Professor Barry Dainton BSc, DPhil

Personal Statement

I studied for an undergraduate degree in Philosophy at City University (London), then for a DPHIL at Oxford, under John Foster.

My research interests are mainly in the Philosophy of Mind and Metaphysics. My doctoral thesis was on the nature of the self, and I continue to take an interest in this topic.
I'm interested in the nature of consciousness and its relationship with the rest of the universe, and have a particular fascination with the unity of consciousness - and its temporal features in particular. I'm also interested in the various metaphysical problems associated with time and space.

I welcome enquiries from prospective postgraduate students interested in studying topics related to any of my main research interests.

Prizes or Honours

• Visiting Fellow (RSSS, ANU, Canberra, 2006)

Funded Fellowships

Other Personal Distinctions

• "Bergson on Seeing, Dreaming and Being" (invited speaker at "Bergson and the Problems of Brain, Time and Memory" (8th International Colloquium of Project Bergson in Japan, 2016)
• (From Evil to Idealism" (invited contribution to "Mind and Metaphysics: A Conference in Honour of Howard Robinson") (Central European University, Budapest, 2016)
• "Subjects and Subjectivity: Reducible or Irreducible?’ (LOGOS conference on "The Sense of Mineness") (University of Barcelona, 2015)
• "Models of Time" (conference on "Conscious experience of time: its significance and interpretation in neuroscience and philosophy") (Berlin School of Mind and Brain, Humboldt University, 2014)
• "Time-Consciousness: From Brentano to Stern" (invitation to speak at "Consciousness and Intentionality: Franz Brentano's Heritage in Philosophy of Mind") (University of Salzburg, 2013)