Faculty – Department of Philosophy

Our People

Main Faculty

QU Hsueh Ming

Professor

Profile page: https://discovery.nus.edu.sg/5305-hsueh-ming-qu/about | https://nus.academia.edu/HsuehQu

Research Areas: Early Modern Philosophy, Kant

Brief Introduction

Hsueh Qu joined the Philosophy Department at NUS in 2015. Previously, he received his Ph.D. from New York University, and completed his undergraduate and B.Phil. at Oxford University. He is originally from Malaysia. His research interest is Early Modern, primarily the scholarship of David Hume; he also has interests in Kant, Ethics, and Metaphysics. In this, as in all his other endeavors, he asks you to forgive him his failings, for he is only Humean after all.

Peter Jeremy Roach MILLICAN

Professor

Research Areas: Early modern, computing and philosophy

Brief Introduction

Peter originally studied Mathematics at Oxford, but graduated in Philosophy and Theology before moving into postgraduate study in Philosophy (also at Oxford). After a brief spell lecturing in Philosophy of Religion at Glasgow, from 1985 until 2005 he lectured in Computer Science and Philosophy at Leeds University, where much of his work was devoted to building interdisciplinary links. In 2005 he became Gilbert Ryle Fellow at Hertford College, then Reader in Early Modern Philosophy in 2007, and Professor of Philosophy in 2010.

Peter is with the department half-time with Oxford.

Andrew M BAILEY

Professor

Profile page: https://discovery.nus.edu.sg/3670

Research Areas: Metaphysics, Epistemology, Philosophy of Mind, Philosophy of Religion

Brief Introduction

Prof. Bailey received his undergraduate degree from Biola University where he majored in Philosophy with a minor in Classics from Torrey Honors Institute. While at Biola University, he received the Delbert J Hanson Philosophy Major of the Year. Prof. Bailey completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Notre Dame, where he also completed his MA and PhD in Philosophy. Having spent the first 27 years of his life in the United States (West Coast, Midwest, Northeast), Prof. Bailey now sees Singapore as his adopted home. Prof. Bailey spends much of his free time exploring the city and its surrounding region. He also plays the keyboard and guitar.

Neil MEHTA

Professor

Profile page: https://discovery.nus.edu.sg/3659-neil-j-mehta

Research Areas: Philosophy of Mind, Epistemology

Brief Introduction

Prof Mehta is a philosopher of mind and epistemologist. He received his MA and PhD from the University of Michigan in 2008 and 2012 respectively, and an undergraduate degree from Swarthmore College in 2005.

As a philosopher, Prof Mehta thinks that consciousness is made up almost entirely of external properties; that perceptual experience has a normative role grounded in its proper function; and that knowledge sets the standard of epistemic success, but not of epistemic permissibility.

TANG Weng Hong

Associate Professor
Head of Department

Profile page: https://discovery.nus.edu.sg/1525

Research Areas: Epistemology

Teaching Areas: Epistemology, Philosophy of Mind, Philosophy of Probability

Ben Richard Kelsey BLUMSON

Associate Professor
Graduate Co-ordinator

Profile page: https://discovery.nus.edu.sg/1777-ben-richard-kelsey-blumson

Research Areas: Metaphysics, Philosophy of Language, Philosophy of Mind, Aesthetics

John HOLBO

Associate Professor

Profile page: https://discovery.nus.edu.sg/780

Research Areas: Philosophy and Literature, Greek Philosophy, Aesthetics, Kierkegaard, Nietzsche

LOY Hui Chieh

Associate Professor

Profile page: https://discovery.nus.edu.sg/785-huichieh-loy

Research Areas: Chinese Philosophy

Teaching Areas: Chinese Philosophy, Greek Philosophy

Brief Introduction

Loy Hui Chieh's primary interest centers around Early Chinese Philosophy, and most of his previous and current research are done in this field and in related researches on East Asia (e.g., history of science and technology and contemporary political ideas). Other interests include Ancient Greek Philosophy, Early Modern and Contemporary Ethics and Political Philosophy. He is currently on the editorial board for Chinese Comparative Philosophy for Philosophy Compass.

Michael Pelczar

Associate Professor

Profile page: https://discovery.nus.edu.sg/881

Research Areas: Philosophy of Mind, Philosophy of Language, Metaphysics

Brief Introduction

Michael Pelczar joined the Philosophy Department at NUS in 2001. Previously he taught at the University of Arizona in Tucson. He received his PhD from the University of Virginia in 2000 and his AB from Amherst College in 1993. His major ongoing project is the revival of phenomenalism, a theory that equates physical things with what J.S. Mill calls permanent possibilities of sensation. His personal website is at http://michaelpelczar.com.

Neiladri SINHABABU

Associate Professor

Profile page: https://discovery.nus.edu.sg/1779

Research Areas: Ethics, Nietzsche, Political Philosophy, Metaphysics, Philosophy of Mind and Action

Teaching Areas: Ethics, Nietzsche, Political Philosophy, Metaphysics, Philosophy of Mind and Action

Brief Introduction

Neil develops desire-based explanations of reasoning and action in Humean Nature, which Oxford University Press published in 2017. His previous work defending the Humean theory of motivation has appeared in Philosophical Review and Noûs. He's also written on philosophy of mind, epistemology, Nietzsche, and romantic relationships with people in other possible worlds. He received his Ph.D from the University of Texas at Austin in 2008 and his B.A. from Harvard University in 2001. His research is available at PhilPapers. His personal website is at www.neilsinhababu.com.

Saranindra Nath TAGORE

Associate Professor
Honours Co-ordinator
SEP Co-ordinator

Profile page: https://discovery.nus.edu.sg/620

Research Areas: Indian Philosophy, Continental Philosophy, Philosophy of Religion

Brief Introduction

Saranindra Nath Tagore is primarily interested in Indian Philosophy and Continental Philosophy. Integrating these interests, he is currently working on the idea that cosmopolitan theory should attend to alternative conceptions of modernity.

Some visiting affiliations:

Visiting Scholar, Munk Center for International Studies, University of Toronto, Summer, 2005
Cordinate Research Scholar, Harvard Yenching Institute, Harvard University,1st August, 2009 to 31st December. 2009.
Affiliate Fellow, South Asia Initiative, Harvard University (2009-2010)

Abelard PODGORSKI

Associate Professor

Profile page: https://discovery.nus.edu.sg/8305

Research Areas: Ethics, Greek Philosophy

Brief Introduction

Before coming to NUS, Abelard received his PhD in philosophy from the University of Southern California, and his BA in mathematics and philosophy from Michigan State University. His primary research interests are in rationality, normative ethics, metaethics, and epistemology. His major recent projects concern the role of idealization in normative theory and the development of a process-oriented model of rationality. His website is found here.

Isaac WILHELM

Associate Professor
Deputy Head of Department

Profile page: https://discovery.nus.edu.sg/20834

Research Areas: Metaphysics, Philosophy of Science, Philosophy of Physics

Teaching Areas: Metaphysics, Philosophy of Science, Philosophy of Physics, Feminist Philosophy, Epistemology, Logic, Philosophy of Biology

AY 2020-21 Modules

Semester 1 – PH3243 Chance and Uncertainty (To Be Confirmed)
Semester 2 – PH3217 Women in Philosophy, PH4201 Philosophy of Science

Brief Introduction

I joined the NUS philosophy department in 2021. I received my Ph.D. in philosophy from Rutgers, where I also earned an M.S. in mathematics. My research aims to understand the structure of reality and our place within it. I focus on metaphysics, philosophy of science, and philosophy of physics, though I have several related projects in epistemology, feminist philosophy, philosophical logic, and social philosophy as well.

Matthew D WALKER

Associate Professor

Profile page: https://discovery.nus.edu.sg/3660-matthew-daniel-walker

Research Areas: Greek Philosophy

Brief Introduction

Matthew D Walker received his PhD in Philosophy from Yale University and his BA in Philosophy from Amherst College. Before joining Yale-NUS, Assoc Prof Walker was an American Council of Learned Societies New Faculty Fellow in Philosophy at Rutgers University, New Brunswick, a post-doctoral fellow in the Ethics of Virtue at the University of Miami, and a participant in ‘Traditions into Dialogue: Confucianism and Contemporary Virtue Ethics’, a National Endowment for the Humanities Summer Seminar. He was also a Visiting Fellow at the Bodleian Libraries, University of Oxford. Assoc Prof Walker has served on the American Philosophical Association Committee on International Cooperation, and is a member of the Mellon Philosophy as a Way of Life Network. He is the author of Aristotle on the Uses of Contemplation (Cambridge University Press).

Ethan JERZAK

Assistant Professor

Profile page: https://discovery.nus.edu.sg/15883

Research Areas: Epistemology, Philosophy of Language, Philosophical Logic

Brief Introduction

Ethan came to NUS in Fall 2019. Before that, he was at Berkeley getting a PhD in philosophy. Before that, he was an undergraduate at the University of Chicago. He works on philosophy of language, philosophical logic, epistemology, and certain areas in ethics. He has enduring interests in the history of philosophy, including Kant, Nietzsche, Kierkegaard, Frege, and Wittgenstein.

Lavinia PICOLLO

Assistant Professor

Profile page: https://discovery.nus.edu.sg/19619

Research Areas: Philosophy of Logic, Philosophy of Mathematics, Metaphysics, Philosophy of Language

Teaching Areas: Logic, Philosophy of Logic, Philosophy of Mathematics, Metaphysics

Moonyoung SONG

Assistant Professor

Profile page: https://discovery.nus.edu.sg/21320

Research Areas: Aesthetics, Ethics

Daniel WAXMAN

Assistant Professor

Profile page: https://discovery.nus.edu.sg/19616

Research Areas: Philosophy of Mathematics, Political Philosophy, Logic, Ethics, Metaphysics

Zachary GOODSELL

Assistant Professor

Profile page: http://www.zacharygoodsell.com/

Research Areas: Logic, decision theory, epistemology and the philosophy of probability, ethics, metaphysics, the philosophy of mathematics, and the philosophy of language.

Brief Introduction

I am assistant professor of philosophy at the National University of Singapore. In the 2023-24 academic year I was Bersoff Faculty Fellow at New York University. My doctorate is from the University of Southern California, completed in 2023. Before that I studied at the University of Sydney and the University of Queensland in Australia.

My research interests include logic, decision theory, epistemology and the philosophy of probability, ethics, metaphysics, the philosophy of mathematics, and the philosophy of language.

Cathay LIU

Senior Lecturer

Profile page:

Research Areas: Early Modern Philosophy, especially Descartes

Neil BARTON

Lecturer

Profile page:

Research Areas: Philosophy of Mathematics, Mathematical Logic, Epistemology

Teaching Areas: Computational Reasoning, Logic, Philosophy of Science, Philosophy of Language

Brief Introduction

After my undergraduate and masters at University College London, I completed my PhD at Birkbeck in 2017, before postdoctoral stints at Universität Wien, Universität Konstanz, and Universitetet i Oslo. I joined NUS in 2024.

I’m primarily concerned with the philosophy and foundations of mathematics (though I have interests in several areas of philosophy and have worked on epistemology, the philosophy of science, and the philosophy of religion). I investigate different systems (both philosophical and mathematical) for representing our mathematical reasoning and results, and compare and contrast their features. In particular, I’m interested in issues surrounding pluralism and perspectivism; the idea that there might be more than one legitimate point of view to take on mathematical reality.

Anu SELVA-THOMSON

Lecturer

Profile page:

Research Areas: Philosophy of Education (Inclusivity, Pedagogy, AI), Neurodivergence, Mental Health, Epistemology, Philosophy of Mind (Cognition and Motivation), Existentialism and Phenomenology

Teaching Areas: Philosophy of Education, Philosophy of Mind, Existentialism and Phenomenology, Integrated Humanities, History of Philosophy, Feminist Philosophy and Philosophy of Care

Brief Introduction

I hold a PhD in Philosophy from the University of York (UK) and have over 20 years of teaching experience across secondary and tertiary classrooms. My research focuses on the philosophy of education, mind and epistemology, as well as neurodivergence, inclusivity, and mental health. I am also interested in existentialism and phenomenology, particularly in the work of Sartre, Beauvoir, Levinas and Heidegger. My forthcoming book, "A Philosophical Account of the Love for Learning", explores how vulnerability, wholeheartedness, flow, motivation, and cognitive control can cultivate a resilient and authentic love for learning.

I have a postgraduate diploma in education (PGDE) from the National Institue of Education (Singapore) and am certified in inclusive teaching, teaching neurodiverse students, and counselling support for ADHD and autism. I regularly consult on and lead workshops that bring Universal Design for Learning (UDL), inclusive pedagogies and reflective practices into teaching and learning. In addition to teaching, I have worked in strategic roles in the UK’s cultural and arts sectors, bringing those creative and interdisciplinary perspectives into my academic work.

LEE Wang Yen

Lecturer

Profile page: https://discovery.nus.edu.sg/7950-wang-yen-lee

Research Areas: General Philosophy of Science, Epistemology, Bayesianism

Teaching Areas: Logic, Effective Reasoning, Philosophy of Science

AY 2020-21 Modules

Semester 1 – GEK2048/GET1026 Effective Reasoning
Semester 2 – GEM2006/GET1028 Logic, GEM2025/PH2201 Introduction to Philosophy of Science

Brief Introduction

Lee Wang Yen has a PhD in philosophy of science from the University of Cambridge. Prior to joining NUS Department of Philosophy, he taught Logic and Critical Thinking, Philosophy of Science, Critical Thinking in Economics, and Philosophy and Methodology of Research at undergraduate and graduate levels at the Faculty of Science and Faculty of Economics and Administration, University of Malaya. He was a senior research fellow/research co-ordinator at the University of Oxford in 2013-14. He hopes to resume his monograph project on an objective Bayesian account of probabilistic inference, for which he was awarded a Templeton World Charity Foundation grant. He is interested in philosophy of science, epistemology, logic, metaphysics, philosophy of religion, philosophy of mind, philosophy of language, and ethics. His journal articles are in philosophy of science, epistemology, and philosophy of religion.

Daryl OOI

Lecturer

Profile page: https://discovery.nus.edu.sg/20479

Research Areas: Early Modern Philosophy, Chinese Philosophy, Philosophy of Religion, Singapore Studies

Teaching Areas: Everyday Ethics in Singapore, Chinese Philosophy, Philosophical Pedagogy

AY 2022-23 Modules	Semester 1 – GESS1029/GES1041 Everyday Ethics in Singapore Semester 2 – GESS1029/GES1041 Everyday Ethics in Singapore
Brief Introduction	I'm an instructor and doctoral candidate at the National University of Singapore. My primary areas of interest include Early Modern Philosophy (David Hume), Chinese Philosophy, Moral Philosophy, Moral Psychology and the Philosophy of Religion.

Melvin NG

Instructor

Profile page: https://discovery.nus.edu.sg/26329-han-wei-melvin-ng

Research Areas: Metaethics, Epistemology

Teaching Areas: Applied ethics

Brief Introduction

I join the Philosophy department in NUS in 2024. I received my PhD from NUS, which constitutes a defence of moral error theory. My research interest is in metaethics and whichever adjacent fields that leads to. My teaching areas are mainly in applied ethics and interdisciplinary subjects. I currently teach an interdisciplinary course on CRISPR, Medical Ethics and Everyday Ethics in Singapore.

Before NUS, I was a Philosophy teacher at a local secondary school for 10 years. I am interested in pedagogy and various aspects of the teaching of philosophy.

WANG Kuangrong

Research Associate

Profile page: https://kuangrongwang.github.io

Research Areas: German Idealism, particularly Schelling’s speculative philosophy and Fichte’s Theory of Knowledge (Wissenschaftslehre). Dialogues between German Idealism, the German Romanticism (Jacobi, Novalis, Schlegel) and 19th-century philosophy (Schopenhauer, Nietzsche). Classical metaphysics, particularly the metaphysical theory of the absolute (das Absolute) and its relation to human beings. Transcendental philosophy.

Teaching Areas: Critical Theory and Hermeneutics, Introduction to Continental Philosophy, Topics in Western Philosophy, History of Western Philosophy, Kant’s Philosophy

Brief Introduction

I received my PhD in Philosophy from the University of Bonn in Germany in 2025, and I joined the National University of Singapore in the same year. My primary area of research is German philosophy, particularly the German Idealism (Fichte, Schelling, and Hegel) and 19th- and 20th-century German philosophy. My doctoral dissertation focused on the philosophy of Schelling.
Beyond historical scholarship, my current philosophical interests include topics such as death, emotion, and embodiment. I approach these themes with the aim of revisiting a classical Kantian question in a contemporary context: What is the human being? In addition, I also have a strong interest in music philosophy.

Joint Faculty

YEO Shang Long

Assistant Professor
Centre for Biomedical Ethics

Profile Page: https://discovery.nus.edu.sg/11436-shang-long-yeo

Teaching Areas: Ethics, Political Philosophy, PPE (Philosophy, Politics, and Economics)

Research Areas: Normative Ethics, Metaethics, PPE (Philosophy, Politics, and Economics)

Brief Introduction

I'm Shang Long Yeo, an Assistant Professor with the Centre for Biomedical Ethics, with a joint appointment with the Department of Philosophy. Previously I was a senior tutor at NUS, and completed an NUS Overseas Postdoctoral Fellowship at Monash University in 2023. I received my PhD in philosophy from the Australian National University in 2020, and a BA(Hons) in philosophy and economics from NUS in 2015. My work is generally in moral and political philosophy. My current research interests include: the reliability of moral judgments and its implications for policy and practice, the ethics of nudging, and how philosophy, politics, and economics interact to inform public policy.

Joel CHOW

Lecturer
NUS College

Profile page:https://discovery.nus.edu.sg/3328-ken-q-joel-chow

Research Areas: Philosophy, Politics, and Economics; Political Philosophy; Political Epistemology

Teaching Areas: Philosophy, Politics, and Economics; Political Philosophy

Brief Introduction

I’m a lecturer teaching both at the philosophy department and NUS College. My primary research interests are in moral and political philosophy, social epistemology, and pedagogical research.

Publications

“Political Philosophy and Political Persuasion”, Australasian Philosophical Review, 4 (1): 80 – 86 (2020).

“On Political Instrumentalism and the Justification of Democracy”, Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society 118 (3): 387 – 397 (2018).

“The Internet and the Democratic Imagination: Deweyan Communication in the 21^st Century”, Contemporary Pragmatism 10 (2): 49 – 79 (2013).

Jonathan Y. H. SIM

Lecturer
NUS Learning & Development

Profile page: https://discovery.nus.edu.sg/13806-jonathan-y-h-sim

Research Areas: Computational Reasoning, Chinese Philosophy

AY 2020-21 Modules

Semester 1 – GET1050 Computational Reasoning
Semester 2 – GET1050 Computational Reasoning

Brief Introduction

Jonathan Y. H. Sim is a Lecturer with the Department of Philosophy, at the National University of Singapore, where he teaches Computational Reasoning and Classical Chinese Philosophy to both undergraduates and working professionals. For his passion in teaching and his effective teaching methods, Jonathan received the Faculty Teaching Excellence Award (FTEA) in 2019 and 2021. He has a special interest in crossing beyond disciplinary boundaries in the search for fascinating new insights to address age-old problems, and has worked with Nobel Laureates and many top academics around the world to publish books on critical world issues, such as “Grand Challenges for Science in the 21st Century” (2018), “Buying Time for Climate Action” (2021), and “Fit for Purpose? The Futures of Universities” (2022). For his passion in sharing the joys of philosophy, and his knowledge across a spectrum of applied issues, he has been invited to discuss philosophical issues about AI, technology, and society for Channel News Asia, the Financial Times, and the South China Morning Post.

Courtesy Joint Appointments

CHONG Chi Tat

University Professor
Department of Mathematics

Profile page: https://discovery.nus.edu.sg/24

Research Areas: Computability Theory

Julian SAVULESCU

Professor
Yong Loo Lin School Medicine

Profile page: https://discovery.nus.edu.sg/18430-julian-savulescu

Research Areas: Medical ethics, gene ethics, neuro ethics, AI ethics/tech ethic

Brief Introduction

Professor Julian Savulescu is the Chen Su Lan Centennial Professor in Medical Ethics and Director for the Centre for Biomedical Ethics at the Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore (NUS). He is an award-winning ethicist and moral philosopher trained in neuroscience, medicine, and philosophy who has held the Uehiro Chair in Practical Ethics at the University of Oxford since 2002.He is a Visiting Professorial Fellow in Biomedical Ethics at Murdoch Children’s Research institute and Distinguished International Visiting Professor in Law at the University of Melbourne where he leads the Biomedical Ethics Research Group. He is also a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences, Fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities, and received an honorary doctorate from the University of Bucharest.

James Ernest PENNER

Professor
Faculty of Law

Research Areas: Moral and political philosophy, philosophy of law, philosophy of rights and legal reasoning, law of trusts

Teaching Areas: Philosophy of law, law of trusts

Brief Introduction

James Penner (BSc Genetics UWO; LLB Toronto; DPhil Oxford) is Kwa Geok Choo Professor of Property Law in the Faculty of Law, NUS. His D.Phil thesis formed the basis of The Idea of Property in Law (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1997) which won the 1997 Society of Public Teachers of Law First Prize for Outstanding Scholarship by a Younger Scholar (now renamed the ‘SLS Peter Birks Prize’). His research interests include the philosophy of property and the law of trusts, and writes more widely in the areas of private law and the philosophy of law, with particular emphasis on the philosophy of rights and the nature of legal reasoning. His most recent monograph is Property Rights: A Re-Examination (2020, Oxford University Press).

Andrew SIMESTER

Professor
Faculty of Law

Profile page: https://discovery.nus.edu.sg/1343-ap-simester

Research Areas: Legal philosophy, criminal law, and restitution

Brief Introduction

Professor Andrew Simester is currently Amaladass Professor of Criminal Justice at the National University of Singapore’s Faculty of Law (NUS Law). He is the Dean of NUS Law from 1 January 2023.A world-leading researcher in criminal law and theory, Prof Simester joined NUS in 2006 from the UK, where he taught at the University of Cambridge and the University of Nottingham.

Prof Simester’s main interests lie in the fields of legal philosophy, criminal law, and restitution. He has published in these areas in every major common law jurisdiction and his writings in criminal law and theory have been cited by senior appellate courts throughout the world.

In recognition of his research in criminal law and theory, Prof Simester was elected in 2007 to a fellowship at Wolfson College, University of Cambridge; he has also held an honorary professorship at the University of Oxford. In 2019, Prof Simester received an honorary doctorate from Uppsala University in Sweden. Since 2015, he has held the Edmund-Davies Chair in Criminal Law at King’s College London, where he has taught on a part-time basis.

Prof Simester graduated from the University of Auckland, New Zealand, with a Bachelor of Commerce (1987) in Accounting, Finance, and Computer Science, and a Bachelor of Laws (1989). He received his PhD in 1994 from the University of Oxford, where he was a Commonwealth Scholar.

Among other previous international appointments, Prof Simester was a Member of the Advisory Board at the Centre for Penal Law and Penal Theory, University of Cambridge (2000–12). He also sits on various editorial boards, notably the Oxford Journal of Legal Studies and Criminal Law and Philosophy. His latest book, Fundamentals of Criminal Law, has been the subject of multiple international conferences, including a forthcoming special issue of Criminal Law and Philosophy

Brian David EARP

Associate Professor
Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine

Profile page: https://www.brianearp.com/

Research Areas: Practical Ethics, Bioethics, Ethics of AI, Experimental Philosophy, Philosophy of Science and Medicine, Philosophy of Technology, Philosophy of Psychology, Philosophy of Sex, Love and Gender

Teaching Areas: Practical Ethics, Bioethics, Ethics of AI

Brief Introduction

Brian comes to NUS from the University of Oxford (Senior Research Fellow, Faculty of Philosophy and Honorary Faculty Member in Psychology, 2021-2023), following a PhD in Philosophy and Psychology from Yale University (Benjamin Franklin Graduate Fellow, 2016-2021), and a year in residence as a Presidential Scholar at The Hastings Center, a bioethics institute in Garrison, New York (2015-2016). Prior to that, Brian studied History and Philosophy of Science, Technology, and Medicine at the University of Cambridge (MPhil, 2013-2014), Research Methods in Psychology at Oxford (MSc, 2010-2011), and Cognitive Science with a concentration in Philosophy at Yale (BA, 2005-2010). For many years, Brian worked as a professional actor and singer alongside a career in academia. With Julian Savulescu, Brian is the author of Love Drugs: The Chemical Future of Relationships (Stanford University Press, 2020). Brian is a member of the UK Young Academy of the British Academy and the Royal Society

Christine TAN

Lecturer
NUS College

Profile page: https://discovery.nus.edu.sg/20622

Research Areas: Chinese Philosophy (Classical Chinese Philosophy, Daoism, Neo-Daoism/Wei-Jin Xuanxue, Chan Buddhism, Continental Philosophy (Psychoanalysis, Post-structuralism, Critical Theory), Social Epistemology, Post-colonialism

Teaching Areas: Philosophy and Political Thought 1 and 2, Conceptions of Freedom in Classical Chinese Philosophy, Readings in Neo-Daoism, Perspectives on Gender in Chinese Philosophy, Global Narratives

Brief Introduction

Dr Christine Tan is a Filipino-born philosopher whose main areas of expertise are Chinese and Comparative Philosophy in general, and Daoist philosophy in particular. Before that, she did her MA and BA at the University of Santo Tomas, Philippines, where her areas of focus were psychoanalysis and post-structuralist philosophy. Dr Tan has published extensively in Chinese philosophy (with a specific focus on Zhuangzi and Guo Xiang). Her work has spanned a variety of epistemological themes from classical and medieval Chinese textual analysis to problem-driven treatments of traditionally Euro-centric issues such as freedom and autonomy. This includes published journal articles on Chinese Buddhism, Confucianism, and Daoism. Ultimately, her goal is to push the boundaries for how we understand selfhood, agency, and community from inter-cultural and truly global lenses.

Jane LOO

Lecturer
NUS College

Profile page: https://janeloo.com/

Research Areas: Metaphysics

Teaching Areas: Metaphysics

Yunus Adi Prasetya

Lecturer
NUS College

Profile page: https://discovery.nus.edu.sg/22704-yunus-adi-prasetya/publications

Research Areas: General philosophy of science, epistemology, philosophy of AI

Teaching Areas: Philosophy of science, Science and society, epistemology

Senior Lecturer
NUS College

Profile page:

Research Areas:

Teaching Areas:

Bart Van WASSENHOVE

Senior Lecturer
NUS College

Profile page:https://discovery.nus.edu.sg/10991-bart-van-wassenhove

Research Areas: Ancient Greek and Roman philosophy, particularly Roman Stoicism, Global Narratives, Moral Emotions in Everyday Life, and Technologies of the Self: from Socrates to Self-Help

Lecturer
NUS College

Profile Page: https://philpeople.org/profiles/david-merry

Research Areas: Ancient Greek & Roman Philosophy, Normative Ethics, Meta-Ethics, Applied Ethics (esp. medical ethics & environmental ethics).

Teaching Areas: Environmental Philosophy & Policy, Happiness and Understanding Nature

Brief Introduction

David is a lecturer at NUS College. His work primarily looks at dialectic in Ancient Greek and Roman philosophy, and its role (or lack thereof) in the justification of theories of happiness. He has also written about trust in molecular medicine, deception in therapeutic applications of mindfulness, and xenophobia in Plato's treatment of foreign residents in the Laws. He is currently exploring the implications of recent work on animal well-being and diversity on neo-Aristotelian naturalism. He holds an MA from the University of Auckland and a PhD from the Humboldt University of Berlin.

Phillip John MEADOWS

Senior Lecturer
NUS College

Profile page: https://discovery.nus.edu.sg/24740-phillip-john-meadows

Research Areas: Philosophy of Perception; Philosophy of Mind and Cognitive Science; Metaphysics (especially of absences)

Teaching Areas: Philosophy of Mind and Cognitive Science, Philosophy of Perception, Metaphysics, Early Modern Philosophy

Shalom CHALSON

Research Fellow
Yong Loo Lin School Medicine

Profile page: shalomchalson.com

Research Areas: Moral Philosophy, Social Philosophy, Political Philosophy

Teaching Areas: Moral Philosophy, Social Philosophy, Political Philosophy, Bioethics, Feminist Philosophy, Philosophy of Law

Brief Introduction

I am a Research Fellow at the Centre for Biomedical Ethics in the Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore. In 2025, I completed my PhD in Philosophy at the Australian National University. I also hold a Master’s in Political Science from NUS and a BA(Hons) in Philosophy from Nanyang Technological University. My research interests are in moral, social, and political philosophy. In particular, I am interested in questions to do with discrimination and social inequality. You can find my personal website here.

Other Faculty

TEN Chin Liew

Emeritus Professor

Profile page: https://discovery.nus.edu.sg/23972

Research Areas: Legal Philosophy, Political Philosophy, Moral Philosophy

Brief Introduction

Ten Chin Liew (C.L. Ten) is a professor of philosophy whose main interests are in legal and political philosophy, especially in issues relating to liberty and toleration. Recent appointments include: Professor of Philosophy (Personal Chair) Monash University; Invitation Fellow, Japan Society for the Promotion of Science; Honorary Consultant, Law Reform Commission of Victoria; Visiting Professor, Graduate School, City University of New York; Adjunct Professor, Centre for Applied Philosophy and Public Ethics, Charles Sturt University, Canberra Campus. He was elected a Fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities (FAHA) in 1989, and a Fellow of the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia (FASSA) in 2000. In October 2018 the Philosophy Department, Chinese University of Hong Kong, organised an "International Workshop on Punishment and J.S. Mill -- Themes from C.L. Ten",Prof Ten gave the keynote address on "Mill's Legacy" and commented on all the papers which related to his works on Mill and punishment. He also gave a paper to graduate students on "Pluralism: Berlin v. Dworkin".

Our People

Main Faculty

QU Hsueh Ming

Professor

Peter Jeremy Roach MILLICAN

Professor

Andrew M BAILEY

Professor

Neil MEHTA

Professor

TANG Weng Hong

Associate ProfessorHead of Department

Ben Richard Kelsey BLUMSON

Associate ProfessorGraduate Co-ordinator

John HOLBO

Associate Professor

LOY Hui Chieh

Associate Professor

Michael Pelczar

Associate Professor

Neiladri SINHABABU

Associate Professor

Saranindra Nath TAGORE

Associate Professor Honours Co-ordinator SEP Co-ordinator

Abelard PODGORSKI

Associate Professor

Isaac WILHELM

Associate ProfessorDeputy Head of Department

Matthew D WALKER

Associate Professor

Ethan JERZAK

Assistant Professor

Lavinia PICOLLO

Assistant Professor

Moonyoung SONG

Assistant Professor

Daniel WAXMAN

Assistant Professor

Zachary GOODSELL

Assistant Professor

Cathay LIU

Senior Lecturer

Neil BARTON

Lecturer

Anu SELVA-THOMSON

Lecturer

LEE Wang Yen

Lecturer

Daryl OOI

Lecturer

Melvin NG

Instructor

WANG Kuangrong

Research Associate

Joint Faculty

YEO Shang Long

Assistant ProfessorCentre for Biomedical Ethics

Joel CHOW

LecturerNUS College

Jonathan Y. H. SIM

Lecturer NUS Learning & Development

Courtesy Joint Appointments

CHONG Chi Tat

University ProfessorDepartment of Mathematics

Julian SAVULESCU

ProfessorYong Loo Lin School Medicine

James Ernest PENNER

ProfessorFaculty of Law

Andrew SIMESTER

ProfessorFaculty of Law

Brian David EARP

Associate ProfessorYong Loo Lin School of Medicine

Christine TAN

LecturerNUS College

Jane LOO

LecturerNUS College

Yunus Adi Prasetya

LecturerNUS College

Jonathan FROME

Senior LecturerNUS College

Associate Professor
Head of Department

Associate Professor
Graduate Co-ordinator

Associate Professor
Honours Co-ordinator
SEP Co-ordinator

Associate Professor
Deputy Head of Department

Assistant Professor
Centre for Biomedical Ethics

Lecturer
NUS College

Lecturer
NUS Learning & Development

University Professor
Department of Mathematics

Professor
Yong Loo Lin School Medicine

Professor
Faculty of Law

Professor
Faculty of Law

Associate Professor
Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine

Lecturer
NUS College

Lecturer
NUS College

Lecturer
NUS College

Senior Lecturer
NUS College

Senior Lecturer
NUS College

Lecturer
NUS College

Senior Lecturer
NUS College

Research Fellow
Yong Loo Lin School Medicine