Contact:
Lauren Ware
Dept. of Philosophy
3 Charles Street
Edinburgh, EH8 9AD
United Kingdom
L . Ware @ ed.ac.uk

Hello! I’m a PhD candidate and Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada Doctoral Fellow in the University of Edinburgh Philosophy Department. I specialise in Ancient Philosophy (Plato, mainly), and the role of the emotions in generating moral action. I’m also really interested in moral and political philosophy more generally, and am currently developing a project on moral enhancement in neuroethics. I am supervised by Theodore Scaltsas.

I have a background in the history of political theory, and before my postgraduate research, I worked on strategic policy and judicial appointments as special assistant to the Prime Minister in HM Canadian Government. I believe a crucial part of both good government and good citisenship is getting to grips with the underlying principles of justice, the good life, prudence, freedom, power, and love. I spent much of my undergraduate time at Trinity Western and Oxford Universities thinking about justice in Plato’s Republic, and have devoted my postgraduate work to delving into the metaphysics of Erôs in the ancient world. In 2012, I served as Deputy Chair of the British Postgraduate Philosophy Association’s 16th Annual Conference; and I also jointly run the Aesthetics Reading Group, this term on jazz music.

I’m originally from Oakville, Ontario, and grew up in California. I’m pretty smitten with Van Morrison and Debussy, and my dream dinner party would include Machiavelli, Oscar Wilde, Hillary Clinton, Prince Charles, and Audrey Hepburn. And Plato, obviously.