Heidegger’s Conception of Freedom: Beyond Cause and effect
September 2024 – A monograph treating Heidegger’s conception of freedom in Being and Time and the texts and essays published in its wake. Published with Palgrave Macmillan
“This eloquent book convincingly presents the question of freedom as a key to understanding Heidegger’s thought through Being and Time towards the Kehre. In so doing, it gives us a fruitful context in which to interpret this pivotal and defining moment of his thinking.” (Felix Ó Murchadha, Personal Professor of Philosophy, University of Galway)
“Towering above the swamp of books on Heidegger a work finally tackles, develops and expands Heidegger’s theory of freedom in a systematic fashion. Matthew Barnard’s work is scholarly, rigorous and original and will transform how we understand Heidegger’s philosophy, and most importantly our understanding of the nature of freedom itself.” (Dr Patrick O’Connor, Associate Professor in Philosophy, Staffordshire University)
Keywords: Heidegger, Freedom, Existentialism
On Freedom: Bergson After Kant
November 2021 – A chapter in the edited volume, The Bergsonian Mind, part of the ‘Routledge Philosophical Minds’ series. The volume is edited by Mark Sinclair and Yaron Wolf
A limitation that Kant and Bergson share is that if freedom is to be defended by carving out a space where determinism, though still existent, cannot get to it, then it necessarily creates a gulf between the experience of freedom and the world of language. And, while Bergson’s later work builds a bridge over that gulf, it is still there.
Keywords: Bergson, Kant, Freedom
What can the Stoics and Epicurus teach us during lockdown?
April 2020 – A public-facing article for Neos Kosmos, a Greek-Australian magazine.
I would say the truly Epicurean response to this lockdown, then, is for governments to continue to bring in measures to protect peoples’ homes and livelihoods, so that we can have health. If we all have food and shelter, then we can create the space to know ourselves better, finding happiness in our own skin.
Keywords: Stoics, Epicurus, COVID-19
Coronavirus: what philosopher Immanuel Kant can teach us about panic buying
March 2020 – A public-facing article for The Conversation.
The root cause of this reluctance to put society before myself is that Kant – and some governments – are calling on a population that has committed to individualism to act in the collective interest.
Keywords: Kant, COVID-19, state power
Power and Freedom in Heidegger’s First Notebook
Nov 2019 – An academic article in the Journal of the British Society for Phenomenology, part of a special issue on Heidegger and the Block Notebooks.
To let be does not mean an act of will that permits beings to be what they are, it means allowing being to empower beings, in contrast to avoiding and suppressing that power. As such, not only is Heidegger’s earlier concept of power different to the later, it is its opposite.
Keywords: Heidegger, freedom, power, Heidegger’s Black Notebooks
The Birth of Celebrity Culture out of the Spirit of Philosophy
April 2018 – A public-facing article for Philosophy Now, in a special issue on Heidegger.
So Greek culture aimed at becoming part of its descendants’ past, while celebrity culture aims at enduring in our descendants’ present – constantly present for all eternity. The former affirms the contingency of this world by aiming at entering history, while the latter attempts to escape history by remaining in the present.
Keywords: Heidegger, Celebrity Culture, Onto-Theology
Facebook Files: Does Content Have A Right To Express Itself?
May 2017 – A public-facing article for Huffington Post.
While freedom of expression has very clear exceptions when that expression causes harm, if you believe that available content is a self-demonstrating good, you will not want to censor even the most harmful of content.
Keywords: Facebook, digital privacy, freedom of expression, philosophy of technology
Review: Peter Trawny – Freedom to fail: Heidegger’s anarchy
April 2016 – A book review for the British Journal for the History of Philosophy
Trawny’s text takes the philosophical issues involved in the publication of the SH head on, using an aphoristic style to force the reader to genuinely think about the controversy themselves. It provides a positive, consistently Heideggerian interpretation that neither blindly defends Heidegger nor arrogantly writes him off.
Review: Paul Veyne Foucault: His Thought, His Character
January 2012 – A book review for the Journal of the British Society for Phenomenology, as part of a special issue on Michel Foucault.
Though this book will not help someone with the specific intent of trying to understand Foucault’s philosophical position, I would recommend it to anyone with a wider interest in Foucault’s politics and character. Indeed, it would be unfair to put too much emphasis on the theoretical problems of the book. I do not think their explanation was its primary purpose. Rather the book is meant to encourage historians to write in the manner of Foucault.