Professor Daniel D. Hutto

BA, MPhil, DPhil

Job title: Professor of Philosophical Psychology

Telephone Number: 01707285655

Memberships and Appointments:

Panel and Peer College Member, Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC)

Treasurer, British Wittgenstein Society

Editorial Board Member for: Analysis and Metaphysics; Language and Cognition; Linguistics and Philosophical Investigations; Philosophical Writings; Phenomenology and the Cognitive Sciences; Review of Contemporary Philosophy; Review of Philosophy and Psychology; SATS: North European Journal of Philosophy.

Assessor for: Danish National Research Foundation; British Council Researcher Exchange Programme; Israel Science Foundation (ISF); Portuguese Ministry of Science; European Science Foundation; Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NOW); Economic and Social Research Council (ERSC); Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada

Recently held Appointments:

Treasurer and Executive Committee Member of the British Philosophical Association

Daniel D. Hutto was born and schooled in New York but finished his undergraduate degree as a study abroad student in St. Andrews, Scotland. His maternal roots are Scottish and many of his family still live in Inverness. He returned to New York to teach fourth grade in the Bronx for a year in order to fund his MPhil in Logic and Metaphysics after which he carried on his doctoral work in York. He now lives in Hertfordshire with his wife and three boys. Prof. Hutto joined Hertfordshire in 1993 and served as Head of Philosophy from 1999 to 2005. During that time he coordinated the QAA Subject Review (for which Philosophy's provision was awarded the maximum grade of 24) and its RAE 2001 submission for which it received a 4-rating. He is currently the Research Leader for Philosophy.

Hutto's research has involved sustained attempt to understand human nature in a way which respects natural science but which nevertheless rejects the impersonal metaphysics of contemporary naturalism, even those versions that sponsor non-reductionism. The following assessment, provided in support of his Readership application, is indicative of his achievements to date and his style of approach: "He writes with polish, sophistication, direction and insight. Hutto exhibits a marvelous sense of adventure: he tries to tackle difficult problems and enthusiastically defends positions because they strike him as deep and best, not because they are popular or will readily get him published. Yet he publishes with ease." George Graham, August 1999.

Funding Councils

Research Interests

Philosophy of Psychology - Cognitive Science - Wittgenstein - Analytical Philosophy - Idealistic Metaphysics - Personhood & Narrative

Teaching specialisms

Aristotle - Philosophy of Mind - Cognitive Science - Wittgenstein - Analytical Philosophy - Representation - Consciousness - Theories of Mind

Collaborations and Projects

Hutto and Shaun Gallagher (Hertfordshire/Central Florida) are collaborating on a number of projects relating to intersubjectivity and narrative. They aim to significantly extend and deepen research relationships fist established at other major events and conferences (e.g. the RIP funded conference 'Narrative and Understanding Persons' 2005 and the ESF funded conference 'Narrative Alternatives to Theories of Mind' 2007 and Summer School on Social Cognition and Social Narrative, San Marino 2008). Important figures in this area of research - including Alvin Goldman, Gregory Currie, Robert Gordon, Peter Hobson, Katherine Nelson, Stephen Stich - were amongst the main speakers at these events. Their aim was to bring together new and established researchers from a range of disciplines - including anthropology, neuroscience and psychology - as well as interested parties from beyond academia (e.g. clinicians, educators).

A triple special issue of the JCS, Journal of Consciousness Studies devoted to reviewing Hutto's narrative practice hypothesis appeared in 2009. It contained 14 articles commenting on the hypothesis from various disciplines ranging from anthropology to neuroscience.

Hutto and Erik Myin (Antwerp) are currently working on a co-authored book entitled Radicalizing Enactivism for MIT Press. Its centrepiece will be a revised enactivist proposal about the sensori-motor contingency theory of perceptual consciousness. Myin was awarded €3750 from his institution to support this collaboration in 2007.They are seeking funding to conduct the primary research.

Hutto is a chief co-investigator for the Australian Research Council ‘Embodied Virtues and Expertise' project (2010-2013) and a collaborator in the AHRC ‘Emotions and Feelings in Psychiatric Illness' network (2009-2010).