Professor Martin Ashley
I retired from full-time academic work in 2013 and have finally, after thirteen years of hanging on, decided that it’s no longer appropriate to maintain the website of a working academic. My research outputs between 1992 and 2026 are listed here and available to anyone who cares to seek them out via booksellers, the publishers’ websites or, in some cases, Researchgate and Academia. The last full and proper peer reviews were in 2018 and since then I have tended to rely upon preprint uploads, so bear that in mind!
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I do still enjoy writing and have considered starting a blog but I’m not sure that anyone is really that interested in my opinions and one thing I absolutely do not enjoy is the self-promotion of social media and its wretched algorithms. So I have decided that the occasional “essay” is probably the best way to keep my brain active and if anybody wants to read the results, they are welcome!
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For the last two or three years, I have been writing essays on the topic of early music, or more specifically the boy voice and historic pitch but aside from the vexed question of “head tone” I think I’ve probably gone as far with that topic as I can, so I have returned to my original PhD thesis – value as a reason for action. I realise now that I left the most fundamental question unanswered, and it’s a big philosophical one I overlooked. Are intrinsic values real?
​These questions are inspired by the methodology of my PhD thesis, as was each of the projects below. If value is the reason for action, how do we quantify it? Looking back on an eclectic thirty five year research career, I've listed and ranked the various projects by value surrogates according to the methodology of the thesis. The pictures take you to the project pages. It would be rational to devote most of the time I have remaining to the project with the highest value. Click the panda!
Most significant work by intrinsic value. The value of the natural world is infinitely high, but this is a philosophical proposition that can be disputed and requires further examination.
Most significant work by research impact and citation count. The Steiner work has been the most frequently viewed, by a considerable margin, indicating value through interest in the work.
Most significant work by grant funding and income to the university. External assessors attached monetary value to a proposal to address, indicative of potential value and future use value.
Resources List
Most significant work by royalty income.
The more copies of a text that are sold, the higher its rated value. Still a long way to go to equal J.K. Rowling, but valued more highly than books dealing only with boys' singing.