Research

My research sits at the intersection of political philosophy, epistemology, and social science methodology. I’m particularly interested in how groups make decisions and form beliefs, and what this means for democratic theory and practice. Broadly speaking, my research is situated in the field of PPE - Philosophy, Politics and Economics

Research Areas

Democratic Theory

My work in democratic theory focuses on epistemic justifications for democracy. Rather than defending democracy solely on grounds of political equality or autonomy, I argue that democratic procedures are valuable because they tend to produce good decisions. This research draws on social choice theory, probability theory, and empirical studies of group decision-making.

I investigate how groups form beliefs and aggregate information. This includes work on the wisdom of crowds, the role of expertise in democratic societies, and the conditions under which groups outperform individuals.

I have a long-standing interest in the interaction of individualist and holist modes of explanation in the social sciences, and what this entails or the most plausible social ontology. I am also interested in the nature and grounds of social norms.

Environmental Ethics

My environmental ethics research examines the ethical challenges posed by climate change and environmental degradation. I’m particularly interested in intergenerational justice and the ethics of uncertainty.

I work on methodological questions in political theory and political science, including the role of formal and computational methods, the relationship between normative and empirical theory, and the use of models in political philosophy.

Lotteries and Justification

Why do we find lotteries fair when allocating indivisible goods to claimants with similar claims to the scarce good? In a recent paper, I develop a new theory of lottery fairness, arguing that the fairness of lotteries partly depends on the reasons it can provide to the loser of the allocation process.

Current Funding

Cohesion and Deliberative Decision-Making

Open Society Foundation Grant (2024-2027)

Working with Alex Voorhoeve, Richard Bradley and Suzanne Bloks on projects examining cohesion and deliberation in democratic decision-making. This research explores how social cohesion affects the quality of democratic deliberation and collective decision-making.

Augmenting Intelligence through Collective Learning

NSF RCN Associate (2024)

Research associate at the NSF RCN grant for “Augmenting Intelligence through Collective Learning” examining how groups can enhance their collective intelligence through structured learning processes.