Dr Matthew Burch

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Email
mburch@essex.ac.uk -
Telephone
+44 (0) 1206 872708
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Location
6.145, Colchester Campus
Profile
Biography
Matt Burch took his PhD in philosophy at Rice University and spent a postdoctoral year at the University of Wuppertal. His research and teaching interests lie at the intersection of phenomenology and the cognitive and social sciences. And his current research projects focus on failures of agency (e.g., akrasia and addiction), the phenomenology of risk, and the ideal of objectivity in science and law. He has worked on several projects with the Essex Autonomy Project (EAP), including an AHRC-funded project on the compliance of the Mental Capacity Act (2005) and the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, and the Wellcome Trust-funded Mental Health and Justice project. In September 2018, he will embark on his Early Career Research Fellowship awarded by the Independent Social Research Foundation. That project – ‘The Theory of Risk and the Practice of Care: Bridging the Gap” – is also associated with the EAP.
Research and professional activities
Research interests
Matt works on issues at the intersection of phenomenology
action theory
and research in the cognitive and social sciences.
Current research
The stance of objectivity in legal contexts
the question of risk in the care professions
Teaching and supervision
Current teaching responsibilities
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The World in Question: The Social, Cultural, Political & Environmental Legacies of the Enlightenment (CS201)
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Dangerous Ideas: Essays and Manifestos as Social Criticism Capstone (CS301)
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Dangerous Ideas: Essays and Manifestos as Social Criticism (CS305)
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Introduction to Philosophy (PY111)
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Philosophy and Religion (PY407)
Previous supervision

Degree subject: Philosophy
Degree type: Doctor of Philosophy
Awarded date: 5/7/2019
Publications
Journal articles (8)
Burch, M. and Furman, K., (2019). Objectivity in Science and Law: A Shared Rescue Strategy. International Journal of Law and Psychiatry. 64, 60-70
Burch, M., (2018). Making Sense of Akrasia. Phenomenology and the Cognitive Sciences. 17 (5), 939-971
Burch, M., (2017). Autonomy, Respect, and The Rights of Persons with Disabilities in Crisis. Journal of Applied Philosophy. 34 (3), 389-402
Burch, M., (2016). Religion and scientism: a shared cognitive conundrum. International Journal for Philosophy of Religion
Burch, M., (2013). The Existential Sources of Phenomenology: Heidegger on Formal Indication. European Journal of Philosophy. 21 (2), 258-278
Burch, M., (2010). Blurred vision: Marion on the ?possibility? of revelation. International Journal for Philosophy of Religion. 67 (3), 157-171
Burch, M., (2010). Death and Deliberation: Overcoming the Decisionism Critique of Heidegger's Practical Philosophy. Inquiry. 53 (3), 211-234
Burch, M., (2009). The Twinkling of an Eye - Kierkegaard and Heidegger on the Possibility of Faith. American Catholic Philosophical Quarterly. 83 (2), 219-238
Book chapters (2)
Burch, M., (2020). Giving a Damn About Getting it Right: Heideggerian Constitutivism and Our Reasons to be Authentic. In: Transcending Reason: Heidegger on Rationality. Editors: Burch, M. and McMullin, I., . Rowman & Littlefield. 978-1786609588
Burch, M., (2019). Against Our Better Judgment. In: Normativity, Meaning, and the Promise of Phenomenology. Editors: Burch, M., Marsh, J. and McMullin, I., . Routledge. 9781138479913
Reports and Papers (1)
Martin, W., Michalowski, S., Jütten, T. and Burch, M., (2014). Achieving CRPD Compliance: Is the Mental Capacity Act of England and Wales compatible with the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disability? If not, what next?
Grants and funding
2017
The Theory of Risk and the Practice of Care: Bridging the Gap
Independent Social Research Foundation
2016
Mental Health and Justice
Wellcome Trust