Matthew is a PhD student in the Doctoral School of Political Science, focusing on political theory.
In terms of background, after completing a first-class BA(Hons) in History at Oxford, Matthew took a distinction in the joint UCL – QMUL MA program in the History of Political Thought, studying under noted scholars such as Quentin Skinner, Gareth Stedman-Jones and Georgios Varouxakis. He then moved to Manchester for a second degree in law, supported by a generous scholarship from Middle Temple, before finally joining CEU to complete a PhD in political theory.
Matthew’s interests lie at the intersection of three scholarly traditions: intellectual history, legal theory and contemporary political thought. His doctoral research combines all three of these strands in a project focused on assessing of the role of judges within the rule of law. More specifically, his project aims to build a novel theoretical framework, informed by the work of Adam Smith’s spectator theory of morality, through which to analyse the decision-making powers of the judiciary.
Besides this over-arching project, Matthew retains interests in a wide range of subjects, including the political thought of Hobbes and Montesquieu, the concept of the reasonable person within English law, and neo-republican political theory.
