Dr Becky Millar
(she/they)
- Available for postgraduate supervision
Teams and roles for Becky Millar
Lecturer in Philosophy
Overview
I work within the Philosophy of Mind and Philosophy of Cognitive Science, with a focus on perception and emotion, particularly from a 4E (embodied, embedded, enactive and extended) perspective.
Much of my research has focused on difficult-to-articulate experiences, such as the emotional experience of grief and the perceptual phenomenology of smell and flavour. I am also interested in broader questions about how perceptual and emotional phenomenology relate to one another, and to interpersonal experience, and how such experiences can be disrupted.
I joined Cardiff as a Lecturer in September 2023. Prior to this, I worked as a Postdoctoral Research Associate and Associate Lecturer at the University of York (2020-2023). I completed a PhD at the University of Edinburgh in 2019.
I am a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.
You can find out more about my work at https://www.beckymillar.com/.
Publication
2026
- Millar, B. 2026. Grief and suicide. In: Cholbi, M. and Stellino, P. eds. The Oxford Handbook of the Philosophy of Suicide. Oxford: Oxford University Press. , pp.383-397. (10.1093/oxfordhb/9780197654385.013.28)
2025
- Lee, J. and Millar, B. 2025. Mechanisms of skillful interaction: sensorimotor enactivism & mechanistic explanation. Philosophical Psychology 38 (5), pp.2260-2288. (10.1080/09515089.2024.2302509)
- Millar, B. 2025. Grief and the family. In: Routledge Handbook of Philosophy and the Family. Routledge
- Millar, B. 2025. Loneliness and continuing bonds with the dead. In: Seeman, A. et al., An Interdisciplinary Investigation of Loneliness. London: Bloomsbury Press
2024
- Millar, B. 2024. Can animals grieve?. ERGO 11 (17), pp.442-465. (10.3998/ergo.6157)
- Millar, B. and Richardson, L. 2024. Grief, smell and the olfactory air of a person. Pacific Philosophical Quarterly 104 (4), pp.769-790. (10.1111/papq.12443)
2023
- Millar, B. 2023. From odours to flavours: perceptual organisation in the chemical senses. In: Keller, A. and Young, B. D. eds. Theoretical Perspectives on Smell. Routledge. , pp.223-240.
- Millar, B. 2023. Grief's impact on sensorimotor expectations: an account of non-veridical bereavement experiences. Phenomenology and the Cognitive Sciences 22 (2), pp.439–460. (10.1007/s11097-021-09759-6)
- Ratcliffe, M. , Richardson, L. and Millar, B. 2023. On the appropriateness of grief to its object. Journal of the American Philosophical Association 9 (2), pp.318-334. (10.1017/apa.2021.55)
- Richardson, L. and Millar, B. 2023. Grief and the non-death losses of Covid-19. Phenomenology and the Cognitive Sciences 22 (5), pp.1087–1103. (10.1007/s11097-022-09878-8)
2022
- Millar, B. and Lopez-Cantero, P. 2022. Grief, continuing bonds, and unreciprocated love. The Southern Journal of Philosophy 60 (3), pp.413-436. (10.1111/sjp.12462)
- Ratcliffe, M. , Millar, B. and Richardson, L. 2022. Introduction: understanding grief: feeling, intentionality, regulation, and interpretation. Journal of Consciousness Studies 29 (9-10), pp.7-12. (10.53765/20512201.29.9.007)
2021
- Millar, B. 2021. Towards a sensorimotor approach to flavour and smell. Mind and Language 36 (2), pp.221-240. (10.1111/mila.12275)
- Millar, B. and Lee, J. 2021. Horror films and grief. Emotion Review 13 (3), pp.171-182. (10.1177/17540739211022815)
- Richardson, L. et al., 2021. The COVID-19 pandemic and the bounds of grief. Think: Philosophy for everyone 20 (57), pp.89-101. (10.1017/S1477175620000366)
2017
- Millar, B. 2017. Smelling objects. Synthese 196 (10), pp.4279–4303. (10.1007/s11229-017-1657-8)
Articles
- Lee, J. and Millar, B. 2025. Mechanisms of skillful interaction: sensorimotor enactivism & mechanistic explanation. Philosophical Psychology 38 (5), pp.2260-2288. (10.1080/09515089.2024.2302509)
- Millar, B. 2024. Can animals grieve?. ERGO 11 (17), pp.442-465. (10.3998/ergo.6157)
- Millar, B. 2023. Grief's impact on sensorimotor expectations: an account of non-veridical bereavement experiences. Phenomenology and the Cognitive Sciences 22 (2), pp.439–460. (10.1007/s11097-021-09759-6)
- Millar, B. 2017. Smelling objects. Synthese 196 (10), pp.4279–4303. (10.1007/s11229-017-1657-8)
- Millar, B. 2021. Towards a sensorimotor approach to flavour and smell. Mind and Language 36 (2), pp.221-240. (10.1111/mila.12275)
- Millar, B. and Lee, J. 2021. Horror films and grief. Emotion Review 13 (3), pp.171-182. (10.1177/17540739211022815)
- Millar, B. and Lopez-Cantero, P. 2022. Grief, continuing bonds, and unreciprocated love. The Southern Journal of Philosophy 60 (3), pp.413-436. (10.1111/sjp.12462)
- Millar, B. and Richardson, L. 2024. Grief, smell and the olfactory air of a person. Pacific Philosophical Quarterly 104 (4), pp.769-790. (10.1111/papq.12443)
- Ratcliffe, M. , Millar, B. and Richardson, L. 2022. Introduction: understanding grief: feeling, intentionality, regulation, and interpretation. Journal of Consciousness Studies 29 (9-10), pp.7-12. (10.53765/20512201.29.9.007)
- Ratcliffe, M. , Richardson, L. and Millar, B. 2023. On the appropriateness of grief to its object. Journal of the American Philosophical Association 9 (2), pp.318-334. (10.1017/apa.2021.55)
- Richardson, L. and Millar, B. 2023. Grief and the non-death losses of Covid-19. Phenomenology and the Cognitive Sciences 22 (5), pp.1087–1103. (10.1007/s11097-022-09878-8)
- Richardson, L. et al., 2021. The COVID-19 pandemic and the bounds of grief. Think: Philosophy for everyone 20 (57), pp.89-101. (10.1017/S1477175620000366)
Book sections
- Millar, B. 2023. From odours to flavours: perceptual organisation in the chemical senses. In: Keller, A. and Young, B. D. eds. Theoretical Perspectives on Smell. Routledge. , pp.223-240.
- Millar, B. 2026. Grief and suicide. In: Cholbi, M. and Stellino, P. eds. The Oxford Handbook of the Philosophy of Suicide. Oxford: Oxford University Press. , pp.383-397. (10.1093/oxfordhb/9780197654385.013.28)
- Millar, B. 2025. Grief and the family. In: Routledge Handbook of Philosophy and the Family. Routledge
- Millar, B. 2025. Loneliness and continuing bonds with the dead. In: Seeman, A. et al., An Interdisciplinary Investigation of Loneliness. London: Bloomsbury Press
Teaching
In 2025-2026, I am convening the following modules:
Autumn Semester: Philosophy of Mind (UG, Y2); Dimensions of the Mind (MA)
Spring Semester: Mind, Language and Belief (UG, Y1); Disruptive Emotions (UG, Y3)
Supervisions
I'm interested in supervising PhD students on topics within Philosophy of Emotion, Philosophy of Perception, and/or 4E cognition.
Contact Details
+44 29208 74597
John Percival Building, Floor 1, Room 134, Colum Drive, Cardiff, CF10 3EU