Fiona Hughes

Fiona Hughes is associated to the Centre for Research Ethics & Bioethics. Until recently, she was senior lecturer in philosophy at the University of Essex, where she now holds an honorary position. Previously, she has taught at the Universities of York, Edinburgh and Oxford, where she held a junior research fellowship. Her research is principally directed to Kant’s epistemology and aesthetics; phenomenology (especially Merleau-Ponty); the philosophy of the arts; as well as constructing dialogues between philosophy, ethics, neuroscience and archaeology, especially around prehistoric cave art.

Fiona Hughes is fascinated by how the mind works, and plays, and has recently turned her attention to how prehistoric art reveals aspects of both the development and range of cognition. In particular, how prehistoric natural and social contexts may have influenced brain development and artistic creativity. She has published two monographs and numerous articles in a range of international journals and collections and lectured internationally at a broad range of universities and research centres.