Macdonald completed BPhil and MPhil degrees at the
University of Oxford. Her DPhil thesis, completed in 1984, was titled
Events and mind-body identity. Macdonald first lectured at the University of Manchester, before joining the faculty of the University of Canterbury in New Zealand in 1998, where she was appointed full professor. Macdonald was Professor of Philosophy at
Queen's University, Belfast from 2005 to 2011. Macdonald then rejoined the faculty of the University of Manchester. She was appointed professor emerita at the University of Canterbury in New Zealand in 2009. Macdonald's research is on the
philosophy of mind,
metaphysics and
cognitive science. She has also been a visiting professor at
Rutgers University and
Columbia University. == Selected works ==