Dr Alison Toop

Dr Alison Toop

Profile

I started as a Teaching Fellow in Medical Ethics for the School of Philosophy, Religion and History of Science in September 2018. Prior to this I have been a member of the department as both an undergraduate (BA Philosophy) and postgraduate student (PhD Philosophy). I completed my masters (MA Political Philosophy) at the University of York.

Research interests

My research interests lie broadly in the areas of moral, political and applied philosophy. My PhD was entitled Marriage and the Political Liberal State: An investigation into the nature of the marital relationship and the legitimacy of a political institution of marriage, which engages more specifically with the philosophy of love and personal relationships, political liberalism, and the recent literature on the political institution of marriage (and alternatives). During this project I have become particularly interested in the nature and structure of our social and political worlds, and in social ontology more generally.

I also have research interests in medical and bio-ethics, in particular the ethical issues surrounding reproduction and the concept of autonomy within a medical context. I was a temporary researcher at the Nuffield Council on Bioethics in summer 2016. 

<h4>Research projects</h4> <p>Any research projects I'm currently working on will be listed below. Our list of all <a href="https://ahc.leeds.ac.uk/dir/research-projects">research projects</a> allows you to view and search the full list of projects in the faculty.</p>

Professional memberships

  • Associate Fellow of the Higher Education Academy

Student education

My main teaching responsibilities lie in providing medical ethics teaching in the School of Medicine. I teach on all levels of the MBChB undergraduate programme, as well as the MSc in Physician Associate Studies.

I also teach on undergraduate modules in the School of PRHS and on the Liberal Arts programme, as well as being a personal tutor. 

Research groups and institutes

  • Centre for Aesthetic, Moral and Political Philosophy
  • Philosophy