Associate Professorship (or Professorship) of Philosophy

Somerville College and the Faculty of Philosophy are recruiting an Associate Professor or Professor of Philosophy, to start from 1 September 2027 or as soon as possible thereafter.

The successful candidate will have a research record that includes work in Metaethics and/or Normative Ethics, an area of competence in at least one further area of Ethics (including Metaethics, Normative Ethics, History of Modern Ethics, or Moral Psychology), and an area of competence in either Political Philosophy or Philosophy of Language. 

The successful candidate (henceforth ‘postholder’) will have the potential to enhance the high reputation of the Faculty of Philosophy in research, will have a proven record of internationally recognised scholarship and research in metaethics appropriate to their career stage, and will provide a high standard of research-led teaching at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels.

For the Faculty, the postholder will deliver 16 lectures or classes per year, will be able to offer lectures and classes in metaethics and in normative ethics, and will supervise graduate students (both at the Masters and at the Doctoral level). The postholder will participate in examining, and will play a full and active role in Faculty administration. The postholder will pursue their research and enhance their international reputation.

For the College, the postholder will be required to give eight hours of tutorial teaching each week during term time (averaged over the year), to share in organizing the tuition and pastoral care of students studying for joint schools (i.e., joint degree courses) involving Philosophy, and to participate in the 2 August 2026 administrative work of the College.  

The successful candidate will be a Tutorial Fellow at Somerville College. Oxford Colleges are self-governing multi-disciplinary academic communities which offer members the opportunity to engage with scholars across a wide range of academic fields. This role will include teaching undergraduates in tutorials of groups of 1, 2, or 3 and contributing to the running of the College through membership of the Governing Body. Oxford’s students are carefully selected to be very capable and are very rewarding to teach in this highly interactive format. The successful candidate will play a key role in selecting the students in joint degrees involving Philosophy that the post-holder may subsequently teach.

If you would like to discuss this post and find out more about joining the academic community at Oxford, please contact either the Chair of the Philosophy Faculty Board, Professor Mark Wrathall ([email protected]) or the Senior Tutor at Somerville College, Dr Stephen Rayner ([email protected]). All enquiries will be treated in strict confidence and will not form part of the selection decision.

Closing date for all elements of application: 12 noon (UK time) on Thursday 10 December 2026.