Professor Nigel Tubbs

Biography

Nigel Tubbs was a comprehensive school teacher in West and East Sussex, and in Leicestershire, before joining King Alfred's College in 1992 where he set up the Education Studies programme. More recently he has been part of the development of degree programmes in Liberal Arts at both undergraduate and postgraduate level, which carry the idea of liberal arts degrees as explorations in first principles grounded in a notion of philosophical education. 

Nigel works on the relation between philosophy and education. His publications have explored how their relationship affects the concept of 'the teacher', the concept of 'education,' the definition of what counts as 'philosophy', and the shape of the history of western philosophy more generally. He is now researching ways in which an educational logic can challenge the logic of mastery that has shaped western social and political life for 2,500 years.

Areas of expertise

Philosophical education, education theory, liberal arts, western philosophy, the philosophy of the teacher, modern 'educational logic'.

Publications

Books

• 2021, Socrates On Trial, Bloomsbury
• 2018, Contradiction of Enlightenment: Hegel and the Broken Middle, reprinted in Routledge Revivals Series
• 2017. God, Education, and Modern Metaphysics: the logic of 'know thyself', Routledge Research in Religion and Education Series
• 2017. Istorije Zapadne Filozofije, Nova knjiga (Serbia)
• 2017. Bati Felesefesi Tarihi, Dogubati (Turkey)
• 2014.  Philosophy and Modern Liberal Arts: Freedom is to learn, Palgrave
• 2014. ??????? Philosophy of the Teacher, Shandong University Press (China)
• 2009.  History of Western Philosophy, Palgrave
• 2008.  Education in Hegel, Continuum
• 2005.  Philosophy of the Teacher, Blackwell
• 2004.  Philosophy's Higher Education, Kluwer
• 1997.  Contradiction of Enlightenment: Hegel and the Broken Middle, Ashgate
• 1996.  The New Teacher, Fulton

Recent articles

• 2022, 'Retrieving the universalism of critical sociologyAdorno, Hegel, and Rose,' Berlin Journal of Critical Theory, vol. 6, no. 3, July.
• 2022, 'The Myth of Aufheben', Radical Philosophy, 2.12 Spring.
• 2022, Socrates, who should have a higher education? The Return of Socrates
• 2022, 'Socrates, should politicians tell the truth?'   The Return of Socrates
• 2021, 'Preserving the wonder as we widen access,' WONKHE, Nov 10th, https://wonkhe.com/blogs/preserving-the wonder-as-we-widen-access
• 2021, 'Review of Mason Marshall's Reading Plato's Dialogues to Enhance Learning and Inquiry, Religion and Education, https://doi.org/10.1080/15507394.2021.1961659
• 2019 'The New Dark Age', https://www.liberalarts.org.uk/the-new-dark-age/
• 2019 'Fascisms then, and now? Arendt and the Origins of Totalitarianism', https://www.liberalarts.org.uk/fascisms-then-and-now-arendt-origins-of-totalitarianism/
• 2018 "Postmodernism Know Thyself," Educational Philosophy and Theory, 50: 14
• 2018 'Green Metaphysics: a sustainable and renewable liberal arts education'  Educational Philosophy and Theory, vol 50, no. 11, pp. 1068-1074.
• 2018 'My Friend Ilan Gur Ze'ev',  Studies in Philosophy and Education, vol. 37, no. 2, pp. 195-206.
• 2017 'Freedom is to Learn: Education for its own sake,' Back to the Core: Rethinking Core Texts in Liberal Arts and Sciences Education in Europe,  Vernon Press.
• 2016  ‘Epistemology as Education’, Education Sciences 6.4 (41) http://www.mdpi.com/2227-7102/6/4/41/htm
• 2015 'Gillian Rose and Education' Telos, no. 173, Winter 2015, pp. 125-143.
• 2015, 'Return of the Teacher', In Search of Subjectivities: An Educational Philosophy and Theory Teacher Education Reader, Volume II, London, Taylor and Francis.
• 2014 ‘Humanitas, Metaphysics and Modern Liberal Arts’ Educational Philosophy and Theory, Volume 46, Issue 5, April 2014, pages 488-498.
• 2014 'Hegel', Encyclopedia of Educational Theory and Philosophy, ed. DC Phillips, London, Sage Publications, pp. 364-7; http://knowledge.sagepub.com/view/encyclopedia-of-education-theory-and-philosophy/n161.i1.xml
• 2014 ‘Howard Caygill on resistance: ecce homo’ Journal for Cultural Research, Volume 18, Issue 4, 2014, pp. 370-383.
• 2013  ‘Existentialism and Humanism: Humanity Know Thyself!’ in  Studies in Philosophy and Education, September 2013, Volume 32, Issue 5, pp 477-490.
• 2013  ‘The Value of the Arts’  Journal of Philosophy of  Education, vol. 47, Issue 3,  pages 441456.
• 2011 ‘Know Thyself: Macrocosm and Microcosm’ in  Studies in Philosophy and Education,vol. 30. No. 1.
• 2010 ‘Towards and New Critical Language in Education’ in  The Possibility/Impossibility of a New Critical language in Education, Ed. Ilan Gur Ze’ev, Rotterdam: Sense Publishers.
• 2010. 'Response to Ross Abbinnett's Review of Education in  Hegel', Studies in Philosophy and Education, vol. 29, no.1, pp. 97-100
• 2009. 'Philosophy and Authority', in  Educational Dimensions of Educational Administration and Leadership, London, Routledge
• 2006. 'Education and the free market', in  Education Studies: an Issue-based Approach, Exeter, Learning Matters
• 2005. 'Fossil Fuel Culture',  Parallax 37, 11:4. November
• 2005. 'The Philosophy of Critical Pedagogy', in  Critical Theory and Critical Pedagogy Today - Toward a New Critical Language in Education. (ed.) Gur-Ze'ev, l., University of Haifa
• 1999.  ‘Hegel and the Philosophy of Education’ The Encyclopaedia of Educational Philosophy and Theory (EEPAT), http://eepat.net/doku.php?id=hegel_and_philosophy_of_education_ii

Conference papers

• 2022 'Return of Socrates' PESGB Annual Conference, Oxford, UK.
• 2022 'Re-educating thinking; a review of Philip Kitcher's Main Enterprise of the World' PESGB Annual Conference, Oxford, UK
• 2019 ‘The Metaphysics of Character’, III European Liberal Arts And Core Texts Education Conference, Pamplona, Spain
• 2018 ‘Can the examined life be led in the classroom?’, East London Science School Staff Training.
• 2018 ‘Educational Philosophy and fascisms’, London Institute of Education, Philosophy of Education Seminar Series
• 2017  ‘Liberal Arts: Know Thyself’, Association of Core Texts and Courses Annual Conference, Dallas, USA. 
• 2017  ‘Vocation, Freedom and Learning’, Association of Core Texts and Courses Annual Conference, Dallas, USA
• 2016 'Green Metaphysics, sustainable liberal arts education' European Liberal Education Students Conference, Leuphana, Germany.
• 2016 'Liberal Arts for Teachers' Association of Core Texts, Atlanta, USA.
• 2015 'Education for its own sake', Liberal Arts and Sciences Education and Core Texts in the European Context Conference, Amsterdam.
• 2014 'Modern Liberal Arts', The Future of Liberal Arts,  King's College London, October.
• 2014 ‘Dante: a modern divine comedy’, Association of Core Texts, Los Angeles, USA.
• 2014 ‘Core texts and liberal arts in Europe’,  Association of Core Texts, Los Angeles, USA.
• 2013  Symposium on humanities in the 21st century, University of Oxford, March 
• 2013  ‘Thinking in the Severe Style,’ Kingston University, London.
• 2011  ‘Freedom is to Learn,’ Trinity College Dublin, June.
• 2011  ‘Existentialism and Humanism: humanity, know thyself,’ Bergen University, Norway, September.
• 2011  ‘Theory and Education for its own sake,’ Contesting Education and Research seminar (PESGB), Sheffield University, December.
• 2010  ‘Potential and Actual Education’ London Institute of Education, November.