Professor Deborah Brown
Professor

Deborah Brown

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+61 7 336 52804

Background

Deborah Brown is Professor of Philosophy and Director of the University of Queensland Critical Thinking Project. She is a fellow of the Australian Academy of Humanities and past President of the Australasian Association of Philosophy. Her research interests include philosophy of mind, with a particular focus on philosophical perspectives on pain, the history of philosophy, and applications of critical thinking in education and leadership development programs. Together with neuroscientist, Professor Brian Key, she helped establish UQ's first Neurophilosophy Lab and is on the steering committee for the Centre for Innovation in Pain and Health Research (CIPHeR), the largest consortium of pain health researchers in Australasia.

Availability

Professor Deborah Brown is:
Available for supervision
Media expert

Fields of research

History and philosophy of specific fields Philosophy Philosophy and Religious Studies

Qualifications

  • Bachelor (Honours) of Arts, The University of Queensland
  • Masters (Coursework), University of Toronto
  • Doctor of Philosophy, University of Toronto

Research interests

  • Philosophical Perspectives on Pain

    Philosophical questions related to pain include what is the nature and function of pain, how does it relate to behaviour, and can we make informed decisions about the capacity for pain in species phylogenetically distant from humans. Professors Brown and Key aim to tackle these questions and have produced a novel approach to understanding and mapping the algorithms the brain executes when it experiences pain. Funded by an ARC Discovery Project grant, their work has been published in front rank journals across several fields of research including philosophy, psychology, physiology, neuroscience, and biology, and continues to have an impact on industry decision-making including, for example, acquaculture. Professors Brown and Key founded UQ's first Neurophilosophy Lab and Professor Brown is a member of the steering committee for UQ's Centre for Innovation in Pain Health Research (CIPHeR), the largest and most impactful consortium of pain researchers in Australasia, united in their aim to 'crack the code' on pain.

  • Critical Thinking, Education, and Leadership

    As Director of the UQ Critical Thinking Project, Professor Brown leads a team of researchers engaged in translating philosophical and critical thinking for application outside the academy. This includes collaborative research with schools, departments of education, not for profit companies, and the Australian Institute of Police Management, on whose Academic Governance Board she sits. Research collaborations have demonstrated statistically significant correlations between training in critical thinking and improved academic outcomes, improved teacher efficacy in classroom practice, and enhanced leadership capabilities.

  • Early Modern Philosophy

    Professor Brown is an internationally recognised scholar of Early Modern Philosophy. She is primarily known for her work on Descartes (Descartes and the Passionate Mind (Cambridge UP, 2006) and Descartes and the Ontology of Everyday Life (Oxford UP, 2019 with Professor Calvin Normore, UCLA). She has also written on Hobbes, Spinoza, Malebranche, Hume, Mary Astell, and the Cambridge Platonists. Topics covered include philosophy of mind, metaphysics, philosophy of science, affect theory and moral psychology. She has also written extensively on ancient and medieval thinkers, especially Plato, Aristotle, Stoics, Sceptics, Augustine, Aquinas, Ockham, Scotus, Buridan and Suárez, to better understand the currents playing out in the early modern period (1650-1800).

Research impacts

Professor Brown's work on pain has informed animal welfare decision-making by industry groups. As Director of the UQ Critical Thinking Project, Professor Brown has helped bring philosophical teaching methods and ideas into mainstream teaching across all levels of pre-tertiary education in Queensland and other jurisdictions nationally and internationally. She and her team have engaged with over 450 schools in Queensland alone. Through collaborative research and training agreements with the Australian Institute of Police Management aimed at integrating critical thinking in leadership practice, her work is having a significant impact on police and emergency leadership across Australia.

Search Professor Deborah Brown’s works on UQ eSpace

66 works between 1993 and 2025
All (66) Journal Article (35) Book Chapter (26) Conference Publication (1) Book (2) Other Outputs (2)

41 - 60 of 66 works

2012

Journal Article

Cartesian functional analysis

Brown, Deborah J. (2012). Cartesian functional analysis. Australasian Journal of Philosophy, 90 (1), 75-92. doi: 10.1080/00048402.2011.566274

Cartesian functional analysis

2012

Conference Publication

Hume and the nominalist tradition

Brown, Deborah (2012). Hume and the nominalist tradition. Abingdon, Oxfordshire, United Kingdom: Taylor & Francis. doi: 10.1080/00455091.2012.972125

Hume and the nominalist tradition

2012

Book Chapter

Agency and attention in Malebranche's Theory of Cognition

Brown, Deborah (2012). Agency and attention in Malebranche's Theory of Cognition. Emotion and cognitive life in medieval and early modern philosophy. (pp. 217-233) edited by Martin Pickavé and Lisa Shapiro. Oxford, United Kingdom: Oxford University Press. doi: 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199579914.003.0012

Agency and attention in Malebranche's Theory of Cognition

2011

Journal Article

The duck's leg: Descartes's intermediate distinction

Brown, Deborah (2011). The duck's leg: Descartes's intermediate distinction. Midwest Studies in Philosophy, 35 (1), 26-45. doi: 10.1111/j.1475-4975.2011.00215.x

The duck's leg: Descartes's intermediate distinction

2010

Journal Article

Cartesian reflections: essays on Descartes’s philosophy

Brown, Deborah J. (2010). Cartesian reflections: essays on Descartes’s philosophy. Australasian Journal of Philosophy, 88 (4), 731-734. doi: 10.1080/00048402.2010.481676

Cartesian reflections: essays on Descartes’s philosophy

2008

Journal Article

Gary Steiner. Descartes as a moral thinker: Christianity, technology, nihilism. JHP Book Series. Amherst, NY: Humanity Books, 2004

Brown, Deborah (2008). Gary Steiner. Descartes as a moral thinker: Christianity, technology, nihilism. JHP Book Series. Amherst, NY: Humanity Books, 2004. Journal of the History of Philosophy, 46 (1), 173-175. doi: 10.5840/ipq200747162

Gary Steiner. Descartes as a moral thinker: Christianity, technology, nihilism. JHP Book Series. Amherst, NY: Humanity Books, 2004

2008

Book Chapter

Descartes on True and False Ideas

Brown, Deborah J. (2008). Descartes on True and False Ideas. A Companion to Descartes. (pp. 196-215) edited by Janet Broughton and John Carriero. Carlton VIC, Australia: Blackwell Publishing. doi: 10.1002/9780470696439.ch12

Descartes on True and False Ideas

2007

Journal Article

Review of "Descartes Reinvented" - by Tom Sorell

Brown, D. J. (2007). Review of "Descartes Reinvented" - by Tom Sorell. Philosophical Books, 48 (4), 357-359. doi: 10.1111/j.1468-0149.2007.00453_1.x

Review of "Descartes Reinvented" - by Tom Sorell

2007

Book Chapter

Augustine And Descartes On The Function Of Attention In Perceptual Awareness

Brown, D. J. (2007). Augustine And Descartes On The Function Of Attention In Perceptual Awareness. Consciousness: From Perception To Reflection In The History of Philosophy. (pp. 153-175) edited by S. Heniämaa, V. Läthennemaki and P. Remes. Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Springer. doi: 10.1007/978-1-4020-6082-3_7

Augustine And Descartes On The Function Of Attention In Perceptual Awareness

2007

Book Chapter

Objective being in Descartes: that which we know or that by which we know?

Brown, D. J. (2007). Objective being in Descartes: that which we know or that by which we know?. Representation and objects of thought in medieval philosophy. (pp. 135-153) edited by Henrik Lagerlund. Hampshire, United Kingdom: Ashgate Publishing.

Objective being in Descartes: that which we know or that by which we know?

2007

Book Chapter

Is Descartes' Body a Mode of Mind?

Brown, D. J. (2007). Is Descartes' Body a Mode of Mind?. Forming The Mind: Essays on the Internal Senses and the Mind/Body Problem from Avicenna to the Medical Enlightenment. (pp. 263-281) edited by Henrik Lagerlund and Olaf Pluta. The Netherlands: Springer. doi: 10.1007/978-1-4020-6084-7_13

Is Descartes' Body a Mode of Mind?

2006

Book

Descartes and the Passionate Mind

Brown, D. J. (2006). Descartes and the Passionate Mind. New York: Cambridge University Press. doi: 10.1017/CBO9780511554513

Descartes and the Passionate Mind

2005

Journal Article

What part of 'know' don't you understand?

Brown, Deborah (2005). What part of 'know' don't you understand?. The Monist, 88 (1), 11-35. doi: 10.5840/monist20058813

What part of 'know' don't you understand?

2003

Book Chapter

Descartes on the unity of the self and the passions

Brown, D. J. and de Sousa, R (2003). Descartes on the unity of the self and the passions. Passion and Virtue in Descartes. (pp. 153-173) edited by Williston, Byron, Gombay and Andre. United States: Humanity Books.

Descartes on the unity of the self and the passions

2003

Book Chapter

Traces of the body: Cartesian passions

Brown, D. J. and Normore, C. (2003). Traces of the body: Cartesian passions. Passion and Virtue in Descartes. (pp. 83-106) edited by Williston, Byron, Gombay and Andre. United States: Humanity Books.

Traces of the body: Cartesian passions

2002

Book Chapter

The Rationality of Cartesian Passions

Brown, D. J. (2002). The Rationality of Cartesian Passions. Emotions and Choice from Boethius to Descartes. (pp. 233-251) edited by Henrik Lagerlund and Mikko Yrjönsuuri. Netherlands: Kluwer Academic. doi: 10.1007/978-94-010-0506-7_11

The Rationality of Cartesian Passions

2002

Journal Article

Thomas Aquinas, Saint and Private Investigator

Brown, D. J. (2002). Thomas Aquinas, Saint and Private Investigator. Dialogue, XLI (3), 461-480. doi: 10.1017/S0012217300005229

Thomas Aquinas, Saint and Private Investigator

2001

Journal Article

Aquinas' missing flying man

Brown, D. J. (2001). Aquinas' missing flying man. Sophia, 40 (1), 17-31. doi: 10.1007/BF02894576

Aquinas' missing flying man

2000

Journal Article

Immanence and individuation

Brown, D. J. (2000). Immanence and individuation. The Monist, 83 (1), 22-46. doi: 10.5840/monist20008314

Immanence and individuation

1999

Journal Article

What was new in the Passions of 1649?

Brown, D. J. (1999). What was new in the Passions of 1649?. Philosophica Fennica, 64, 211-231.

What was new in the Passions of 1649?

Current funding

  • 2024 - 2026
    Evaluating the impact of critical thinking and leadership training on Inspector level leadership and workplace culture of the QPS.
    Queensland Police Service
    Open grant
  • 2024 - 2025
    Step 2 - Embedding Critical Thinking in the AIPM Higher Education Programs
    Australian Federal Police
    Open grant
  • 2023 - 2025
    Teaching Critical and Creative Thinking Collaboratively: A UQ-BCE Case Study
    Archdiocese of Brisbane Catholic Education
    Open grant
  • 2023 - 2025
    SharingStories Foundation: A holistic approach to embedding First Nations' perspectives
    Sharing Stories Foundation
    Open grant
  • 2022 - 2024
    Teaching for Thinking at San Sisto College
    San Sisto College
    Open grant
  • 2021 - 2024
    Toward a culture of thinking: A case study of one school's action research
    Park Ridge State High School
    Open grant
  • 2020 - 2024
    Towards Closure on the Animal Pain Debate
    ARC Discovery Projects
    Open grant

Past funding

  • 2023 - 2024
    Embedding Critical Thinking in the AIPM Higher Education Programs
    Australian Federal Police
    Open grant
  • 2019 - 2021
    Supporting Student Cognition Through School-Led Pedagogical change
    Queensland Department of Education
    Open grant
  • 2019 - 2023
    The Philosophical Foundations of Womens Rights: A New History, 1600-1750 (ARC Discovery Project administered by Monash University)
    Monash University
    Open grant
  • 2015 - 2016
    TheJourneyMaker: Enhancing curriculum design, program analytics and the student experience
    Technology-Enhanced Learning Grants
    Open grant
  • 2007 - 2009
    Descartes' Ontology of Everyday Life
    ARC Discovery Projects
    Open grant
  • 2004
    Fate, Fortune And Desire From Antiquity to 1650
    University of Queensland Research Development Grants Scheme
    Open grant
  • 2003
    Descartes' Ontology Of Everyday Life
    University of Queensland Research Development Grants Scheme
    Open grant
  • 1999
    The historical and philosophical significance of Rene Descartes' theory of the passions
    ARC Australian Research Council (Small grants)
    Open grant

Availability

Professor Deborah Brown is:
Available for supervision

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Supervision history

Current supervision

  • Doctor Philosophy

    Hume's Scepticism, Ancient Scepticism and the Nature of Sceptical Assent

    Principal Advisor

    Other advisors: Dr Aurelia Armstrong

  • Doctor Philosophy

    Scepticism of other minds in the animal pain debate

    Principal Advisor

    Other advisors: Professor Brian Key

  • Doctor Philosophy

    Education to improve Collaborative Complex Decision Making in Intensive Care

    Principal Advisor

    Other advisors: Dr Peter Ellerton

  • Doctor Philosophy

    Teaching for Thinking: Collaboration and Critical Thinking

    Associate Advisor

    Other advisors: Dr Peter Ellerton

  • Doctor Philosophy

    The Role of Intuition in English and Literature Classrooms

    Associate Advisor

    Other advisors: Dr Peter Ellerton

  • Doctor Philosophy

    Human freedom: spinoza, descartes and kant

    Associate Advisor

    Other advisors: Dr Aurelia Armstrong

  • Doctor Philosophy

    What vaccine hesitancy can teach us about fostering public trust in healthcare artificial intelligence (AI)

    Associate Advisor

    Other advisors: Dr Peter Ellerton

  • Master Philosophy

    Giving Our Girls A Voice: Using Dialogic Teaching to improve gender equity in classrooms.

    Associate Advisor

    Other advisors: Professor Robyn Gillies

  • Doctor Philosophy

    Creating curious classrooms through student questions

    Associate Advisor

    Other advisors: Dr Peter Ellerton

Completed supervision

Enquiries

Contact Professor Deborah Brown directly for media enquiries about:

  • Metaphysics
  • Philosophy - early modern
  • Philosophy of mind and language

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