Catherine Joanna Rowett (born 29 December 1956, previously publishing as Catherine Osborne from 1979 to 2011) is a British former
Member of the European Parliament
A Member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament.
When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the ECSC) first met in 1952, its ...
representing the
Green Party of England and Wales, and academic. She is Professor of Philosophy at the
University of East Anglia
The University of East Anglia (UEA) is a public research university in Norwich, England. Established in 1963 on a campus west of the city centre, the university has four faculties and 26 schools of study. The annual income of the institution f ...
. She is known in particular for her work on
Greek Philosophy
Ancient Greek philosophy arose in the 6th century BC, marking the end of the Greek Dark Ages. Greek philosophy continued throughout the Hellenistic period and the period in which Greece and most Greek-inhabited lands were part of the Roman Empir ...
, especially the
Pre-Socratic philosophers
Pre-Socratic philosophy, also known as early Greek philosophy, is ancient Greek philosophy before Socrates. Pre-Socratic philosophers were mostly interested in cosmology, the beginning and the substance of the universe, but the inquiries of thes ...
.
She was a
Green Party
A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as social justice, environmentalism and nonviolence.
Greens believe that these issues are inherently related to one another as a foundation ...
Member of the European Parliament
A Member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament.
When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the ECSC) first met in 1952, its ...
(MEP) for the
East of England
The East of England is one of the nine official regions of England. This region was created in 1994 and was adopted for statistics purposes from 1999. It includes the ceremonial counties of Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Essex, Hertfordshire ...
from 2019 until 31 January 2020, when the United Kingdom left the European Union.
[
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Academic career
Rowett read Classics at the King's College, Cambridge
King's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Formally The King's College of Our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge, the college lies beside the River Cam and faces out onto King's Parade in the centre of the city ...
, where she was also awarded her PhD with a dissertation on Hippolytus of Rome and Pre-Socratic philosophers
Pre-Socratic philosophy, also known as early Greek philosophy, is ancient Greek philosophy before Socrates. Pre-Socratic philosophers were mostly interested in cosmology, the beginning and the substance of the universe, but the inquiries of thes ...
. The dissertation was published as ''Rethinking Early Greek Philosophy: Hippolytus of Rome and the Presocratics'' by Cornell University Press
The Cornell University Press is the university press of Cornell University; currently housed in Sage House, the former residence of Henry William Sage. It was first established in 1869, making it the first university publishing enterprise in th ...
in 1987.
Rowett became a Junior Research Fellow of New Hall, Cambridge in 1984. In 1987, she took up a Senior Research Fellowship at St Anne's College, Oxford
St Anne's College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. It was founded in 1879 and gained full college status in 1959. Originally a women's college, it has admitted men since 1979. It has some 450 undergraduate and 200 ...
while also a British Academy
The British Academy is the United Kingdom's national academy for the humanities and the social sciences.
It was established in 1902 and received its royal charter in the same year. It is now a fellowship of more than 1,000 leading scholars span ...
Postdoctoral Fellow. From 1990 Rowett was a lecturer in philosophy at Swansea University. On leaving Swansea in 2000, Rowett became Reader
A reader is a person who reads. It may also refer to:
Computing and technology
* Adobe Reader (now Adobe Acrobat), a PDF reader
* Bible Reader for Palm, a discontinued PDA application
* A card reader, for extracting data from various forms of ...
in Greek Culture at the University of Liverpool
, mottoeng = These days of peace foster learning
, established = 1881 – University College Liverpool1884 – affiliated to the federal Victoria Universityhttp://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukla/2004/4 University of Manchester Act 200 ...
and then 2003 she moved to the University of East Anglia
The University of East Anglia (UEA) is a public research university in Norwich, England. Established in 1963 on a campus west of the city centre, the university has four faculties and 26 schools of study. The annual income of the institution f ...
as a lecturer in philosophy. Rowett became Reader in 2006 and then Professor of Philosophy in 2008. She was the Head of the School of Philosophy (later incorporated into the current School of Politics, Philosophy, Language and Communication Studies) from 2005 to 2008.
Rowett was awarded a Leverhulme Trust
The Leverhulme Trust () is a large national grant-making organisation in the United Kingdom. It was established in 1925 under the will of the 1st Viscount Leverhulme (1851–1925), with the instruction that its resources should be used to suppo ...
Research Fellowship from 2007 to 2009 for her work on knowledge and truth in Plato, which formed the foundation of her work published as ''Knowledge and Truth in Plato: Stepping Past the Shadow of Socrates'' by Oxford University Press in 2018.
Political career
Rowett stood as a Green Party
A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as social justice, environmentalism and nonviolence.
Greens believe that these issues are inherently related to one another as a foundation ...
candidate for the constituency of South Norfolk in the 2015
File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...
and 2017 general elections.
She was selected as the lead Green Party candidate for the East of England
The East of England is one of the nine official regions of England. This region was created in 1994 and was adopted for statistics purposes from 1999. It includes the ceremonial counties of Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Essex, Hertfordshire ...
in the 2019 European Parliament election
The 2019 European Parliament election was held between 23 and 26 May 2019, the ninth parliamentary election since the first direct elections in 1979. A total of 751 Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) represent more than 512 million peopl ...
and was elected with her Green Party list receiving 12.7% of the votes cast. The party topped the poll in Norwich with 26% of the votes cast in the city. Her seat was dissolved on 31 January 2020, following the United Kingdom's exit from the European Union.
Selected publications
As Catherine Rowett
* ''Knowledge and Truth in Plato: Stepping Past the Shadow of Socrates'' (Oxford University Press, 2018)
As Catherine Osborne
* ''Philoponus: On Aristotle Physics 1.4-9'' (Ancient Commentators on Aristotle, Duckworth, 2009)
* ''Dumb beasts and Dead Philosophers: Humanity and the Humane in Ancient Philosophy and Literature'' (Oxford University Press, 2007)
* ''Philoponus Commentary on Aristotle's Physics book 1.1-3'' (Ancient Commentators on Aristotle, Duckworth, 2006)
* ''Presocratic Philosophy: a very Short Introduction'' (Oxford University Press, 2004)
* ''Eros Unveiled: Plato and the God of Love'' (Clarendon Press, 1994)
* ''Rethinking Early Greek Philosophy: Hippolytus of Rome and the Presocratics'' (Cornell University Press, 1987)
References
External links
University of East Anglia staff page
Facebook
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rowett, Catherine
1956 births
Living people
British classical scholars
Women classical scholars
Alumni of King's College, Cambridge
Academics of the University of East Anglia
Green Party of England and Wales MEPs
Green Party of England and Wales parliamentary candidates
MEPs for England 2019–2020
21st-century women MEPs for England