About Colin Chamberlain
Welcome to my academic website! I am an associate professor of philosophy at University College London, based in London and Crete. I received my Ph.D. in Philosophy from Harvard University and my B.A. from the University of Toronto. I am currently an Associate Editor at MIND. My research interests cluster around problems of embodiment and experience in 17th- and 18th-century European philosophy, especially as they arise in the work of René Descartes, Nicolas Malebranche, and Margaret Cavendish. On this website, you can find information about my current projects, publications, and upcoming events. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions or comments about my work.
Philosophy has a reputation for being impractical. But I think it is the most practical discipline of all. We inevitably bump into philosophical questions as we move through the world. So why not use all the available resources for dealing with them? In my free time, I enjoy reading science fiction and fantasy, cooking, hiking, and spending time with my husband and dog.
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My dog's name is Frederica Cavendish. Mostly she goes by Freddy or the Duchess.
Current Research Projects
In this project, I explore Malebranche's view that our minds largely serve our bodies' interests. The senses, imagination, and passions do not put us in touch with the true natures of things. Instead, they keep us alive. I am currently working on a book manuscript explaining the contribution that each of these faculties makes to the preservation of the body, as well as the harmony between them. A distinctive feature of my approach to Malebranche is that I think he is right about many things.
In this project, I investigate Margaret Cavendish's account of the (dis)unity of the human mind. Philosophers like Descartes and Henry More allege that our minds exhibit a magical kind of oneness that differs from anything we find in material things. Cavendish disagrees. She argues that a materialist can account for the extent to which our minds are unified and, moreover, that the fragmentation of our minds reveals their materiality. I am currently working on a series of papers addressing these issues.
Latest Publications
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2025. "How To Eat a Peach: Malebranche on the Function of the Passions." Mind.
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2024. "A Great Guide to the Preservation of Life: Malebranche on the Imagination." British Journal of the History of Philosophy.
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2024. "The Duchess of Disunity." Philosophers' Imprint.
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2024. " Move Your Body! Cavendish on Self-Motion." In Powers and Abilities in Early Modern Philosophy, edited by Sebastian Bender and Dominik Perler.
Upcoming Events
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October 10, 2025: "A Different Shade of Realism: Margaret Cavendish's Materialism about Colour," Department Colloquium, Harvard University
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October 11, 2025: "After the Fall: Malebranche on the Law of the Body," Harvard History of Philosophy Workshop
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February 16, 2026: "After the Fall: Malebranche on the Law of the Body," Aristotelian Society
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April 23-24, 2026: title tbd, Emotions and Morality in the History of Philosophy, University of Notre Dame