Maria Skoutaridou

Maria completed her BA in theology at Aristotle University in Greece, where she was also trained and qualified as a religious education teacher. She then completed her MA in philosophy and religion at the University of London, Heythrop College and she is now in the final year of her PhD at Kent.  

Maria’s research interests lie primarily in moral and political philosophy, with a particular focus on civic responsibility, virtue ethics, and the role of community, tradition, and moral language in public life. Her work critically examines liberal conceptions of the self, freedom, and economic agency, and explores alternative frameworks grounded in civic virtue, shared practices, and place-based responsibility. She is especially interested in questions of collective action, moral responsibility, and the ethical foundations of public institutions and social practices.    

PhD Title

From Possessive Individualism to Civic Virtue Environmentalism: Virtue, Community, and the Moral Foundations of Environmental Responsibility

Summary  

This thesis develops a systematic critique of liberal conceptions of the self and their implications for environmental ethics, arguing for a shift towards a civic virtue environmentalism grounded in a situated understanding of personhood and community. It examines how liberal political thought, through its emphasis on self-ownership, economic freedom, and market rationality, weakens citizens’ sense of personal and civic responsibility for shared environmental problems.

Engaging critically with Hobbes, Locke, Mill, and Rawls, and drawing on C. B. Macpherson’s account of possessive individualism, the thesis analyses how the figure of the ‘economic man’ becomes normalised as the dominant moral agent in modern societies. It then tests this framework against collective action problems such as the tragedy of the commons and common-pool resource management, drawing in particular on Elinor Ostrom’s work on community governance and shared norms.

The thesis advances an alternative account of the self as embedded in communities, histories, and places, drawing on the work of Alasdair MacIntyre, Michael Sandel, and Charles Taylor. On this basis, it develops a civic virtue environmentalism centred on practical wisdom (phronēsis) and love of home (oikophilia), arguing that environmental stewardship is best understood as an expression of civic virtue rather than a constraint on individual freedom.

Publications

• Human Flourishing vs. Abstract Social Justice Narratives of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (Centre for Heterodox Social Science, University of Buckingham)
• Political Correctness is Not a Moral Compass (Centre for Heterodox Social Science, University of Buckingham)

Maria is teaching Philosophy and Sociology at A level in sixth form colleges.  

Supervised by Dr Iain Mackenzie and Dr Sean Molloy.