Sebastian Östlund

I am a PhD student in philosophy. My research revolves around axiology applied within the field of political philosophy, with a special focus on the capability approach framework.

Contact

sebastian.ostlund@umu.se

Works at

Affiliated as other position at Department of Historical, Philosophical and Religious Studies Section: Philosophy

Visiting address, view map

My current research interests revolve around questions in the intersection of axiology and political philosophy. I am especially interested in investigating the preconditions for picking out the value-space of well-being as it is analysed in the capability approach framework. I am fairly sympathetic to pluralistic approaches such as this, but seek a sufficiently substantive normative grounding for the inclusion and exclusion of specific value-objects in and from that value-space. Questions to do with what it is that we ought to distribute justly, and why this is so thus take up a considerable amount of my time.

I have a very strong interest in teaching philosophy. I have had the fortune of teaching subjects relating to the philosophy of science (both the natural and social sciences), research ethics, and political philosophy. I have done so at Umeå University, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, and Stockholm University. The courses have been on the basic, advanced, and PhD level. For more information, please see the tab "Teaching”.

Addiction and the capability to abstain

Res Publica, Springer Nature 2024, Vol. 30 : 211-228

Östlund, Sebastian

Well-being contextualism and capabilities

Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2024, Vol. 25, (1-2)

Östlund, Sebastian

Well-being in context

Umeå studies in philosophy, 15

Östlund, Sebastian

Combining Philosophical and Democratic Capability Lists

Moral Philosophy and Politics, Walter de Gruyter 2023, Vol. 10, (1) : 185-201

Östlund, Sebastian

Distinguishing Disadvantage from Ill-Being in the Capability Approach

Ethical Theory and Moral Practice, Springer 2021, Vol. 24, (4) : 933-947

Östlund, Sebastian

View publications in DiVA

Research projects

3 September 2018 until 2 September 2022

Determining the Value-Space of Well-Being in the Capability Approach

General Information

My teaching experience is broad. I have taught on the undergraduate, master’s, and PhD levels. Subjects include the philosophy of science (both the natural and social sciences), research ethics, and political philosophy. More detailed information follows.

Umeå University

PhD Candidate

Developing as a Doctoral Researcher (Autumn 2020: giving a lecture on structuring doctoral studies)
Ethics, Democracy and the Heterogeneous Teaching Environment (Autumn 2018, Spring 2019, Autumn 2019: examination)
Kiruna, Norrland, the World: Cultural Perspectives on People and Natural Resources (Summer 2019: philosophy lecturing, examination)
Political Philosophy (Spring 2021, Spring 2020: course responsible, Spring 2019: seminars and examination)
Philosophy of Social Science (Spring 2021, Spring 2019: seminars on well-being and measurements)
Technology, Ethics and Environment (Spring 2021, Spring 2020: teaching ethics and examination)

KTH Royal Institute of Technology

Research Engineer

Theory and Methodology of Science (Spring 2018, Autumn 2017, Spring 2017: seminars, project meetings, examination, and course development)
Philosophy of Science for Engineers and Scientists (Spring 2018, Autumn 2017: designing MOOC exercises)

Stockholm University

Amanuensis

Knowledge, Science, and Research Methodology (Spring 2018, Autumn 2017, Spring 2017, Autumn 2016, Spring 2016, Autumn 2015: seminars and examination)
Knowledge and Science (Spring 2018, Autumn 2017: examination)
Scientific Method and Research Ethics (Autumn 2017: examination)

Supplemental Instructor

Practical Philosophy I (30 ECTS credits, Philosophy, Politics and Economics Programme: Autumn 2014):

- Introduction to Argumentation, Semantics and Logic (7.5 ECTS credits)
- Normative Ethics and Political Philosophy (7.5 ECTS credits)
- Metaethics (7.5 ECTS credits)
- The Philosophy of Economics and Social Science (7.5 ECTS credits)

Practical Philosophy II (30 ECTS credits: Spring 2015, Autumn 2015, Autumn 2016):

- Classical Works in Practical Philosophy (6 ECTS credits)
- Political Philosophy (6 ECTS credits)
- The Philosophy of Social Science (6 ECTS credits)
- Metaethics (6 ECTS credits)
- Normative Ethics (6 ECTS credits)

Theoretical Philosophy II (30 ECTS credits: Spring 2016):

- The Philosophy of Mind (7.5 ECTS credits)
- The Philosophy of Language (7.5 ECTS credits)
- Seminar (7.5 ECTS credits)
- Original Work in Theoretical Philosophy (7.5 ECTS credits)

Knowledge, Science and Research Methodology (7.5 ECTS credits: Spring 2017)

- Four different groups of students throughout the semester.
- Project Report: “SI-verksamhetens potentiella tillämpningsområden och verkan inom filosofiämnet”, a short report written alongside Marie Kagrell and Helena Björnesjö about the SI-programme’s application within the field of philosophy.