Mr James Earl

Assistant Professor of Humanities

Mr James Earl

James Earl teaches philosophy, specializing in religion and ethics.

James teaches one of the First Year Seminars, The Philosophy of Ethics. His other courses include Comparative World Religion and Introduction to Philosophy.

James believes in student-centered learning using conversation and discussion in an informal setting. He is a founder (with Doctor George Berguno) of the Ethical Pedagogy Group.

James is from London, and studied for his first degree in philosophy and art history at Middlesex Polytechnic (now Middlesex University). He has a somewhat unusual academic background in that, following his degree, he worked as a social worker for several years, training in family therapy at the Institute of Family Therapy, and also in drama therapy. He gained his Masters degree at the University of Sussex, and the Certificate of Training in Higher Education at London Guildhall University (now London Metropolitan University), where he was course coordinator for the first year political philosophy course.

James’s recent conference papers include a presentation to the Philosophy Society’s Annual Conference entitled ‘The Sufi Wedding Blessing,’ examining suffering, and two presentations to the Global Studies Association: ‘Secular Fundamentalism and the Market Imperative’, on the amorality of market economies, and ‘Violence in the Society of the Spectacle’, a Situationist reading of the war with Iraq. His various research interests include animal rights, gender, and Eastern philosophy. He has been called to Crown Court as expert witness on the nature of Sikh belief and practice.

James is also a professional jazz pianist and has headlined several times at Camden’s famous Jazz Cafe. He performs most weeks in London’s West End.

His favorite quote (at present) is ‘before enlightenment, cut wood, fetch water; after enlightenment, cut wood, fetch water.’