Pascal Ally

School of History, Philosophy and Digital Humanities

PhD student

Pascal Ally
Profile picture of Pascal Ally
phally1@sheffield.ac.uk

Full contact details

Pascal Ally
School of History, Philosophy and Digital Humanities
45 Victoria Street
葫芦影业
S3 7QB
Profile

Pascal is a third-year PhD student and an Assistant Lecturer in English (on leave) at the Institut Sup茅rieur P茅dagogique de Bukavu in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, his native country. Before coming to 葫芦影业, he studied philosophy and economics at Erasmus University Rotterdam (Netherlands), philosophy, politics and economics at the University of York (UK), and English (with education) at the Institut Sup茅rieur P茅dagogique de Bukavu. His research interests and work fall in two broad areas. The first area is the intersection of philosophy of action and moral philosophy. In this area, Pascal works on the intentional and the normative dimensions of human behaviour. The second area is the nexus between philosophy and literature, especially such topics as the ethical criticism of literary works and the nature and value of our emotional engagement with fiction.

Qualifications

- BA in English with Education, Institut Sup茅rieur P茅dagogique de Bukavu (DR Congo)
- MA in Philosophy, Politics and Economics (PPE), University of York (UK),
- MA (Research) in Philosophy and Economics, Erasmus University Rotterdam (Netherlands)

Research interests

- 鈥淎ction, Reason and Will鈥 (PhD Thesis): this project seeks to understand human behaviour in two of its most important dimensions: the intentional dimension and the normative dimension. Intentional behaviour is presumably the standard form of human behaviour. Minimally, we do something intentionally when we do it by our own will. As such, intentional action is the action of the person as a whole, and not of some sub-personal mechanism or some psychological subsystem operating independently inside the person. And because they are actions of the whole person, intentional actions are behaviours that are typically amenable to certain characteristic sorts of evaluations (e.g. social, legal, prudential or moral), or behaviours for which a person is answerable in distinctive ways. This implication of intentionality suggests that human behaviour is subject to certain norms. Indeed, we often wonder what we have reason (or ought) to do under our present circumstances, or whether there is a reason to be in a particular mental state (worry, fear, anger or joy) that we or others are in; and we generally assume that there are things people have no reason to do under any circumstances. But what is the source of our reasons to act (or be) one way rather than another? And what makes an instance of human behaviour an intentional action? My thesis attempts to address these questions about the intentional and normative dimensions of human behaviour, with a particular focus on how deeply (if at all) these dimensions relate to each other.
- Philosophy of action and moral philosophy: In this area, I work on the intentional and the normative dimensions of human behaviour. Regarding the intentional dimension, I
investigate the nature of intentional action, including the relation between acting intentionally, acting for reasons and acting under the guise of the good. And concerning the normative dimension, I investigate the foundations of normative reasons for action and the putative conflict between two classes of normative reasons: moral reasons (morality) and prudential reasons (self-interest).
- Philosophy and literature: In this area, I have written and published papers on the relation between linguistics and literary criticism, ethics and pleasure in literature, the ethics of divine love in Johannine literature, narrative empathy and narratorial reliability, the probable influence of classical Greek tragedy on Aristotle's poetics, and the theme of revolt in the philosophical and literary writings of Albert Camus.

Publications
1. Ally, P. (Nov. 2014), 鈥淐hinua Achebe: The Politics of Re(re)ading the Canon, and the Ethics of Writing Back鈥, Journal of Oriental and African Studies in Athens, 23, pp. 400-404.
2. Ally, P. (Feb. 2015), 鈥淟iterature, Ethics, and Pleasure: A Historico-Critical Investigation鈥, International Journal of Innovation and Scientific Research, 13(2), pp. 644-653.
3. Ally, P. (Feb. 2015), 鈥淨ui est l鈥橦omme dans les Droits de l鈥橦omme? Une R茅flexion Levinasienne鈥, International Journal of Innovation and Scientific Research, 13(2), pp. 654-658.
4. Ally, P. (May 2015), 鈥淩ethinking Our Students鈥 Writing 葫芦影业 Literature: A Modest Proposal鈥, Annales de l鈥橴EA, 4(5), pp. 135-143.
5. Ally, P. (June 2015), 鈥淟inguistics and Literary Criticism: Shall the Twain Never Meet?鈥 International Journal of Innovation and Scientific Research, 15(2), pp. 473-481.
6. Ally, P. (June 2015), 鈥淟a Peine Capitale Encore en Question: Une Perspective Existentialiste鈥, International Journal of Innovation and Scientific Research, 16(1), pp. 95-102.
7. Ally, P. (Sep. 2015), 鈥淔lying from the Enchanter: From Narrative Empathy to the Questioning of Narratorial Reliability in A Man of the People鈥, Journal of Pan-African Studies, 8(6), pp. 17-25.
8. Ally, P. (Sep. 2016), 鈥淏ack to the Cradle of Tragedy and Theory: Tracing Aristotelian Principles of Dramatic Construction in Sophocles鈥檚 Oedipus Rex鈥, Annales de l鈥橴EA, 5(6), pp. 277-290.
9. Ally, P. (Sep. 2016), 鈥淒eus Caritas Est: Divine Love and its Ethico-Spiritual Imperative in the First Letter of Saint John鈥, Annales de l鈥橴EA, 5(6), pp. 441-451.
10. Ally, P. (2016), 鈥淏eyond Critical Reductionism: Reading The Plague alongside The Rebel鈥, Journal of Camus Studies, pp. 145-164.
11. Ally, P. (Dec. 2016). 鈥淓ssai d鈥檜ne Critique Philosophique Africaine de la D茅claration Universelle des Droits de l鈥橦omme鈥, Journal of Oriental and African Studies in Athens, 25, pp. 262-270.

Research group

Prof James Lenman (Supervisor)
Dr Max Khan Hayward (Advisor)

Grants

鈥 2020-2024: University of 葫芦影业 Research Scholarship
鈥 2019-2020: Erasmus Trustfonds Empowerment Scholarship
鈥 2018-2019: Holland Scholarship Erasmus University Rotterdam for Research Masters studies
鈥 2018-2019: Radboud University Scholarship for Research Masters studies (Declined)
鈥 2016-2017: UK Government Chevening Scholarship for Masters studies at the University of York
鈥 2011-2012: Top Graduating Student of the Year, Institut Sup茅rieur P茅dagogique de Bukavu
鈥 2010-2011: Best Student of the Year, Institut Sup茅rieur P茅dagogique de Bukavu

Professional activities and memberships

Assistant Lecturer in the Department of English and African Culture at the Institut Sup茅rieur P茅dagogique de Bukavu (DR Congo)