Professor Lloyd Strickland
Professor of Philosophy and Intellectual History
My profile
Biography
I initially came to philosophy through psychology and then religious studies, attracted to the “big questions” that have occupied philosophers for millennia. More recently I have taken a great interest in non-western philosophies, especially those of Africa. Expect to see these feature heavily in what I teach.
Academic and professional qualifications
B.A. (Hons.) Lancaster
M.A. Sheffield
Ph.D Lancaster
Other academic service (administration and management)
Leader of History of Philosophy research group
Faculty co-ordinator for distance learning PhDs
External examiner roles
Oxford University (Department for Continuing Education)
Expert reviewer for external funding bodies
I have served as a reviewer for various journals, including Journal of the History of Philosophy, Religious Studies, British Journal for the History of Philosophy, Analysis, Archiv für Geschichte der Philosophie, History of Philosophy Journal, Journal of Modern Philosophy, Philosophical Quarterly, History and Philosophy of the Life Sciences, Eighteenth Century Studies, Sophia, History of Philosophy & Logical Analysis, Intellectus, Folia Orientalia, European Journal of Political Theory, Zygon, Studia Leibnitiana, Intellectual History Review, Religions, Philosophical Psychology, Journal of the American Philosophical Association, The Southern Journal of Philosophy, Studies in Christian Ethics, Res Philosophica, Estetika etc. I have also served as a reviewer for presses such as Edinburgh University Press, Routledge, Brill, Palgrave, and Bloomsbury, as well as for promotion committees in the US and Africa.
Expert reviewer for external funding bodies
Member of the AHRC peer review college.
Have also reviewed for the British Academy, FNRS, Newton Fund, and DAAD.
Personal website address
Teaching
Postgraduate teaching
Key texts in modern philosophy (MA)
Subject areas
Philosophy
Supervision
Ernesto Diaz (PhD)
Sam McKee (PhD)
Jack Read (PhD)
Paige Simpson (PhD)
Craig Thomson (PhD)
Research outputs
His principal research interests are Early Modern Philosophy (especially Leibniz), Philosophy of Religion, and—more recently—African Philosophy (especially Ubuntu). His last book was Leibniz on Binary: The Invention of Computer Arithmetic (MIT Press, 2022, co-authored with Harry R. Lewis, Gordon Mackay Professor of Computer Science at Harvard University). He also runs a website which contains many of his translations of Leibniz’s writings: www.leibniz-translations.com . He would love to relax by lounging about, but doesn’t seem to have the time for it these days.
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Books (authored/edited/special issues)
Strickland, L. (2022) Leibniz's Examination of the Christian Religion. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Strickland, L., Lewis, H. (2022) Leibniz on Binary: The Invention of Computer Arithmetic. MIT Press.
Strickland, L. (2022) 100 Awesome Lateral Thinking Puzzles. Olympia.
Strickland, L., Lodge, P. (2020) Leibniz’s Key Philosophical Writings: A Guide. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Strickland, L., Weckend, J. (2019) Leibniz's Legacy and Impact. New York: Routledge.
Strickland, L. (2018) Proofs of God in Early Modern Europe. Waco, TX: Baylor University Press.
Strickland, L. (2018) The Philosophical Writings of Prémontval. Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield.
Strickland, L., Vynckier, E., Weckend, J. (2017) Tercentenary Essays on the Philosophy and Science of Leibniz. Palgrave.
Strickland, L. (2016) Leibniz on God and Religion. London: Bloomsbury.
Strickland, L. (2014) Leibniz's Monadology. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.
Strickland, L. (2011) Leibniz and the Two Sophies. Toronto: CRRS, University of Toronto Press.
Strickland, L. (2006) The Shorter Leibniz Texts. London: Continuum.
Strickland, L. (2006) Leibniz Reinterpreted. Continuum.
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Chapters in books
Strickland, L. (2024) 'The Melioristic Turn in the Optimism Debate in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries.' Optimism and the Best Possible World: A Philosophical History. Routledge,
Strickland, L. (2024) 'Between Optimism and Anti-Optimism: Prémontval’s “Middle Point".' In Prunea-Bretonnet, T., Leduc, C. (ed.) Debates, Controversies, and Prizes: philosophy in the German Enlightenment. Bloomsbury,
Strickland, L. (2023) 'Leibniz on Number Systems.' In Sriraman, B. (ed.) Handbook of the History and Philosophy of Mathematical Practice. Springer,
Strickland, L. (2022) 'Leibniz Encounters Maimonides.' In Hilliger, W. (ed.) Leibniz' Anthology of Maimonides' Guide. New York: Shehakol Inc., pp. 6-13.
Strickland, L. (2022) 'Leibniz's Consilium Aegyptiacum.' In Basso, L., Rudolph, H., de Salas, J. (ed.) Companion to Leibniz’s Political Thought. De Gruyter,
Strickland, L. (2021) 'Leibniz, Gottfried Wilhelm.' In Goetz, S., Taliaferro, C. (ed.) The Encyclopedia of Philosophy of Religion. Wiley Blackwell,
Strickland, L. (2021) 'G. W. Leibniz, "The True Method".' In Lewis, H.R. (ed.) Ideas That Created the Future: Classic Papers of Computer Science. MIT Press, pp. 6-9.
Lodge, P., Strickland, L. (2020) 'Introduction, including a sketch of Leibniz's life and philosophical works.' Leibniz's Key Philosophical Writings: A Guide. pp. 1-15.
Strickland, L. (2020) 'Discourse on Metaphysics.' In Lodge, P., Strickland, L. (ed.) Leibniz's Key Philosophical Writings: A Guide. Oxford: Oxford University Press (OUP),
Strickland, L. (2020) '"The Monadology".' In Lodge, P., Strickland, L. (ed.) Leibniz's Key Philosophical Writings: A Guide. Oxford: Oxford University Press (OUP),
Strickland, L., Weckend, J. (2019) 'Making Waves: Leibniz’s Legacy and Impact.' In Weckend, J., Strickland, L. (ed.) Leibniz’s Legacy and Impact. New York: Routledge,
Strickland, L. (2019) 'Staying Optimistic: The Trials and Tribulations of Leibnizian Optimism.' In Weckend, J., Strickland, L. (ed.) Leibniz's Legacy and Impact. New York: Routledge,
Strickland, L., Phemister, P. (2018) 'Leibniz’s monadological positive aesthetics.' In Dunham, J., Phemister, P. (ed.) Monadologies. Routledge,
Strickland, L. (2017) 'Leibniz, Purgatory, and Universal Salvation.' In Vanhoutte, K.K.P., McCraw, B.W. (ed.) Purgatory: Philosophical Dimensions. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 111-128.
Strickland, L., Weckend, J. (2017) 'Leibniz's Philosophy and Science.' Tercentenary Essays on the Philosophy and Science of Leibniz. Palgrave, pp. 1-16.
Strickland, L. (2017) 'How Leibniz would have responded to the Lisbon earthquake.' In Strickland, L., Vynckier, E., Weckend, J. (ed.) Tercentenary Essays on the Philosophy and Science of Leibniz. Cham: Palgrave, pp. 257-278.
Strickland, L. (2016) 'How sincere was Leibniz's religious justification for war in the Justa Dissertatio?.' In Li, W. (ed.) Für unser Glück oder das Glück anderer. Georg Olms Verlag, pp. 401-412.
Strickland, L. (2016) 'The reception of the Theodicy in England.' In Li, W. (ed.) Leibniz, Caroline und die Folgen der englischen Sukzession. Stuttgart: Franz Steiner Verlag, pp. 69-90.
Strickland, L. (2015) 'The use of scripture in the beast machine controversy..' In Beck, D. (ed.) Knowing Nature in Early Modern Europe. London: Pickering & Chatto, pp. 65-82.
Strickland, L., Cook, D. (2011) 'Leibniz and millenarianism.' Pluralität der perspektiven und einheit der wahrheit im werk von G�. Akademie Verlag,
Strickland, L. (2011) 'Leibniz’s universal rational religion.' Natur und subjekt. Akademie Verlag,
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Journal articles
Strickland, L. (2023) 'Why did Thomas Harriot invent binary?.' The Mathematical Intelligencer, 46(1) pp. 57-62.
Strickland, L., Wang, J. (2023) 'Racism and Eurocentrism in Histories of Philosophy.' Open Journal of Philosophy, 13(1) pp. 76-96.
Strickland, L. (2023) 'The Nineteenth Century Reception of Leibniz’s Examination of the Christian Religion.' Studia Leibnitiana, 52(1-2) pp. 42-79.
Strickland, L. (2022) 'An unpublished manuscript of Leibniz’s on Duodecimal.' The Duodecimal Bulletin, 54z(1) pp. 26z-30z.
Strickland, L. (2022) 'Two Lost Operations of Arithmetic: Duplation and Mediation.' Mathematics Today, 58(6) pp. 196-197.
Strickland, L. (2022) 'How Leibniz tried to tell the world he had squared the circle.' Historia Mathematica, 62pp. 19-39.
Strickland, L., Jones, O.D. (2022) 'F Things You (Probably) Didn't Know About Hexadecimal.' The Mathematical Intelligencer, 45(2) pp. 126-130.
Strickland, L. (2022) 'Heavenly Creatures? Visions of Animal Afterlife in Seventeenth-Century England.' The Journal of Religious History, Literature and Culture, 8(1) pp. 1-24.
Strickland, L. (2021) 'Do we need a plant theodicy?.' Scientia et Fides, 9(2) pp. 221-246.
Strickland, L. (2021) 'Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz.' Oxford Bibliographies - Renaissance and Reformation,
Strickland, L. (2020) 'Prémontval’s “General Misunderstanding on the Question of Optimism”.' Philosophical Readings, 12(2) pp. 321-330.
Strickland, L. (2019) 'Staying Optimistic: The Trials and Tribulations of Leibnizian Optimism.' Journal of Modern Philosophy, 1(1) pp. 1-21.
Strickland, L. (2018) 'The “fourth hypothesis” on the early modern mind-body problem.' Ergo, 5(25) pp. 665-685.
Strickland, L. (2018) 'The problem of religious evil : does belief in God cause evil?.' International Journal for Philosophy of Religion, 84(2) pp. 237-250.
Strickland, L. (2017) 'Leibniz vs. transmigration: a previously unpublished text from the early 1700s.' Quaestiones Disputatae, 7(2) pp. 139-159.
Strickland, L. (2016) 'Leibniz’s Harmony between the Kingdoms of Nature and Grace.' Archiv fuer Geschichte der Philosophie, 98(3) pp. 302-329.
Strickland, L. (2016) 'Leibniz’s Egypt Plan (1671–1672): from holy war to ecumenism.' Intellectual History Review, 26(4) pp. 461-476.
Strickland, L., Phemister, P. (2015) 'Leibniz's Monadological Positive Aesthetic.' British Journal for the History of Philosophy, 23
Strickland, L., Church, M. (2015) 'Leibniz's Observations on Hydrology: An Unpublished Letter on the Great Lombardy Flood of 1705.' Annals of Science, 72(4) pp. 517-532.
Strickland, L. (2014) 'The “who designed the designer?” objection to design arguments.' International Journal for Philosophy of Religion, 75(2) pp. 87-100.
Strickland, L. (2013) 'God’s creatures? Divine nature and the status of animals in the early modern beast-machine controversy.' International journal of philosophy and theology, 74(4) pp. 291-309.
Strickland, L. (2013) 'Philosophy and the Search for Truth.' Philosophia, 41(4) pp. 1079-1094.
Strickland, L. (2011) 'God and prepunishment.' Philosophical papers, 40(1) pp. 105-127.
Strickland, L. (2011) 'Taking scripture seriously: Leibniz and the Jehoshaphat problem.' The Heythrop Journal, 52pp. 40-51.
Strickland, L. (2010) 'False Optimism? Leibniz, Evil, and the Best of all Possible Worlds.' Forum Philosophicum, 15(1) pp. 17-35.
Strickland, L. (2010) 'The doctrine of 'the resurrection of the same body' in early modern thought.' Religious Studies, 46(2) pp. 163-183.
Strickland, L. (2010) 'False optimism? Leibniz, evil, and the best of all possible worlds.' Forum Philosophicum, 15(1) pp. 17-35.
Strickland, L. (2010) 'Leibniz's philosophy of purgatory.' American Catholic Philosophical Quarterly, 84(3) pp. 531-548.
Strickland, L. (2009) 'Leibniz, The "Flower of Substance," and The Resurrection of The Same Body.' The Philosophical Forum, 40(3) pp. 391-410.
Strickland, L. (2009) 'Leibniz on Eternal Punishment.' British Journal for the History of Philosophy, 17(2) pp. 307-331.
Strickland, L. (2009) 'The Philosophy of Sophie, Electress of Hanover.' Hypatia, 24(2) pp. 186-204.
Strickland, L. (2006) 'God's problem of multiple choice.' Religious Studies, 42(02) pp. 141-157.
Strickland, L. (2006) 'Leibniz on whether the world increases in perfection.' British Journal for the History of Philosophy, 14(1) pp. 51-68.
Strickland, L. (2005) 'Determining the best of all possible worlds.' The journal of value inquiry, 39(1) pp. 37-47.
Strickland, L. (2005) 'On the necessity of the best possible world.' Ars disputandi, 5(1) pp. 14-27.
Strickland, L. (2005) 'How modern was Leibniz's biology?.' Studia Leibnitiana, 37(2) pp. 186-207.
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Conference papers
Strickland, L. (2023) 'Why Did Leibniz Invent Binary?.' In Le present est plein de l’avenir, et chargé du passé: 11th International Leibniz Congress. Leibniz University Hannover, Germany, 31/7/2023 - 4/8/2023. Li, W., Wahl, C., Erdner, S., Schwarze, B.C., Dan, Y. (ed.) Hannover: Gottfried-Wilhelm-Leibniz-Gesellschaft e.V., pp. 354-360.
Strickland, L. (2023) 'When Did Leibniz Read Maimonides?.' In Le present est plein de l’avenir, et chargé du passé: 11th International Leibniz Congress. 3. Leibniz University Hannover, Germany, 31/7/2023 - 4/8/2023. Li, W., Wahl, C., Erdner, S., Schwarze, B.C., Dan, Y. (ed.) Hannover: Gottfried-Wilhelm-Leibniz-Gesellschaft e.V., pp. 361-367.
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Other
Strickland, L. (2023) Review of "African Philosophy" by Pascah Mungwini.
Strickland, L. (2022) Review of "Positive Atheism: Bayle, Meslier, D’Holbach, Diderot" by Charles Devellennes.
Strickland, L. (2021) Review of "Hell and Divine Goodness: A Philosophical-Theological Inquiry" by James S. Spiegel.
Strickland, L. (2021) Review of "The New Atheism, Myth, and History: The Black Legends of Contemporary Anti-Religion" by Nathan Johnstone.
Strickland, L. (2020) Review of "God, Evolution, and Animal Suffering" by Bethany Sollereder.
Strickland, L. (2019) Book Review: Open to Reason: Muslim Philosophers in Conversation with the Western Tradition.
Strickland, L. (2019) Book Review: How the World Thinks: A Global History of Philosophy.
Strickland, L. (2018) Review of "Leibniz: Protestant Theologian" by Irena Backus.
Strickland, L. (2018) Review of "Rebirth and the Stream of Life" by Mikel Burley.
Strickland, L. (2018) Review of "After we die: theology, philosophy, and the question of life after death" by Stephen T. Davis.
Strickland, L. (2018) Review of "A History of the Concept of God" by Daniel A. Dombrowski.
Strickland, L. (2017) Review of "God's Goodness and God's Evil" by James Kellenberger.
Strickland, L. (2017) Review of "Leibniz's Mill: A Challenge to Materialism" by Charles Landesman.
Strickland, L. (2016) Review of "Sophia of Hanover's Memoirs 1630-1680" by Sean Ward.
Strickland, L. (2016) Review of "Heaven, Hell, and Purgatory" by Jerry L. Walls.
Strickland, L. (2015) Review of Paul Rateau’s "Leibniz et le meilleur des mondes possibles".
Strickland, L. (2011) Review of "John Locke and Personal Identity: Immortality and Bodily Resurrection in 17th-Century Philosophy".
Press and media
Media appearances or involvement
“The ‘Iron Elephant’ — How a 17th Century German Inventor Devised a Primitive Battle Tank” in Military History Now, 15 April 2024.
“Body armour made from silk is being developed – but this apparently cutting-edge idea is centuries old” in The Conversation, 9 April 2024.
“Beyond Borders: Exploring Ubuntu as a Lived Philosophy” (retitled as “African thought can rescue western philosophy” by the publisher), Institute of Art and Ideas, 15 March 2024 (co-authored with Emmanuel Chiwetalu Ossai).
“Leibniz’s Tactile Binary Clock,” L.I.S.A. Gerda Henkel Stiftung, 7 January 2023.
“In the Beginning Was Binary,” Church Times (both print and online), 16 September 2022.
Radio interview about the existence of God, Voice of Islam Radio, 26 March 2021.
“The best possible world: Leibnizian optimism in the secular West,” IAI News, 26 February 2021.
“Why African philosophy matters and why we teach it,” MMU comment piece, 12 October 2020.
Radio interview about Shona philosophy, Capitalk (Zimbabwe), 7 October 2020.
“Why I am teaching Shona philosophy in the UK” in Bulawayo 24 News, 30 September 2020.
“How western philosophy became racist” in IAI News, 8 January 2019.
“Four centuries of trying to prove God’s existence” in The Conversation, 17 August 2018. Republished in The Beachwood Reporter, 20 August 2018.
Radio interview about the history of attempts to prove the existence of God, BBC Radio 4, 12 August 2018
“Talk to atheists on their own terms” in Church Times, 20 July 2018, p13.
“Stephen King’s latest novel wrestles with the question of how to be in two places at one time” in The Conversation, 5 June 2018. Republished in Metro, 11 June 2018
“Western philosophy departments must open their minds,” Times Higher Education (both print and online), 1 March 2018. Republished as an opinion piece on the MMU site.
“BBC’s boost to religious programming is a good idea – no matter what humanists say” in The Conversation, 10 January 2018. Republished in The Independent, 15 January 2018.
Radio interview about teaching religion and values to children and older audiences, BBC Radio Northampton, 7 January 2018.
Radio interview about BBC’s new policy on religious programming, BBC Radio Stoke, 24 December 2017.
“Who will fund the NHS?”, MMU comment piece, 6 June 2017.
“Dear Hillary… a philosopher’s guide to coping with disappointment” in The Conversation, 27 December 2016. This article was republished (in Romanian translation) in Digi 24, 4 January 2017.
“This could be the best of all possible worlds” in Church Times, 18 November 2016, p18.
“Answering the biggest question of all: why is there something rather than nothing” in The Conversation, 11 November 2016.
“Star Trek’s version of time travel is more realistic than most sci fi” in The Conversation, 29 July 2016. This article was republished (in German translation) in Netzpiloten Magazin, 9 August 2016.
“Why ignorance is bliss, or, how to have a tranquil 2016” in Met Magazine, Spring/Summer 2016, p.48.
“What makes a good bad guy? Ask a philosopher” in The Guardian, 21 January 2016. This article was republished (in Portugese translation) in Universo racionalista, 4 March 2018.
“Which philosopher would fare best in a present-day university?” in The Guardian, 30 October 2015.
“Slow burn impact” in Times Higher Education (both print and online), 2 April 2015.
“How would you fit everyone who has ever lived in one valley?” in The Conversation, 18 December 2014.