Dr Edward Hall
Department of Politics and International Relations
Lecturer in Political Theory
+44 114 222 1709
Full contact details
Department of Politics and International Relations
G60
Elmfield Building
Northumberland Road
Sheffield
S10 2TU
- Profile
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Edward Hall joined the department in September 2014. He took an undergraduate degree in Philosophy and Politics at the University of Durham before moving to the University of Oxford to study for an MPhil in Political Theory. He then moved to the Government Department at the London School of Economics and Political Science to write a PhD on the political thought of Bernard Williams. He was employed as a Fellow in the Government Department at the LSE from September 2012 until September 2014.
His current research focuses on the realist critique of mainstream Anglo-American political philosophy, British political thought since the Second World War, and political ethics.
- Research interests
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My book - Value, Conflict, and Order: Berlin, Hampshire, Williams, and the Realist Revival in Political Theory - will be published by the University of Chicago Press in 2020.
I am currently co-editing a handbook - provisionally entitled Political Ethics: The State of the Field - with Andrew Sabl (University of Toronto), which is under contract with Princeton University Press.
This year, I am also embarking on a new project on political compromise.
- Publications
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Journal articles
- Integrity in democratic politics. The British Journal of Politics and International Relations, 20(2), 395-408. View this article in WRRO
- How to do realistic political theory (and why you might want to). European Journal of Political Theory, 16(3), 283-303. View this article in WRRO
- Ethics, morality and the case for realist political theory. Critical Review of International Social and Political Philosophy, 20(3), 276-290. View this article in WRRO
- Skepticism about unconstrained utopianism. Social Philosophy and Policy, 33(1-2), 76-95. View this article in WRRO
- Bernard Williams and the Basic Legitimation Demand: A Defence. Political Studies, 63(2), 466-480.
- Political Realism and fact-sensitivity. Res Publica.
- Hobbes's Liberty and Skinner's Discontent. Politics, 30(1), 11-17.
- Contingency, Confidence, and Liberalism in the Political Thought of Bernard Williams. Social Theory and Practice, 40(4), 545-569.
- Human rights, legitimacy, political judgement. Res Publica.
Book reviews
- Book Review: The Political Is Political: Conformity and the Illusion of Dissent in Contemporary Political Philosophy, by Lorna Finlayson. Political Theory, 46(2), 322-327.
- Why not. European Journal of Political Theory, 17(1), 109-117.
- Book Review: Michael Foley, Political Leadership: Themes, Contexts and Critiques. Political Studies Review, 15(1), 90-90.
- Integrity in democratic politics. The British Journal of Politics and International Relations, 20(2), 395-408. View this article in WRRO
- Research group
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I would be happy to supervise research in the following broad areas:
- Contemporary political theory
- Realist political thought
- History of modern political theory
- Political ethics
- Teaching activities
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I am an enthusiastic and approachable teacher. As a political theorist, I encourage my students to challenge their preconceptions about politics and ethics and ensure that they have the critical and analytical tools to both understand contemporary politics and to make convincing and coherent claims about how we might coherently wish politics to be.
In 2019-20, I am teaching the second-year module Political Theory in Practice (with Alasdair Cochrane), the third-year module The Ethics of Political Leadership, and the MA module Freedom.
- Professional activities
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- Co-convenor: 2017 Association for Social and Political Philosophy conference on ‘Political Ethics’, University of Sheffield, 27-29/06/2017
- Examiner: Introduction to Modern Political Thought and Contemporary Political Theory papers, University of London External Study Programme, 2012-2014
- Convenor: ‘Realism and Twentieth Century British Political Thought’ panel. MANCEPT Workshops in Political Theory, Ninth Annual Conference: 5th – 7th September 2012
- Founding committee member: Graduate/early career seminar in the history of political ideas. Institute of Historical Research (IHR), Senate House, University of London.
Recent invited papers and keynote lectures
- ‘All determination is negation: Stuart Hampshire and the vitality of conflict’, Political Theory and Cultural Values Seminar, University of Leeds, 08/03/2017
- ‘Skepticism about unconstrained utopianism’, Political Theory Seminar, University of York, 12/01/2016
- ‘Skepticism about unconstrained utopianism’, Social Philosophy and Policy conference, University of Arizona, 04/12/2015
- ‘Integrity in Politics’, Association for Social and Political Philosophy Conference, University of Amsterdam, 25/06/2015
- ‘How to do realistic political theory (and why you might want to)’, RIPPLE Seminar, KU Leuven, 02/04/2015
- ‘Realism as anti-moralism’, Conference on Political Realism, National University of Singapore, 09/01/2015
- ‘Political Theory and its Audience: A Realist Perspective’, Association of Legal and Social Philosophy Annual Conference, University of Leeds, 02/07/2014
- ‘Philp on Political Conduct: An Evaluation’, A celebration and critical evaluation of the work of Mark Philp, University of Oxford, 22/04/2014
- ‘Political Theory and its Audience: A Realist Perspective’, Doing Realist Political Theory: Beyond Critique Conference, University of Sheffield, 09/12/2013
- ‘Contingency, Confidence, and Liberalism in the Political Thought of Bernard Williams’, Realist Legitimacy Panel: MANCEPT Workshops in Political Theory, 06/09/2013
- ‘Williams, Dunn and the Realism Constraint’, Realism and Twentieth Century British Political Thought Panel, MANCEPT Workshops in Political Theory, 05/09/2012
- ‘The Limits of Bernard Williams’s Critique of Political Moralism’, Realism in Political Theory Conference, University of York, 16/11/2011
- ‘Facts, Principles and Political Philosophy’, Nordic Network on Political Ethics (NNPE) Conference on Normative Political Philosophy, Vejle, Denmark, 31/05/2011