A view of singleton campus including singleton park and the beach, with the sea stretching into the horizon.

Dr Paddy McQueen

Senior Lecturer, Politics, Philosophy and International Relations

paddy.mcqueen@swansea.ac.uk

Office - 029
Ground Floor
James Callaghan
Singleton Campus

Available For Postgraduate Supervision

Research Links

https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9696-8654

About

I am a Senior Lecturer in Philosophy and the Programme Director for the Philosophy degree.

My main areas of research are in ethics, political theory and social philosophy. I am especially interested in the construction of identities and how they shape human behaviour and well-being. I have written on topics including the politics of recognition, feminism and gender theory, freedom, medical ethics, regret and transformative experiences.

I am currently working on topics in sexual ethics, the politics of the family and critical phenomenology.

I am very happy to supervise PhD projects exploring feminism, gender politics, political theory and applied ethics.

Areas Of Expertise

The politics of recognition
The ethics of identity
Freedom and autonomy
Applied ethics

Publications

Research Highlights

McQueen, P. (2024). Regret Oxford University Press.
SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa65815
Magri, E. & McQueen, P. (2022). Critical Phenomenology: An Introduction
SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa61875
McQueen, P. (2021). Sexual Interactions and Sexual Infidelity. The Journal of Ethics, 25
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10892-021-09359-1, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa56361
McQueen, P. (2019). Recognition and social freedom. European Journal of Political Theory, 147488511987185
https://doi.org/10.1177/1474885119871856, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa52051
McQueen, P. (2019). A Defence of Voluntary Sterilisation. Res Publica
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11158-019-09439-y, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa51891
McQueen, P. (2017). The Role of Regret in Medical Decision-making. Ethical Theory and Moral Practice, 20(5), 1051-1065.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10677-017-9844-8, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa48284
McQueen, P. (2017). Choosing to be changed: Revelation, identity and the ethics of self-transformation. Ethical Perspectives, 24(4), 545-568.
https://doi.org/10.2143/EP.24.4.3269042, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa48282
http://www.ethical-perspectives.be/page.php?FILE=ep_detail&ID=265&TID=2374
McQueen, P. (2017). When Should we Regret?. International Journal of Philosophical Studies, 25(5), 608-623.
https://doi.org/10.1080/09672559.2017.1381408, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa48280
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/09672559.2017.1381408?redirect=1
McQueen, P. (2017). Autonomy, age and sterilisation requests. Journal of Medical Ethics, 43(5), 310-313.
https://doi.org/10.1136/medethics-2016-103664, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa48279
https://jme.bmj.com/content/43/5/310
McQueen, P. (2016). Post-identity politics and the social weightlessness of radical gender theory. Thesis Eleven, 134(1), 73-88.
https://doi.org/10.1177/0725513616646024, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa48278

All Research

Journal Articles

McQueen, P. (2021). Sexual Interactions and Sexual Infidelity. The Journal of Ethics, 25
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10892-021-09359-1, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa56361
McQueen, P. (2019). Recognition and social freedom. European Journal of Political Theory, 147488511987185
https://doi.org/10.1177/1474885119871856, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa52051
McQueen, P. (2019). A Defence of Voluntary Sterilisation. Res Publica
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11158-019-09439-y, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa51891
McQueen, P. (2017). Choosing to be changed: Revelation, identity and the ethics of self-transformation. Ethical Perspectives, 24(4), 545-568.
https://doi.org/10.2143/EP.24.4.3269042, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa48282
http://www.ethical-perspectives.be/page.php?FILE=ep_detail&ID=265&TID=2374
McQueen, P. (2017). When Should we Regret?. International Journal of Philosophical Studies, 25(5), 608-623.
https://doi.org/10.1080/09672559.2017.1381408, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa48280
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/09672559.2017.1381408?redirect=1
McQueen, P. (2017). The Role of Regret in Medical Decision-making. Ethical Theory and Moral Practice, 20(5), 1051-1065.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10677-017-9844-8, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa48284
McQueen, P. (2017). Autonomy, age and sterilisation requests. Journal of Medical Ethics, 43(5), 310-313.
https://doi.org/10.1136/medethics-2016-103664, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa48279
https://jme.bmj.com/content/43/5/310
McQueen, P. (2016). Authenticity, intersubjectivity and the ethics of changing sex. Journal of Gender Studies, 25(5), 557-570.
https://doi.org/10.1080/09589236.2015.1063991, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa48272
McQueen, P. (2016). Feminist and trans perspectives on identity and the UK Gender Recognition Act. The British Journal of Politics and International Relations, 18(3), 671-687.
https://doi.org/10.1177/1369148116637998, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa48273
McQueen, P. (2016). Post-identity politics and the social weightlessness of radical gender theory. Thesis Eleven, 134(1), 73-88.
https://doi.org/10.1177/0725513616646024, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa48278
McQueen, P. (2015). Honneth, Butler and the Ambivalent Effects of Recognition. Res Publica, 21(1), 43-60.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11158-014-9260-z, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa48269
McQueen, P. (2014). Enslaved by one's body? Gender, citizenship and the ‘wrong body’ narrative. Citizenship Studies, 18(5), 533-548.
https://doi.org/10.1080/13621025.2014.923705, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa48300

Authored Books

McQueen, P. (2024). Regret Oxford University Press.
SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa65815
Magri, E. & McQueen, P. (2022). Critical Phenomenology: An Introduction
SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa61875
McQueen, P. (2015). Subjectivity, gender and the struggle for recognition (1st ed.). Palgrave.
https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137425997, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa49772
https://www.palgrave.com/gb/book/9781137425980
McQueen, P. (2010). Key Concepts in Philosophy Palgrave.
SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa48301

Book Chapters

McQueen, P. (2017). The promise and problem of recognition theory. The persistence of critical theory: Volume 8 of culture and civilization Routledge
SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa48302

Other Research Outputs

McQueen, P. (2011). Recognition, social and political
SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa48303

Supervision

Respect - Hannah Arendt and the Politics of Inclusion (current)

PhD

Other supervisor: Dr Anna Bortolan
From 'The will in Nietzsche and Schopenhauer' to 'The Eternal Recurrence of the Same and its Metaphysical significance' (current)

PhD

Other supervisor: Dr Fritz-Gregor Herrmann
Rethinking Reification in the Era of Late Capitalism: Between Marxism and Post-Structuralism (current)

PhD

Other supervisor: Dr Ashley Frawley

Other supervisor: Dr Gideon Calder
How the philosophy of Friedrich Nietzsche can be succinctly encapsulated within his Apollonian-Dionysian dichotomy (awarded 2023)

MA

Other supervisor: Dr Fritz-Gregor Herrmann

Taught Modules

FY-012 Introduction to Being Human

This module will focus on introducing what it is to be human from a broad humanities and social science perspective. It will offer the opportunity to engage with key ideas, theory and literature within these disciplines. It will therefore prepare students for further academic work in the humanities and social sciences and initiate the development of critical thinking and creative abilities.
HUP104 Living Well and Doing Good - An Introduction to Ethics

This module introduces students to key issues and theories within ethics. It examines some important moral thinkers, including Aristotle, Immanuel Kant and John Stuart Mill, along with Buddhist and Confucian ethics. It also explores the nature of well-being and what it means to live well. Finally, it considers concepts such as egoism and altruism, emotivism, relativism and objectivism. Underpinning this module is a focus on how we should live our lives and what our relationships with other people should be like.
HUP242 Freedom, Angst and the Embodied Self: Themes in Continental Philosophy

This module examines key thinkers and themes in the continental philosophy tradition, with a particular focus on phenomenology and existentialism. The authors that will be discussed include Edmund Husserl, Jean-Paul Sartre, Simone de Beauvoir, and Maurice Merleau-Ponty. In exploring these philosophers, students will address major themes such as embodiment, self-consciousness and the self, affectivity, anxiety, freedom, and interpersonal experience. The overarching aim is to consider the response of these thinkers to the fundamental issue of making sense of oneself and one¿s place in the world.
HUP243 Philosophy and the Enlightenment

This module explores key philosophical ideas as they developed through the age of the Enlightenment. The primary aim is to introduce students to major Enlightenment philosophers in order to see how their theories reflected and contributed to the social and intellectual developments of the time. This will also reveal how their ideas shaped, and to continue to shape, Western philosophy and society more generally. We will examine debates about, among other things, the nature of truth, knowledge, reality, God and the self. The philosophers addressed include Descartes, Locke, Hume and Kant. We will also consider critiques of the Enlightenment, including romantic, feminist and critical race perspectives.
HUP243A Philosophy and the Enlightenment

This module explores key philosophical ideas as they developed through the age of the Enlightenment. The primary aim is to introduce students to major Enlightenment philosophers in order to see how their theories reflected and contributed to the social and intellectual developments of the time. This will also reveal how their ideas shaped, and to continue to shape, Western philosophy and society more generally. We will examine debates about, among other things, the nature of truth, knowledge, reality, God and the self. The philosophers addressed include Descartes, Locke, Hume and Kant. We will also consider critiques of the Enlightenment, including romantic, feminist and critical race perspectives.
HUP244 Contemporary Moral Controversies

This module explores contemporary issues and controversies in moral and social philosophy. Its focus is primarily practical: it examines current debates about topics such as climate change, animal welfare, genetic engineering, artificial intelligence, public monuments, abortion and euthanasia. However, it will situate these issues within ethical theories, which are used to understand and to resolve them.
HUP244A Contemporary Moral Controversies

This module explores contemporary issues and controversies in moral and social philosophy. Its focus is primarily practical: it examines current debates about topics such as climate change, animal welfare, genetic engineering, artificial intelligence, public monuments, abortion and euthanasia. However, it will situate these issues within ethical theories, which are used to understand and to resolve them.
HUP318 Power, Knowledge and the Self

This module examines the interconnections between knowledge, power and the self, primarily through the work of the French political philosopher, Michel Foucault. It explores the ways that knowledge and truth are socially constructed and how processes of knowledge construction are shaped by relations of power. It also analyses how people¿s identities are situated within this power-knowledge relation. Specifically, it considers how the self (people¿s identities) are themselves the product of the operation of power within the domain of knowledge about the self. In other words, it considers how the self is structured by power and, hence, how the self is situated within processes of oppression and exclusion. Finally, it considers strategies for responding to the impact of power on the construction of knowledge and the self: how can we change how we understand ourselves and the world in order to counteraction operations of power and thus, ultimately, how to liberate people from oppression.

Dr Paddy McQueen

Email address

Research Links

About

Areas Of Expertise

Publications

Research Highlights

All Research

Journal Articles

Authored Books

Book Chapters

Other Research Outputs

Supervision

Respect - Hannah Arendt and the Politics of Inclusion (current)

From 'The will in Nietzsche and Schopenhauer' to 'The Eternal Recurrence of the Same and its Metaphysical significance' (current)

Rethinking Reification in the Era of Late Capitalism: Between Marxism and Post-Structuralism (current)

How the philosophy of Friedrich Nietzsche can be succinctly encapsulated within his Apollonian-Dionysian dichotomy (awarded 2023)

Taught Modules

FY-012 Introduction to Being Human

HUP104 Living Well and Doing Good - An Introduction to Ethics

HUP242 Freedom, Angst and the Embodied Self: Themes in Continental Philosophy

HUP243 Philosophy and the Enlightenment

HUP243A Philosophy and the Enlightenment

HUP244 Contemporary Moral Controversies

HUP244A Contemporary Moral Controversies

HUP318 Power, Knowledge and the Self