Angie Hobbs
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Angela Hunter "Angie" Hobbs (born 12 June 1961) is a British
philosopher Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...
and academic, who specialises in
Ancient Greek philosophy Ancient Greek philosophy arose in the 6th century BC. Philosophy was used to make sense of the world using reason. It dealt with a wide variety of subjects, including astronomy, epistemology, mathematics, political philosophy, ethics, metaphysics ...
and
ethics Ethics is the philosophy, philosophical study of Morality, moral phenomena. Also called moral philosophy, it investigates Normativity, normative questions about what people ought to do or which behavior is morally right. Its main branches inclu ...
. She is Professor of the Public Understanding of Philosophy at the
University of Sheffield The University of Sheffield (informally Sheffield University or TUOS) is a public university, public research university in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. Its history traces back to the foundation of Sheffield Medical School in 1828, Fir ...
.


Early life and education

Hobbs was born on 12 June 1961 in
Rudgwick Rudgwick is a village and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Horsham (district), Horsham District of West Sussex, England. The village is west from Horsham on the north side of the A281 road. The parish's northern boundary forms pa ...
,
Sussex Sussex (Help:IPA/English, /ˈsʌsɪks/; from the Old English ''Sūþseaxe''; lit. 'South Saxons'; 'Sussex') is an area within South East England that was historically a kingdom of Sussex, kingdom and, later, a Historic counties of England, ...
, England. She was educated at
The College of Richard Collyer The College of Richard Collyer (colloquially Collyer's ), formerly called Collyer's School, is a co-educational sixth form college in Horsham, West Sussex, England. The college was rated as being 'excellent’ by Ofsted in 2025. It is the secon ...
, a state school in
Horsham Horsham () is a market town on the upper reaches of the River Arun on the fringe of the Weald in West Sussex, England. The town is south south-west of London, north-west of Brighton and north-east of the county town of Chichester. Nearby to ...
, West Sussex. In 1980, Hobbs matriculated into New Hall, Cambridge (now
Murray Edwards College, Cambridge Murray Edwards College is a women-only constituent college of the University of Cambridge. It was founded in 1954 as New Hall and renamed in 2008. The name honours a gift of £30 million by alumna Ros Edwards and her husband Steve, and the firs ...
). She studied
classics Classics, also classical studies or Ancient Greek and Roman studies, is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, ''classics'' traditionally refers to the study of Ancient Greek literature, Ancient Greek and Roman literature and ...
, and graduated from the
University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...
with a
Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...
(BA) degree in 1983. She won two prizes during her undergraduate studies: the Park Prize for Classics (awarded by New Hall), and the Henry Arthur Thomas Travel Exhibition (awarded by the Faculty of Classics). As per tradition, her BA was promoted to a
Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA or AM) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Those admitted to the degree have ...
(MA Cantab) degree in 1986. She gained a PhD in Classical Philosophy (Cambridge).


Academic career

After a Research Fellowship at
Christ's College, Cambridge Christ's College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. The college includes the Master, the Fellows of the College, and about 450 undergraduate and 250 graduate students. The c ...
, Hobbs became Senior Fellow in the Public Understanding of Philosophy and Lecturer in Philosophy at the
University of Warwick The University of Warwick ( ; abbreviated as ''Warw.'' in post-nominal letters) is a public research university on the outskirts of Coventry between the West Midlands and Warwickshire, England. The university was founded in 1965 as part of ...
. She is a specialist in
Ancient Greek philosophy Ancient Greek philosophy arose in the 6th century BC. Philosophy was used to make sense of the world using reason. It dealt with a wide variety of subjects, including astronomy, epistemology, mathematics, political philosophy, ethics, metaphysics ...
with a particular interest in
ethics Ethics is the philosophy, philosophical study of Morality, moral phenomena. Also called moral philosophy, it investigates Normativity, normative questions about what people ought to do or which behavior is morally right. Its main branches inclu ...
,
political theory Political philosophy studies the theoretical and conceptual foundations of politics. It examines the nature, scope, and legitimacy of political institutions, such as states. This field investigates different forms of government, ranging from d ...
, and
moral psychology Moral psychology is the study of human thought and behavior in ethical contexts. Historically, the term "moral psychology" was used relatively narrowly to refer to the study of moral development. This field of study is interdisciplinary between th ...
. In April 2012, the
University of Sheffield The University of Sheffield (informally Sheffield University or TUOS) is a public university, public research university in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. Its history traces back to the foundation of Sheffield Medical School in 1828, Fir ...
announced Hobbs' appointment as Professor of the Public Understanding of Philosophy, the first such chair in the UK. Hobbs is now preparing a translation of Plato's ''Symposium'', with a commentary, for Oxford University Press. She contributes to TV and radio programmes. These contributions include BBC Two's '' Timewatch'' special "Atlantis: The Evidence", the National Geographic Channel's "Finding Atlantis", the Radio 4 programme '' In Our Time'' hosted by
Melvyn Bragg Melvyn Bragg, Baron Bragg (born 6 October 1939) is an English broadcaster, author and parliamentarian. He is the editor and presenter of ''The South Bank Show'' (1978–2010, 2012–2023), and the presenter of the BBC Radio 4 documentary series ...
, Radio 3 '' Night Waves'' and the BBC World Services ''The Forum''. On 1 February 2015, Hobbs was the castaway on ''
Desert Island Discs ''Desert Island Discs'' is a radio programme broadcast on BBC Radio 4. It was first broadcast on the BBC Forces Programme on 29 January 1942. Each week a guest, called a " castaway" during the programme, is asked to choose eight audio recordin ...
'' on
BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasti ...
.Desert Island Discs
BBC Radio 4


Selected works

* Signed entries on ‘ The Symposium’ and ‘Women’ in ''The Continuum Companion to Plato'' (ed. Gerald A. Press). Continuum, 2012. * ‘On Christopher J. Gill on Particulars, Selves and Individuals in Stoic Philosophy’ in ''Particulars in Greek Philosophy'' (ed. R. W. Sharples). Brill: Leiden, 2010. * Signed entries on ‘Virtue, Philosophical Conceptions of’ and ‘Virtue, Popular Conceptions of’ for ''The Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Greece and Rome'' (Oxford University Press), 2010. * ‘
Socrates Socrates (; ; – 399 BC) was a Ancient Greek philosophy, Greek philosopher from Classical Athens, Athens who is credited as the founder of Western philosophy and as among the first moral philosophers of the Ethics, ethical tradition ...
’ in Melvyn Bragg (ed.) '' In Our Time'' (a collection of transcripts of 26 programmes selected from several hundred). Hodder and Stoughton, 2009. * Five revised signed entries for the 3rd ed. of the Concise Oxford Dictionary of Politics (ed. I McLean and A. McMillan): Plato; Aristotle; Greek Political Thought; Socrates; the Sophists. Oxford University Press, 2008. * ‘Plato on war’ in ''Maieusis, a Festschrift in honour of
Myles Burnyeat Myles Fredric Burnyeat (; 1 January 1939 – 20 September 2019) was an English scholar of ancient philosophy. Early life and education Myles Burnyeat was born on 1 January 1939 to Peter James Anthony Burnyeat and Cynthia Cherry Warburg. He re ...
'', edited by D. Scott . Oxford University Press, 2007. * ‘Plato and psychic harmony: a recipe for mental health or mental sickness?’ in ''Philosophical Inquiry''; vol. XXIX no. 5 (a special issue dedicated to the relation between ancient philosophy and contemporary bioethics), edited by Ron Polansky and Tony Chu, 2007. * ‘Female imagery in Plato’ in ''Plato’s Symposium: Issues in Interpretation and Reception''; edited by J. Lesher, D. Nails and F. Sheffield. Center for Hellenic Studies, Trustees for Harvard University Press, 2006. * ''Plato and the Hero: Courage, Manliness and the Impersonal Good'', Cambridge University Press, 2000. * Entries on 'Antiphon', 'Callicles', 'Thrasymachus' and the 'Nomos/Physis debate' for the ''Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy'', Routledge, 1998. * 'Commentary on "''Aristotle's Function Argument and the Concept of Mental Illness''"', ''Philosophy, Psychiatry, & Psychology''; 5, 1998, pp. 209–213 * Entries on 'Plato', 'Aristotle', 'Greek Political Theory', 'Socrates' and the 'Sophists' for ''The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Politics'', Oxford University Press, 1996. *


References


External links


Homepage

Guardian article ''Angela Hobbs's new job is to promote public understanding of philosophy. Can she do for her subject what Dawkins did for his''?"Philosophy for the Masses - A conversation with Angie Hobbs"
''Ideas Roadshow'', 2013 * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hobbs, Angie 1961 births Living people Academics of the University of Sheffield Academics of the University of Warwick Alumni of New Hall, Cambridge British philosophers People educated at The College of Richard Collyer Moral psychologists People from Rudgwick