Dr William Simpson
Research Fellow, Member Aquinas Institute
Dr William Simpson is a Research Fellow at Blackfriars Hall. He is Associate Professor of Philosophy at Ohio State University in the Salmon P. Chase Center for Civics, Culture and Society.
He holds a doctorate in philosophy from the University of Cambridge (2020), and a doctorate in physics from the University of St Andrews (2014). His research lies at the intersection of physics and philosophy, overspilling into the philosophy of mind and the philosophy of religion.
International Prizes
- In 2021, he was awarded the Cardinal Mercier Prize in Philosophy, jointly awarded by The Institut Supérieur de Philosophie (ISP) of UCLouvain and the Hoger Instituut Voor Wijsbegeerte (HIW) of KU Leuven.
- In 2020, he received an international Expanded Reason Award for his work on hylomorphism and the metaphysics of quantum mechanics, jointly awarded by Universidad Francisco de Vitoria and Benedict XVI Vatican Foundation.
select publications
A History of Natural Law: From the Ancient World to the New Aristotelianism?, Cambridge University Press, forthcoming.
“Don’t Squint: Quantum Hylomorphism Can Solve Albert’s Macro-Object Problem”, Topoi, 2026, forthcoming.
“The Entanglement Problem for Psychological Hylomorphism” (?with R. C Koons), Res Philosophica, 102(1), 2025.
“Prime Matter Revisited” in Thomism Revisited, G. Kerr (Ed.), Cambridge University Press, 2026.
“Cosmopsychism and the Laws of Physics”, The Journal of Consciousness, 31(9–10), 2024.
“Small Worlds with Cosmic Powers”, The Journal of Philosophy, 120(8), 2023.
Neo-Aristotelian Metaphysics and the Theology of Nature, 2021, ?Routledge, co-edited with R. C. Koons and J. Orr
“What’s the Matter with Super-Humeanism?”, ?British Journal for the Philosophy of Science, 72, 2, 893-911, 2021.
“Cosmic Hylomorphism: a Powerist Ontology of Quantum Mechanics”?, European Journal for the Philosophy of Science, 11, 28, 2021.
Neo-Aristotelian Perspectives on Contemporary Science, 2017?, Routledge, co-edited with R. C. Koons and N. J. Teh
For more information, including an up-to-date and complete list of publications, visit Dr Simpson’s Academia page or his personal website.