I am a moral and political philosopher interested in questions about human/animal relationships, food, liberal/libertarian political theory, war, and applied ethics. I am a Lecturer in Political Philosophy in the Department of International Relations, Politics and History in the School of Social Sciences and Humanities at Loughborough University, where I lead the university’s politics, philosophy, and economics degree.
My first book, Just Fodder: The Ethics of Feeding Animals was published by McGill-Queen’s University Press in 2022 (more information). My second book, Food, Justice, and Animals: Feeding the World Respectfully was published by Oxford University Press in 2023 (more information). At present, among other things, I am working on a book about Robert Nozick’s animal ethics and pursuing a project on animals and the ethics of warfare.
Since 2020, I have been the host of the animal studies podcast Knowing Animals. I am also a member of the Research Advisory Committee of the Vegan Society.
I joined Loughborough in 2022 as a British Academy Postdoctoral Fellow and Lecturer in Political Philosophy; my Fellowship was completed in 2023. Prior to beginning at Loughborough, I worked as British Academy Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Politics and International Relations at the University of Sheffield (2019-22), where I was mentored by Alasdair Cochrane; an Associate Lecturer in Political Philosophy in the Department of Politics at the University of York (2017-19); and a Postdoctoral Fellow in Animal Studies in the Department of Philosophy at Queen’s University in Canada (2016-17), where I was mentored by Will Kymlicka.
I read for my PhD in Philosophy in (what was then) the School of Politics, International Studies, and Philosophy at Queen’s University Belfast (2013-16). My thesis, The Political Turn in Animal Ethics, was supervised David Archard and Jeremy Watkins, and examined by Tom Walker and Robert Garner. Before that, I read for a BA and an MA in Philosophy in the Department of Politics, Philosophy, and Religion at Lancaster University (2009-2013). At Lancaster, I worked closely with lots of people, but both of my dissertations were supervised by Sam Clark.
I live in York with my wife Becky and my dogs Hollie and Casper. Interests outside of academia include British wildlife, vegetable gardening, vegan food, reading, video games, board games, TV, and films.
Josh Milburn 