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MA and M.Phil (University of Oxford); PhD (University of Cambridge) Laurence Hemming joined Heythrop College as a Research Fellow in 1998 and became a full member of the Faculty in 1999 until his departure in February 2007.  His principal responsibilities were for the College's research degrees and the oversight of the College's research strategy.

Postgraduate Reading Group 'Difficulties in Martin Heidegger's 'Being and Time' / Sein und Zeit: Autumn Term 2007 hosted by the Philosophy Department of University College London – details can be found here.

Research Interests

Laurence Hemming's main interest has been in the relation between philosophy and theology.  He has written extensively on the work of Martin Heidegger, as well as St. Thomas Aquinas, Descartes, Kant, Hegel and Nietzsche.  He has published two research monographs: Heidegger's Atheism: The Refusal of a Theological Voice (Notre Dame University Press, Notre Dame, 2002) and Postmodernity's Transcending: Devaluing God (Notre Dame University Press, Notre Dame and SCM Press, London, 2005). 

This second book was the subject of a research conference at the Catholic University of Leuven in October 2004, and the papers engaging with its themes were published in Supplement Series of the online journal Ars Disputandi (University of Utrecht) in October 2005 and can be read or downloaded from here. 

He has published a short introduction to the life and thought of Pope Benedict XVI, called Benedict XVI: Fellow Labourer for the truth – An Introduction to His Life and Thought (Burnes & Oates, London, 2005).  A full list of his publications can be found here, and a short Curriculum Vitæ for him can be found here.  He edits the book series Faith in Reason: Philosophical Studies for Notre Dame University Press and SCM Press, and edited the Heythrop Studies in Contemporary Philosophy, Religion and Theology for Ashgate until the series closed in 2005.

Current Research

Currently Laurence Hemming is working on a study of the phenomenology of the Sacred Liturgy of the Catholic Church.  He is also preparing a discussion of intersubjectivity, to be published by  Blackwell.

Other Activities

Laurence is a founder member of the Society of St. Catherine of Siena