I’m a political philosopher, with a particular interest in rights, freedom, and equality. I’m currently spending most of my time writing a philosophy book called Freedom in Utopia, in which I set out some arguments about how free we would be in the best possible society. I’m very grateful to have received two Emergent Ventures awards to support my work on this book, and I’m currently spending the fall semester as a Visiting Fellow at George Mason University, also thanks to Emergent Ventures.
I wrote my political philosophy PhD on moral property rights, at KCL. I’ve published on topics ranging from democracy to income distribution. My recent publications include an article on the ethics of lab-grown meat for Psyche/Aeon, a chapter on the democratic state’s obligation of transparency for an edited volume called ‘Political Philosophy in a Pandemic’, a paper on property rights in space for the Adam Smith Institute, and an entry on Locke’s conception of justice for the Encyclopedia of the Philosophy of Law and Social Philosophy. My forthcoming publications include a paper on free speech for the Adam Smith Institute, and an article on the value of space activity for Economic Affairs. I’ve recently given talks at the World Congress of Philosophy, the Joint Session of the Aristotelian Society and the Mind Association, the 7th Economic Philosophy International Conference, and at Adam Smith’s house in Edinburgh. Whilst I’m in the States this fall, I’m giving talks at Princeton and Georgetown, as well as at GMU.
Alongside academic and journalistic writing, I work on political, economic, and philosophical research issues as a consultant. This includes an ongoing engagement as Consulting Space Philosopher at a strategic space advisory firm; previous engagements include four years as Research Director at a patient-capital investment company. I’m the former (and inaugural) director of FREER, a think tank advancing economically and socially liberal ideas. I’ve worked for various other research organisations over the years, including Policy Exchange where I was State and Society Fellow and convenor of the Research Group on Political Thought. I’m a Senior Reader at the Canterbury Institute in Oxford. Between 2014 and 2019, I wrote a regular column for ConHome, where I was an assistant editor. In the 2015 general election, I was a parliamentary candidate for my home seat of City of Durham, but I have no desire ever to repeat this experience, and am no longer a member of any political party. My analysis and commentary have often featured in the national print and broadcast media, and I’m in demand to speak at and chair discussion events.
You can check out some of my writing on Medium, here. And here‘s an interview with me (from a quite few years ago, now) on the Justice Everywhere site. You can contact me on Twitter at @RMLLowe, or by email at rebeccamarylouiselowe@gmail.com.