Colin Farrelly
Professor | Sir Edward Peacock Professor of Political Theory
He/Him
PhD (Bristol); MA, BA (McMaster)
Political Studies & Philosophy
Political Theory
Professor | Sir Edward Peacock Professor of Political Theory
Colin Farrelly Curriculum Vitae
Colin is a political theorist and philosopher.
Research Interests
The foundational aspiration of Colin鈥檚 research is the advancement of the Enlightenment Project into the 21st century. The themes of reason, science, progress, and optimism inform his curiosity-driven research interests and interdisciplinary focus.
Main research interests are: Ethics and political theory/philosophy, including distributive justice; ideal/non-ideal theory; history of political thought, deliberative democracy; all things virtue-related: virtue ethics, virtue epistemology, and virtue jurisprudence; Analytical Marxism; play; science and justice - especially the biomedical sciences (e.g. genetics, evolutionary biology, 鈥済eroscience鈥 and the ethics of human enhancement).
Colin Farrelly is interested in supervising students interested in research projects at the intersection of political theory and advances in the biomedical sciences and/or public health ethics and policy.
Brief Biography
Colin received his Ph.D. from the University of Bristol in England in 1999. Over his 20-year academic career, he has held academic appointments in 10 different departments in Political Science, Philosophy, and Public Policy in England, Scotland, the United States, and Canada. Previous appointments include Visiting Professor in UCLA鈥檚 Luskin School of Public Affairs, Fulbright Visiting Research Chair at the University of Manoa in Hawaii, Research Fellow in the Department of Politics and International Relations at Oxford University, Visitor in Oxford鈥檚 Program on Ethics and the New Biosciences, as well as permanent academic appointments at Waterloo University, Manchester University and the University of Birmingham. For the past 5 years, Colin has been involved in teaching philosophy to male inmates.
The author and editor of 6 books and approximately 50 journal articles, Colin鈥檚 publications include articles in journals in political science, philosophy, feminism, law, science, and medicine. He has published on a diverse array of topics, including the health challenges posed by population aging, the creation and evolution of patriarchy, virtue ethics, virtue epistemology, virtue jurisprudence, play and politics, freedom of expression, judicial review, non-ideal theory, gene patents, deliberative democracy, nanotechnology, sex selection, toleration, a citizen鈥檚 basic income, enhancing soldiers and economic incentives.
Colin is currently working on the following three major research projects:
- a new textbook titled Classics in Political Philosophy for Today (under contract with Hackett Publishing) which covers a range of political thinkers from Plato through to MLK, Jr. The book encourages students to engage with, and critically reflect upon, the contemporary significance of the history of Western political thought.
- research for a new manuscript on the social significance of 鈥済eroscience鈥- the science of healthy aging. This multi-year project examines the limitations of public health鈥檚 鈥淲ar Against Disease鈥- covering not only the war against infectious diseases (such as COVID-19), but also the wars against cancer and obesity. It also canvasses the progression of a century of experimental scientific research on modulating aging, from dietary restriction and genetic manipulation in laboratory organisms, to pharmacological interventions in humans.
- developing an account of a 鈥渞ealistic utopia鈥 that focuses on the developmental potential of play- physical, social, and imaginative play. This project relies on insights from evolutionary biology and positive psychology, as well as philosophy and the history of political thought.
Teaching
For detailed information about political studies courses and instructors, please refer to the Undergraduate and Graduate pages.
Service (2024/2025)
- The Sir Edward Peacock Professor of Political Theory
- Appointments Committee
- Departmental Committee
- Field Convenor (Theory)
- Renewal, Tenure and Promotion (RTP) Committee
Selected Publications
Books:
(Hackett Publishing, forthcoming September 2024).
(Polity Books, 2018)
(Cambridge University Press, 2016).
(co-edited with Lawrence Solum) (Basingstoke: Palgrave MacMillan, 2008).
(Basingstoke: Palgrave MacMillan, 2007).
(London: Sage Publications, 2004).
(editor) (London: Sage Publications, 2004).
Sample of Journal Articles and Book Chapters:
Colin Farrelly, 鈥淔rom Sanitation Science to Geroscience: Public Health Must Transcend 鈥楩olkbiology鈥欌 (forthcoming) Public Health Ethics.
Colin Farrelly (2023). 鈥淕eroscience and climate science: Oppositional or complementary?鈥. Aging cell, 22(8), e13890. []
Colin Farrelly, 鈥淚dealism and Imagination in the Medical Sciences of an Ageing World鈥 Journal of Medical Ethics 2023, 49(4): 271-74. []
Colin Farrelly (2023). Geroscience and Public Health's Plastic "Ecology of Ideas". The journals of gerontology. Series A, Biological sciences and medical sciences, 78(5), 793鈥797. []
Colin Farrelly (2022). Aging, Equality and the Human Healthspan. HEC forum : an interdisciplinary journal on hospitals' ethical and legal issues, 1-19. []
Colin Farrelly, 鈥淧ost-Protean鈥 Public Health and the Geroscience Hypothesis鈥 (forthcoming) Aging and Disease.
Colin Farrelly, 鈥淟ongevity Science and Women鈥檚 Health and Wellbeing.鈥 Journal of population ageing, 1-20. 30 Jan. 2023. []
Colin Farrelly, 鈥淔raming Longevity Science and an 鈥淎ging Enhancement鈥濃 in The Routledge Handbook of the Ethics of Human Enhancement (edited by Fabrice Jotterand, Marcello Ienca) (Routledge: 2023).
鈥淩esponsible Biology, Aging Populations and the 50th Anniversary of the 鈥淲ar on Cancer鈥濃 Biogerontology 2021 Aug;22(4):429-440 ().
鈥淗ow Should We Theorize 成人大片 Justice in the Genomic Era?鈥 in Politics and the Life Sciences 40(1) (2021): 106-25.
"50 Years of the War on Cancer: Lessons for Public Health and Geroscience鈥 Geroscience. 2021 Jun;43(3):1229-1235 ().
鈥淐OVID-19, Biogerontology and the Ageing of Humanity鈥 The Journals of Gerontology. Series A, Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences, 2021, 76(8), e92鈥揺96. ().
Tyler J. Vander Weele, Claudia Trudel-Fitzgerald, Paul Allin, Colin Farrelly et al. 鈥淐urrent Recommendations on the Selection of Measures for Well-being鈥 Preventive Medicine Vol 133, April 2020.
Tyler J. Vander Weele, Claudia Trudel-Fitzgerald, Paul Allin, Colin Farrelly et al. 鈥淏rief Well-being Assessments, or Nothing at All? Preventive Medicine Vol 135, June 2020.
鈥淭oleration, 鈥淢indsight鈥 and the Epistemic Virtues鈥 (forthcoming) in The Palgrave Handbook on Toleration.
鈥淧ositive Biology鈥 and Well-Ordered Science鈥 in Measuring Well-Being: Interdisciplinary Perspectives from the Social Sciences and the Humanities (edited by Matthew Lee, Laura Kubzansky, and Tyler VanderWeele) (Oxford University Press, forthcoming in 2020).
鈥淭he 鈥淔ocusing Illusion鈥 of Rawlsian Ideal Theory鈥 in John Rawls: Debating the Major Questions (edited by Sarah Roberts-Cady and Jon Mandle) (Oxford University Press, forthcoming in 2020).
鈥淚nsulating Soldiers from the Emotional Costs of War: An Ethical Analysis鈥 forthcoming in Transhumanizing War: Performance Enhancement and the Implications for Policy, the Soldier, and Society (eds. C. Breede, S. von Hlatky and S. B茅langer) (McGill-Queen鈥檚 University Press, 2019).
鈥淎ging, Geroscience and Freedom鈥 Rejuvenation Research 22(2) 2019: 163-170.
"Gene Patents and the Social Justice Lens鈥 American Journal of Bioethics 18(12) (2018): 49-51.
鈥淰irtue Epistemology and the Democratic Life鈥 in The Oxford Handbook to Virtue (edited by Cynthia Snow) (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2017).
鈥淛ustice and Life Extension鈥 in End-of-Life Ethics (edited by John Davis) (New York, NY: Routledge Publishing, 2016).
鈥淚nternational Political and Economic Structures: Book Symposium Contribution on Mathias Risse鈥檚 On Global Justice鈥 The Ethics Forum 8(2) (2013): 41鈥52.
鈥淓mpirical Ethics and the Duty to Extend the Biological Warranty Period鈥 Social Philosophy and Policy 30 (2013): 480-503.
鈥淧lay and Politics鈥 Journal of Political Science Education 9(4) (2013): 487-500.
鈥淣ormative Theorizing about Genetics鈥 Cambridge Quarterly of Healthcare Ethics 22(4) (2013): 408-419.
鈥淲hy the NIH Should Create an Institute of Positive Biology鈥 Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine 105 (2012): 412-15.
鈥淏iogerontology and the Intellectual Virtues鈥 Journal of Gerontology: Biological Sciences 67(7) (2012): 734-46.
"Positive Biology鈥 as a New Paradigm for the Medical Sciences鈥 Nature鈥檚 EMBO Reports 13(2) (2012): 186-88.
鈥淰irtue Epistemology and the 鈥淓pistemic Fitness鈥 of Democracy鈥 Political Studies Review 10(1) (2012): 7-22.
鈥淧atriarchy and Historical Materialism鈥 Hypatia 26(1) (2011): 1-21.
鈥淕lobal Aging, Well-Ordered Science and Prospection鈥 Rejuvenation Research 13(5) (2010):607-12.
鈥淓quality and the Duty to Retard Human Aging鈥 Bioethics 24(8) (2010): 384-94.
鈥淲hy Aging Research?鈥 Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 1197 (2010): 1鈥8.
鈥淔raming the Inborn Aging Process and Longevity Science鈥 Biogerontology 11(3) (2010): 377-85.
鈥淗as the Time Come to Take on Time Itself?鈥 British Medical Journal 337 (2008):147-48.
鈥淎 Tale of Two Strategies: The Moral Imperative to Tackle Ageing鈥 Nature鈥檚 EMBO Reports 9(7) (2008): 592-95.
鈥淭he Institutional Theory of Legal Interpretation鈥 University of Toronto Law Journal 58(2) (2008): 217-32.
鈥淛ustice in Ideal Theory: A Refutation鈥 Political Studies 55 (2007): 844鈥864.
鈥淧reparing for Our Enhanced Future鈥 Journal of Medical Licensure and Discipline 93(2) (2007):12-18.
鈥淒eliberative Democracy and Nanotechnology鈥 Nanoethics: Examining the Societal Impact of Nanotechnology (NJ: John Wiley and Sons Inc., 2007) edited by Fritz Allhoff, Patrick Lin, James Moor and John Weckert.
Podcast Interviews Include:
CFRC Right of Reply interview