View source for Beth Lord

{{short description|Canadian philosopher (born 1976)}}
{{Infobox philosopher
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| name             = Beth Lord
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| birth_date       = {{birth year and age|1976}}
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| nationality      = Canadian
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| alma_mater       = [[University of Warwick]]
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| school_tradition = [[Continental philosophy]]
| institutions     = {{ubl|[[University of Dundee]]|[[University of Aberdeen]]}}
| main_interests   = [[History of philosophy]], [[Baruch Spinoza]], [[Immanuel Kant]]
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'''Beth Lord''' (born 1976) is a Canadian [[philosopher]] specialising in the [[history of philosophy]], especially the work and influence of [[Immanuel Kant]] and [[Baruch Spinoza]], and [[contemporary philosophy|contemporary]] [[Continental philosophy]]. She is currently a [[Professor]] and Head of School in the School of Divinity, History and Philosophy at the [[University of Aberdeen]], where she has worked since 2013.
==Education and career==
Lord was raised in [[Ontario]], and initially studied at the [[University of Toronto]]. She intended to study [[drama]], but graduated with a degree in Philosophy and [[Literary Studies]]. She went on to the [[University of Warwick]], where she read for an [[Master of Arts|MA]] in Continental Philosophy and then a [[doctorate]].<ref name="Interview">Protevi, John (11 April 2012). "[http://www.newappsblog.com/2012/04/new-apps-interview-beth-lord.html New APPS Interview: Beth Lord]". New APPS. Accessed 21 December 2016.</ref> Her doctoral thesis, which was supervised initially by [[Andrew Benjamin]] and then by [[Stephen Houlgate]], was entitled ''Kant's Productive Ontology: Knowledge, Nature and the Meaning of Being''. In the thesis, Lord argues that Kant's [[ontology]] is a "productive ontology"; i.e., a theory which rests upon an idea of production.<ref>Lord, Beth (2003) [http://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/36683/ ''Kant's Productive Ontology: Knowledge, Nature and the Meaning of Being'']. PhD thesis, University of Warwick.</ref> Lord completed her doctorate in 2004.<ref name="Aberdeen">{{cite web |url=https://www.abdn.ac.uk/people/s.b.lord/ |title=Professor Beth Lord |publisher=University of Aberdeen |access-date=16 September 2020}}</ref> In the same year, she started a permanent position in the philosophy department at the [[University of Dundee]].<ref name="Aberdeen"/><ref name="Interview"/>
In 2010, with funding from the [[Arts and Humanities Research Council]] (AHRC), Lord founded the Spinoza Research Network, of which she remains the director.<ref name="Aberdeen"/><ref>"[https://spinozaresearchnetwork.wordpress.com/about/ About the Spinoza Research Network]". Spinoza Research Network. Accessed 21 December 2016.</ref> In the same year, she published ''Spinoza's Ethics: An Edinburgh Philosophical Guide'' ([[Edinburgh University Press]]), a study aid for Spinoza's ''[[Ethics (Spinoza)|Ethics]]'' (1677).<ref>Lord, Beth (2011). ''Spinoza's Ethics: An Edinburgh Philosophical Guide''. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.</ref> The following year, she published ''Kant and Spinozism: Transcendental Idealism and Immanence from Jacobi to Deleuze'' ([[Palgrave Macmillan]]), in which she examined the work of [[Johann Gottfried Herder]], [[Friedrich Heinrich Jacobi]], [[Salomon Maimon]] and [[Gilles Deleuze]], all of whom, she argues, drew upon both Kant's [[transcendental idealism]] and Spinoza's [[immanence]]. For Lord, Spinoza's thought is key to understanding the influence of Kantian ideas.<ref>Davies, Paul (2012). "[http://ndpr.nd.edu/news/30289-kant-and-spinozism-transcendental-idealism-and-immanence-from-jacobi-to-deleuze/ Kant and Spinozism: Transcendental Idealism and Immanence from Jacobi to Deleuze]". ''Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews'' 4 (13). {{open access}}</ref><ref>Somers-Hall, Henry (2014). "[https://www.academia.edu/7439066/Review_of_Kant_and_Spinozism_Transcendental_Idealism_and_Immanence_from_Jacobi_to_Deleuze_by_Beth_Lord ''Kant and Spinozism'']". ''Kant Studies Online'' 2014: 160-9. {{open access}}</ref><ref>Boehm, Omri (2012). "''Kant and Spinozism: Trancendental Idealism and Immanence from Jacobi to Deleuze''". ''[[British Journal for the History of Philosophy]]'' 20 (5): 1041-5. {{doi|10.1080/09608788.2012.697866}}.</ref> In addition to publishing these books, Lord co-edited ''The Continuum Companion to Continental Philosophy'' ([[Continuum International Publishing Group|Continuum]], 2010, later republished as ''The Bloomsbury Companion to Continental Philosophy'') with John Ó Maoilearca<ref>Mitscherling, Jeff (2013). "''The Continuum Companion to Continental Philosophy''". ''[[The European Legacy]]'' 19 (1): 125-6.{{doi|10.1080/10848770.2013.859791}}.</ref> and was the sole editor of ''Spinoza Beyond Philosophy'' (Edinburgh University Press, 2012).<ref>Gatens, Moira (2013). "[ndpr.nd.edu/news/38755-spinoza-beyond-philosophy/ Spinoza Beyond Philosophy]''. ''Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews'' 4 (2). {{open access}}</ref>
Lord left Dundee in 2012, starting at the [[University of Aberdeen]] in January 2013,<ref name="Aberdeen"/> where she led the AHRC-funded Equalities of Wellbeing project.<ref>"[http://www.equalitiesofwellbeing.co.uk/people/ People]". Equalities of Wellbeing. Accessed 21 December 2016.</ref><ref name="Aberdeen"/> As of 2019, she is a professor in the School of Divinity, History and Philosophy at Aberdeen,<ref name="Aberdeen"/> and is serving as the secretary of the [[British Society for the History of Philosophy]]<ref>"[http://bshp.org.uk/about/commitee The BSHP Management Committee]". British Society for the History of Philosophy. Accessed 21 December 2016.</ref> and the chair of the [[Society for European Philosophy]].<ref>"[https://societyforeuropeanphilosophy.com/about/ About]". Society for European Philosophy. Accessed 21 December 2016.</ref>
In the spring of 2023, as the Head of School of Divinity, History, Philosophy, and Art History at the University of Aberdeen, Lord violated UK GDPR legislation in an attempt to track and mitigate trade union activities within the school.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Horne |first1=Marc |title=Aberdeen University broke data rules with colour-coded strikers chart |url=https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/aberdeen-university-broke-data-rules-with-colour-coded-strikers-chart-56rjg0ptd |work=The Times |date=13 July 2023 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Pizzuto-Pomaco |first1=Josh |title=University 'MAB-tracker' found to be in violation of GDPR rules |url=https://www.gaudie.co.uk/post/university-found-to-be-in-violation-of-gdpr-rules |work=The Gaudie |date=11 July 2023 |language=en}}</ref>
==Select bibliography==
*[[John Mullarkey|Mullarkey, John]], and Beth Lord, eds. (2009). ''The Continuum Companion to Continental Philosophy''. London: Continuum.
*Lord, Beth (2010). ''Spinoza's Ethics: An Edinburgh Philosophical Guide''. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.
*Lord, Beth (2011). ''Kant and Spinozism: Transcendental Idealism and Immanence from Jacobi to Deleuze''. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
*Lord, Beth, ed. (2012). ''Spinoza Beyond Philosophy''. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.
==References==
{{Reflist}}
==External links==
*[http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/philosopherszone/an-atheists-god-the-paradox-of-spinoza/2953446#transcript "An atheist's God: the paradox of Spinoza"]. Interview with Lord for ''Philosopher's Zone'' ([[Australian Broadcasting Corporation|ABC]])
*"[http://www.cbc.ca/radio/ideas/spinoza-1.2913483 Spinoza]". Episode of ''[[Ideas (radio show)|Ideas]]'' featuring discussion with Lord ([[Canadian Broadcasting Corporation|CBC]])
*"[http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/bigideas/the-atheist-god-spinozas-laws-of-religion-and/2916064 The Atheist God: Spinoza's Laws of Religion and Politics]". Interview with Lord for ''Big Ideas'' (ABC).
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[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:1976 births]]
[[Category:Canadian women philosophers]]
[[Category:21st-century Canadian philosophers]]
[[Category:Spinoza scholars]]
[[Category:Kant scholars]]
[[Category:Canadian historians of philosophy]]
[[Category:University of Toronto alumni]]
[[Category:Alumni of the University of Warwick]]
[[Category:Academics of the University of Dundee]]
[[Category:Academics of the University of Aberdeen]]
[[Category:Writers from Ontario]]
[[Category:Canadian women historians]]