBC Radio 4, 12 August 2018
"Talk to atheists on their own terms" in Church Times, 20 July 2018, p13.
"Stephen King’s latest novel wrestles with the question of how to be in two places at one time" in The Conversation, 5 June 2018. Republished in Metro, 11 June 2018
"Western philosophy departments must open their minds," Times Higher Education (both print and online), 1 March 2018. Republished as an opinion piece on the MMU site.
"BBC’s boost to religious programming is a good idea – no matter what humanists say" in The Conversation, 10 January 2018. Republished in The Independent, 15 January 2018.
Radio interview about teaching religion and values to children and older audiences, BBC Radio Northampton, 7 January 2018.
Radio interview about BBC's new policy on religious programming, BBC Radio Stoke, 24 December 2017.
"Who will fund the NHS?", MMU comment piece, 6 June 2017.
"Dear Hillary… a philosopher’s guide to coping with disappointment" in The Conversation, 27 December 2016. This article was republished (in Romanian translation) in Digi 24, 4 January 2017.
"This could be the best of all possible worlds" in Church Times, 18 November 2016, p18.
"Answering the biggest question of all: why is there something rather than nothing" in The Conversation, 11 November 2016.
"Star Trek’s version of time travel is more realistic than most sci fi" in The Conversation, 29 July 2016. This article was republished (in German translation) in Netzpiloten Magazin, 9 August 2016.
"Why ignorance is bliss, or, how to have a tranquil 2016” in Met Magazine, Spring/Summer 2016, p.48.
"What makes a good bad guy? Ask a philosopher" in The Guardian, 21 January 2016. This article was republished (in Portugese translation) in Universo racionalista, 4 March 2018.
“Which philosopher would fare best in a present-day university?” in The Guardian, 30 October 2015.
“Slow burn impact” in Times Higher Education (both print and online), 2 April 2015.
“How would you fit everyone who has ever lived in one valley?” in The Conversation, 18 December 2014.
Member of the AHRC peer review college.
Have also reviewed for the British Academy, Newton Fund, and DAAD.
British Society for the History of Philosophy.