I’m a political philosopher, with a particular interest in rights, freedom, and equality. 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 currently writing a political philosophy book called ‘Freedom in Utopia’. I’m very grateful to have received two Emergent Ventures awards to support my work on my book, and I’m looking forward to spending the Fall Semester of 2024 visiting at George Mason University, also thanks to Emergent Ventures.
I wrote my PhD on moral property rights. I’ve published on topics ranging from democracy to income distribution (you can see some of my writing on this site). My recent publications include: an article on the ethics of lab-grown meat for Psyche; 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 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.
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, 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. I co-founded a civil-rights campaign called Radical. For quite a few years, I wrote a regular column for ConHome, where I was an assistant editor. Back in 2015, 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.
You can check out some of my writing on Medium, here. And here‘s an interview with me (from a few years ago) on the Justice Everywhere site.