People

Professor Timo Jütten

Professor
School of Philosophical, Historical, and Interdisciplinary Studies
Professor Timo Jütten
  • Email

  • Telephone

    +44 (0) 1206 872998

  • Location

    6.141, Colchester Campus

  • Academic support hours

    Tuesdays, 4-5pm, and Thursdays, 10-11am.

Profile

Biography

Timo Jütten is a Professor of Philosophy and the Principal Investigator of the Competition and Competitiveness Project, funded by a Leverhulme Research Leadership Award. Timo originally studied Politics and Hebrew at SOAS and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. During this time, it became clear to him that he was most interested in the philosophical foundations of politics and society. In addition, a year-long module on Kant’s three Critiques led to an enduring interest in Kant’s critical philosophy and his German Idealist successors. After his first degree, Timo completed an MA in Social and Political Thought and a PhD in Philosophy at Sussex. There, he focused on German social and political philosophy, especially on Hegel and the Frankfurt School, and wrote his doctoral dissertation on Adorno’s Critique of Kant’s Practical Philosophy. After teaching for two years at UCD in Dublin and in Groningen (in the Netherlands), Timo came to Essex as a Lecturer in moral and political philosophy in 2011. He was promoted to Senior Lecturer in 2016 and to Professor in 2019. Timo’s research falls into three broad areas. First, he is interested in the moral status of capitalism and markets, and in understanding the concepts that we use to describe and evaluate capitalist societies and our role in them. Timo is particularly interested in competition and competitiveness, but he also has written on esteem (Jütten 2017) and solidarity (Jütten 2016). Second, Timo has published a number of papers on Frankfurt School critical theory, which offer rigorous reconstructions of some central analytical concepts of this tradition, e.g. Habermas’ and Honneth’s conceptions of the market (Jütten 2013, 2015), recognition (Jütten 2022) and “reification” (Jütten 2011a, 2011b, 2010), and Adorno’s conceptions of hope, and freedom and determinism (Jütten 2019, 2012). Finally, Timo is interested in some topics related to Feminism. He has published a paper on “Sexual Objectification” in the world-leading philosophy journal Ethics (Jütten 2016). Timo is a member of the Human Rights Centre and has contributed to two research projects on Human Rights. From 2015-21 he was a researcher on the ESRC-funded Human Rights, Big Data and Technology Project, where he contributed to a workstream on consent. In 2014, he was co-investigator on an AHRC Follow on Fund for Impact and Engagement grant, Achieving UNCRPD Compliance, under the auspices of the Essex Autonomy Project (EAP). Timo is interested in supervising PhD students in any of these areas.

Qualifications

  • DPhil Sussex

  • MA Sussex

  • BA London

Appointments

University of Essex

  • Professor of Philosophy, School of Philosophy and Art History, University of Essex (1/10/2019 - present)

  • Head of School, School of Philosophy and Art History, University of Essex (1/8/2017 - 31/7/2020)

  • Senior Lecturer in Philosophy, School of Philosophy and Art History, University of Essex (1/10/2016 - 30/9/2019)

  • Lecturer in Philosophy, School of Philosophy and Art History, University of Essex (1/9/2011 - 30/9/2016)

Other academic

  • Assistant Professor, Faculty of Philosophy, University of Groningen (1/9/2010 - 31/8/2011)

  • Teaching and Research Fellow, School of Philosophy, University College Dublin (1/9/2009 - 31/8/2010)

Research and professional activities

Research interests

Critical Social Theory (Adorno, Habermas, Honneth)

Open to supervise

The moral status of Capitalism and Markets

Open to supervise

Philosophy

Key words: Philosophy

Feminism (especially sexual objectification, prostitution, pornography)

Open to supervise

Philosophical foundations of human rights (the relationship between human dignity and human rights, mental capacity and human rights, human rights and Big Data)

Open to supervise

Current research

The Market Antinomy

Competition and Solidarity

Competition and Competitiveness

This is a new research project, funded by a Research Leadership Award from the Leverhulme Trust. It will run for four years. I will lead an interdisciplinary research group of three Postdoctoral Research Assistants.

Data Republicanism

Draft Paper – I argue that the republican tradition in political philosophy is best suited to articulate current concerns about Big Data.

Teaching and supervision

Current teaching responsibilities

  • Interdisciplinary Research and Problem-Solving: An Introduction (CS111)

  • The World in Question: The Social, Cultural, Political & Environmental Legacies of the Enlightenment (CS201)

  • Dangerous Ideas: Essays and Manifestos as Social Criticism Capstone (CS301)

  • Contemporary Political Philosophy (PY413)

  • Capitalism and its Critics (PY429)

  • The Frankfurt School (PY952)

Previous supervision

John-Baptiste Oduor
John-Baptiste Oduor
Thesis title: Habit as Freedom: The Pre-Social Formation of Agency in Hegel
Degree subject: Philosophy
Degree type: Doctor of Philosophy
Awarded date: 15/7/2022
Gay Hiroko Taguchi
Gay Hiroko Taguchi
Thesis title: Adorno on Maturity Through Education
Degree subject: Philosophy
Degree type: Doctor of Philosophy
Awarded date: 30/4/2021
Rosalind Jane Worsdale
Rosalind Jane Worsdale
Thesis title: Sexual Objectification: From Complicity to Solidarity
Degree subject: Philosophy
Degree type: Doctor of Philosophy
Awarded date: 12/2/2018
Benjamin Joseph James Barnard
Benjamin Joseph James Barnard
Thesis title: Do Rights-Based Moralities Cause Climate Change? Balancing the Rights of Current Persons and the Needs of the Future Generations
Degree subject: Human Rights
Degree type: Doctor of Philosophy
Awarded date: 9/2/2018
Giovanni Maria Mascaretti
Giovanni Maria Mascaretti
Thesis title: Adorno, Foucault, and the History of the Present
Degree subject: Philosophy
Degree type: Doctor of Philosophy
Awarded date: 8/6/2017
Vivienne Louise Ashley
Vivienne Louise Ashley
Thesis title: Great Expectations: Autonomy, Responsibility and Social Welfare Entitlement
Degree subject: Philosophy
Degree type: Doctor of Philosophy
Awarded date: 12/8/2014

Publications

Journal articles (12)

Jütten, T., (2023). Competition and Justice in Adam Smith. The Southern Journal of Philosophy. 61 (1), 206-232

Jütten, T., (2019). Adorno on Hope. Philosophy and Social Criticism. 45 (3), 284-306

Jütten, T., (2017). Dignity, Esteem, and Social Contribution: A Recognition-Theoretical View. Journal of Political Philosophy. 25 (3), 259-280

Jütten, T., (2016). Sexual Objectification. Ethics. 127 (1), 27-49

Jütten, T., (2015). Is the Market a Sphere of Social Freedom?. Critical Horizons. 16 (2), 187-203

Jütten, T., (2013). Habermas and Markets. Constellations. 20 (4), 587-603

Cooke, M. and Jütten, T., (2013). The Theory of Communicative Action After Three Decades. Constellations. 20 (4), 516-517

Jütten, T., (2012). Adorno on Kant, Freedom and Determinism. European Journal of Philosophy. 20 (4), 548-574

Jütten, T., (2011). Verdinglichung und Freiheit. Deutsche Zeitschrift für Philosophie. 59 (5), 717-730

Jütten, T., (2011). The Colonization Thesis: Habermas on Reification. International Journal of Philosophical Studies. 19 (5), 701-727

Jütten, T., (2010). What is Reification? A Critique of Axel Honneth. Inquiry. 53 (3), 235-256

Jütten, T., (2010). Logic, Experience and Freedom: Hegel and Adorno. Hegel Bulletin. 31 (02), 101-110

Book chapters (5)

Jütten, T., (2022). Recognition. In: Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Politics. Editors: Thompson, WR., . Oxford University Press. 9780190228637

Jütten, T., (2019). Markets. In: The Cambridge Habermas Lexicon. 257- 259

Jütten, T., (2019). Reification. In: The Cambridge Habermas Lexicon. 390- 393

Jütten, T., (2018). The Theory of Recognition in the Frankfurt School. In: The Routledge Companion to the Frankfurt School. Editors: Honneth, A., Hammer, E. and Gordon, P., . Routledge. 82- 94. 9781138333246

Jütten, T., (2016). Kann Hegel Wettbewerb und Solidarität versöhnen?. In: Korporation und Sittlichkeit. Zur Aktualität von Hegels Theorie der bürgerlichen Gesellschaft. Editors: Ellmers, S. and Hermann, S., . Fink. 159- 175. 377056099X. 978-3770560998

Grants and funding

2019

Visiting Fellowship - Prof Vladimir Safatle

University of Essex (GCRF)

Competition and Competitiveness

Leverhulme Trust

2015

Human Rights and Information Technology in the Era of Big Data

Economic & Social Research Council

2014

Achieving UNCRPD Compliance

Arts And Humanities Research Council

Contact

tjuetten@essex.ac.uk
+44 (0) 1206 872998

Location:

6.141, Colchester Campus

Academic support hours:

Tuesdays, 4-5pm, and Thursdays, 10-11am.