Liam Livesley

I am a PhD candidate in philosophy at the University of Southampton, UK.

My research is mostly in the philosophy of disability.

L.A.Livesley [at] soton.ac.uk
 PhilPapers |  Southampton

Research

My doctoral work defended a radical social constructionist account of disability. I argue that we can secure important resources for the anti-ableist political project by understanding disability as a kind of subordination in virtue of being believed to have a defective body. This is an ameliorative view, set against the traditional medical & social models of disability. It was funded by an AHRC Studentship from the South, West & Wales Doctoral Training Partnership, and supervised by Alex Gregory, Havi Carel & Naomi Thompson.

I'm interested in most aspects of disability, but I also have broader interests across social & political philosophy, including:

  • Conceptual engineering – particularly of socio-political concepts, and the politics of engineering
  • Social ontology & social construction
  • Speech, harm, violence & oppression
  • The political thought of J. S. Mill

  • Talks

    Justice as a Constraint on Conceptual Engineering
    28th Oxford Philosophy Graduate Conference, University of Oxford | Nov '24
    ASPP Annual Conference, Swansea University | Jul '24
    BPPA Annual Conference, University of York | Oct '23

    Disability as Subordination
    MANCEPT Disability & Justice Workshop, University of Manchester | Sep '24
    Radical Disability Politics: A Global Dialogue, University of Brighton | Jun '24
    Social Ontology 2023, Stockholm University | Aug '23

    Making Sense of Disability Pride
    Understanding Value XII, University of Sheffield | Jul '24
    LSE Graduate Conference in Political Theory, LSE | May '24

    Disability, Social Construction, and the Disappearing Body
    CAPPE Interventions in Disability Politics Seminar, University of Brighton | Feb '24

    Reasonable Adjustment, COVID-19, and Crises in Disability Justice
    Nordic Network on Disability Research 16th Research Conference, Reykjavík | May '23

    Teaching

    I have previously taught on:

  • Southampton PHIL3041: Happiness and Wellbeing (2024/25).
  • Southampton LIBA1002: Truth, Knowledge, and Objectivity (2024/25).
  • Southampton PHIL1005: Ethics (2023/24; 2022/23; 2021/22).

    I've also done a bit of consulting work on bringing philosophy of disability, and disability studies, into modules; do get in touch if you'd like to chat about that.