ACADEMIC RESEARCH
This page details some of my current academic research interests and projects. A full list of my publications and presentations is available on my CV/Resume page. My non-academic projects are available under Professional Experiences.
Global Health Justice
One of the most pervasive forms of injustice in the world is in the realm of health, but the philosophical literature on global health justice remains sparse.
My doctoral thesis aims to develop a cosmopolitan account of global health justice, whereby everyone (regardless of nationality or place of birth) has genuine opportunities to be healthy.
In the domain of health justice more generally, I am interested in the axiology of health (whether it has intrinsic or independent value, or if it is merely reducible to wellbeing) and debates about aggregating health and non-health risks and benefits, among other topics.
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Duties and Responsibilities of (Global) Justice
While there is often widespread agreement about the presence and 'badness' of global injustice, theories devoted to identifying the specific agents responsible for remedying particular injustices remain inadequate. They are either unprincipled (allocating responsibility on the wrong basis) or lack action-guidingness.
I am developing an account of remedial responsibility focused on agents' simultaneous capacities and incapacities, and capable of motivating coordinated collective action through a modified contractualist framework.
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Methodological Debates in Moral/Political Philosophy
What is the point of moral and political philosophy? Should political philosophy be concerned about people's opinions about justice? Should feasibility limit the demandingness of moral prescriptions? Are normative principles dependent upon facts? I am interested in what role philosophy can play in the real world and the relationship between facts and principles.
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I have published a recent paper (Critical Review of International Social and Political Philosophy) on the topic of the 'real world' in philosophical theorising, with ongoing work in this space.
Vulnerability in Political Philosophy
There is an assumption that political subjects are, reasonable, rational, able to deliberate about their needs and interests, and free of physical and mental defects. This is divorced from the reality of human beings as inherently vulnerable.
Building on my general work in health, I analyse the conceptual and normative significance of vulnerability for theories of justice and beneficence. I aim to show that vulnerability is an analytically useful concept and can provide stronger normative grounding for duties of justice and obligations of beneficence than prevailing conceptions based on agency, rationality, and mutual cooperation.
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