Dr Toby Handfield
Ph.D. (Monash, 2003)
Email: toby.handfield@arts.monash.edu.au
Career Highlights:
- Visiting Scholar, MIT (Fall 2009)
- Vice-Chancellor's Award for Teaching Excellence (2008)
- ARC Postdoctoral Fellowship, "Chance and Necessity in the Physical Sciences" 2006–2009
- CEU Summer School in Philosophy of Physics (2006)
- British Academy Visiting Fellowship, at University of Bristol (Autumn 2005)
Research Interests:
I have a wide range of research interests, from philosophy of physics to moral theory and political philosophy.
Currently I am working on a number of projects:
As part of an ARC Discovery Project (with Stephen Barker), I am working on a book-length account of objective chance. In particular, I am trying to account for the time-asymmetry of objective chance, and to relate this to other temporal asymmetries (causation, entropy, knowledge, and the like).
In collaboration with Patrick Emerton, I am working on topics related to the morality of warfare.
In collaboration Daniel Cohen, I have been working recently on moral psychology and how rational agents can cope with choices between incommensurate goods, or between goods which vary in their attractiveness over time. We also have some plans to work on act consequentialism and the nature of causation.
I have had a longstanding interest in dispositional properties, causation, and laws of nature. I recently edited a book, published with OUP, on these topics.
Recently I have become interested in population ethics and what duties we owe to future generations.
Finally, in 2009 I have commenced a new ARC Discovery Project with Graham Oppy, Jeremy Butterfield, Alexander Bird, and Barry Loewer, on "Neglected Problems of Time". This project will investigate a number of topics in the philosophy of physics and metaphysics of time.
Publications and works in progress are available on my personal webpage.
Teaching activities:
I regularly teach PHL1010 (Introduction to Philosophy A) and other units in ethical theory and political philosophy. This year I am going to be co-teaching new unit, HRY1010 (Human Rights Theory 1), which is the first unit to be offered as part of a new major in Human Rights Theory. I also regularly teach honours seminars relating to topics of current research interest.
With my colleague Sam Butchart, I have been trying out the Peer Instruction method of lecturing for the last few years. We have put together some helpful resources for those who are interested in the method here.