Office Hours – 2024W term 1

• Monday, 2:00pm – 3:00pm / Tuesday, 11:00am – 12:00pm
• In person: BUCH E375
• Also available by appointment (on Zoom)

Kimberley Brownlee holds the Canada Research Chair in Ethics and Political & Social Philosophy at the University of British Columbia. Her current work focuses on loneliness, belonging, social human rights, and freedom of association. Her past work focused on civil disobedience, punishment, and restorative justice. She is the author of Being Sure of Each Other (Oxford University Press, 2020) and Conscience and Conviction: The Case for Civil Disobedience (Oxford University Press, 2012). Prior to her appointment at UBC, she was a Professor of Philosophy at the University of Warwick. She has held numerous visiting positions including a Visiting Fellowship at All Souls College, Oxford (2019-20); a Visiting Fellowship at the Australian National University (2019), a Fulbright Visiting Research Chair at Vanderbilt University (2008); an HLA Hart Visiting Research Fellowship at University College, Oxford (2009); a CEPPA Visiting Research Fellowship at St Andrews University (2009); and a Warwick-Monash Visiting Fellowship at Monash University (2015). She is the recipient of a Philip Leverhulme Prize (2012), and has served on the executive committees of the Aristotelian Society (2014-2017), the British Philosophical Association (2012-2016), and the Society for Applied Philosophy (2007-2013).

Monographs

• Being Sure of Each Other: An Essay on Social Rights and Freedoms. Oxford University Press, 2020, 288pp. OUP, lecture,
  • book launch conversation with Rae Langton and Martin O’Neill
• Conscience and Conviction: The Case for Civil Disobedience. Oxford University Press, 2012; pbk 2015, 266pp. OSO, OUP, lecture

Expert Report on Climate Activism, Civil Disobedience and the Necessity Defence 

• Abbreviated version of the Report submitted to the BC Provincial Court in R. v. Breen (2023).

Edited Volumes

• Being Social: The Philosophy of Social Human Rights, with David Jenkins and Adam Neal (eds.). Oxford University Press (in press).
• The Blackwell Companion to Applied Philosophy, with Kasper Lippert-Rasmussen and David Coady (eds.) Wiley Press, 2016; pbk 2020, 664pp. Ebook
• Symposium: Joseph Raz on Value, Reasons, and Respect, with Zofia Stemplowska (eds.), Ethics, 120: 2 (2010), 209-211. link
• Disability and Disadvantage, with Adam Cureton (eds.). Oxford University Press, 2009, 389pp. (paperback, 2011), 408pp. OSO

Journal Articles

• ‘What a Home Does’, co-authored with David Jenkins, Law and Philosophy (2022). open access
• ‘The Missing Measure of Loneliness’, co-authored with Ariel Gordy, Helen Han Wei. Luo, and Margo Sidline, IJERPH (2022). open access
• ‘Punishment and Precious Emotions: A Hope Standard for Punishment‘, Oxford Journal of Legal Studies (2021), open access, lecture.
• ‘Getting Rights out of Wrongs’, Oxford Studies in Political Philosophy Volume Six (2020), David Sobel, Peter Vallentyne, and Steven Wall (eds.), Oxford University Press, 3-31. preprint, OSO, lecture,
• ‘Professional Ethics and Criminal Law’, Symposium on Antony Duff’s Realm of Criminal Law in Law, Ethics, and Philosophy (2020): doi 10.31009/LEAP.2018.V7.10. link
  • Reply by Antony Duff. link
• ‘Acting Defensively for the Sake of Our Attacker’, Journal of Moral Philosophy (2019), doi: 10.1163/17455243-20180011. preprint, link
• ‘What’s the Value of Teamwork?’, Jerusalem Review of Legal Studies (2019), 19:1, 173-186. Reply by Leora Dahan Katz ‘The Intrinsic Value of Teamwork: Reinterpreting Gardner’, Jerusalem Review of Legal Studies(2019), 19:1. Reply by John Gardner, ‘Inconclusive as Ever’, Jerusalem Review of Legal Studies (2019), 19:1.
• ‘Two Tales of Civil Disobedience: A Reply to David Lefkowitz’, Res Publica (2018), doi: 1007/s11158-018-9401-x.
• ‘Can the Law Help Us to be Moral?’, co-authored with Richard Child, Jurisprudence (2017), doi: 1080/20403313.2017.1352317. Reprinted in The Faces of Virtue in the Law, Amalia Amaya and Claudio Michelon (eds), Routledge (2019). preprint, link
• ‘The Lonely Heart Breaks: On the Right to be a Social Contributor’, Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society Supplementary Volume (2016), XC, 27-48. preprint, link
• ‘Don’t Call People “Rapists”: On the Social Contribution Injustice of Punishment’, Current Legal Problems (2016), 69, 1, 327–352. preprint, link
• ‘The Civil Disobedience of Edward Snowden: Reply to William Scheuerman’, Philosophy and Social Criticism (2016), 42: 10, 965-970.
• ‘Ethical Dilemmas of Sociability’, Utilitas (2016), 28: 1, 54-72.
• ‘The Competent Judge Problem’, Ratio (2016), 29: 3, 312-326.
• ‘Reply to Critics’, Symposium on Conscience and Conviction in Criminal Law and Philosophy (2016), 10: 4, 721-739.
• ‘What’s Virtuous about the Law?’, Legal Theory (2015), 21: 1, 1-17.
  • Sean Coyle analyses this article in his discussion note ‘Law and Virtue’, Jotwell, 30 March 2017. link
• ‘On Gardner on Law in General’ Jurisprudence, (2015), 6: 3, 567-573. Reply by John Gardner, ‘Fifteen Themes from Law as a Leap of Faith’, Jurisprudence (2015) 6: 3, 601–623.
• ‘Freedom of Association: It’s Not What You Think’, Oxford Journal of Legal Studies (2015), 35, 267-82. link
• ‘A Human Right against Social Deprivation’, Philosophical Quarterly, (2013), 63: 251, 199-222. link
• ‘What are the Duties of the Duty View?’, Jerusalem Review of Legal Studies (2012), 5, 62-74.
  • Reply by Victor Tadros, Jerusalem Review of Legal Studies (2012), 5, 89-109.
• ‘Moral Aspirations and Ideals‘, Utilitas (2010), 22: 3, 241-257.
• ‘Reasons and Ideals‘, Philosophical Studies (2010), 151: 3, 433-444.
• ‘Retributive, Restorative, & Ritualistic Justice‘, Oxford Journal of Legal Studies (2010), 30: 2, 385-97.
• ‘Responsibilities of Criminal Justice Officials‘, Journal of Applied Philosophy (2010), 27: 2, 123-139.
• ‘Normative Principles and Practical Ethics: Reply to Onora O’Neill’, Journal of Applied Philosophy (2009), 26: 3, 231-237.
• ‘Penalizing Public Disobedience’, Ethics (2008), 118: 4, 711-716.
• ‘Legal Obligation as a Duty of Deference’, Law and Philosophy (2008), 27: 6, 583-597.
• ‘Justifying Punishment: Reply to Douglas Husak’, Criminal Law and Philosophy (2008), 2: 2, 123-129.
• ‘The Communicative Aspects of Civil Disobedience and Lawful Punishment’, Criminal Law and Philosophy (2007), 1: 2, 179-192.
• ‘Features of a Paradigm Case of Civil Disobedience’, Res Publica (2004), 10: 4, 337-351.

Book Chapters

• ‘Punishment’, co-authored with Christopher Bennett, The Cambridge Companion to Philosophy of Law. John Tasioulas (ed.) Cambridge University Press (2021).
• ‘Dwelling in Possibility: Ideals, Aspirations, and Human Rights’, Human Rights: Moral or Political? Adam Etinson (ed.). Oxford University Press (2018), 313-26. Reply by Rowan Cruft, ‘In What Sense Should Respect for Human Rights be Attainable: A Response to Brownlee’, Human Rights: Moral or Political? Adam Etinson (ed.). Oxford University Press (2018), 327-336.
• ‘Thought Experiments in Political Theory’, co-authored with Zofia Stemplowska, Methods in Political Theory. Adrian Blau (ed.) Cambridge University Press (2017), 21-45.
• ‘Is Religious Conviction Special?’, Religion in Liberal Political Philosophy. Cecile Laborde and Aurelia Bardon (eds.), Oxford University Press (2017), 309-320. preprint
• ‘Freedom of Association’, The Blackwell Companion to Applied Philosophy. Kasper Lippert-Rasmussen, Kimberley Brownlee, and David Coady (eds.), Wiley (2016), 356-369.
• ‘Financial Inclusion, Education, and Human Rights‘, co-authored with Zofia Stemplowska, Microfinance, Rights, & Global Justice. Tom Sorell and Luis Cabrera (eds.), Cambridge University Press (2015), 47-62.
• ‘Do We have a Human Right to the Political Determinants of Health?’, Philosophical Foundations of Human Rights. R. Cruft, S.M. Liao, and M. Renzo (eds.) Oxford University Press (2015), 502-514.
• ‘Conscientious Objection and Civil Disobedience‘, The Routledge Companion to the Philosophy of Law. Andrei Marmor (ed.) Routledge (2012), 527-539.
• ‘Social Deprivation and Criminal Justice‘, Rethinking Criminal Law Theory. François Tanguay-Renaud & James Stribopoulos (eds.) Hart (2012), 217-230.
• ‘The Offender’s Part in the Dialogue‘, Crime, Punishment, & Responsibility. Cruft, M. Kramer & M. Reiff (eds.) Oxford University Press (2011), 54-67. Reply by Antony Duff in Crime, Punishment, & Responsibility. R. Cruft, M. Kramer & M. Reiff (eds.) Oxford University Press (2011), 372-374.
• ‘Protest and Punishment’, Law and Philosophy. R. Harrison and M. Freeman (eds.), Oxford University Press (2007), 430-458.

Encyclopaedia Entries and Shorter Pieces

• Written evidence on the impact of the UK Government’s COVID-19 response on the right to housing, submitted to the Human Rights Joint Committee, May 2020. link
• ‘Improving the Loneliness Strategy’, Policy Briefing, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Warwick, September 2019. link
• ‘Freedom of Association’, co-authored with David Jenkins, The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (2019), Edward Zalta (ed.). link
• ‘Vulnerability’, with David Jenkins, International Encyclopedia of Ethics. Wiley (2019). link
• ‘Civil Disobedience and Conscientious Objection’, co-authored with William Smith, Oxford Research Encyclopaedia of Politics (2017). link
• Written evidence on sociability submitted to the House of Commons Health Committee Inquiry on Primary Care, September 2015. link
• ‘Towards a New View of Social Protection and Rights’ in Commonwealth Health Ministers’ Meeting: Universal Health Coverage with an Emphasis on Ageing and Good Health (2015) 35-37.
• ‘Civil Disobedience’, The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (2007; revised 2013), Edward Zalta (ed.). link

Magazine Articles, Blog posts, and Interviews   

• ‘The Nimble Heart’, commissioned for The New Statesman, June 2022.
• ‘Being Housed is not the Same as Having a Home’, co-authored with David Jenkins, 360Info, June 2022. link
• ‘US Bans on Abortion Compel Women to be Splendid Samaritans’, The Conversation, January 3 2022. Republished in The National Post, January 3 2022. link
• ‘Do We Have an Obligation to Live for as Long as Possible?’ The Conversation, UK, April 2021. link
  • Translated into Polish and published in Gazeta Wyborcza, May 2021. link
• ‘Why We Have a Moral Duty to Acknowledge Strangers’, The New Statesman, 11 January 2021. link
• ‘Social Needs are a Human Right’, OUP Blog, 10 July 2020. link
• ‘Freedom of Association in the Time of the Coronavirus’, co-authored with James Nickel, Human Rights at Home, 15 April 2020. link
• Interviewed by Katie Razzall on BBC Newsnight (BBC Two) on loneliness and the coronavirus, 13 March 2020. link
• Interviewed by Trish Adudu on loneliness and self-service checkouts, BBC Radio Coventry and Warwick, 23 May 2019.
• Contribution to ‘Ten Thinkers on Brexit’, co-authored with Zofia Stemplowska, IAI News, 2 April 2019. link
• Interviewed by Olivia Goldhill on academic freedom for her article on the Oxford student protest against Professor John Finnis, in Quartz, January 2019. link
• Interviewed by Peter Beinart on civil disobedience for his article: ‘Left-wing Protests are Crossing the Line’, The Atlantic, 16 November 2018. link
• ‘Prescribing Social Activities to Lonely People Prompts Ethical Questions for GPs’, The Conversation, 21 November 2018. link
• Interviewed by Tom Jokinen for the CBC documentary ‘Lonely Together’, recorded September 2018. Aired 15 March 2019. link
• Do We Have a Right Not to be Lonely?, Video co-produced with BBC Ideas, published May 2018. link
• Interview on civil disobedience with Richard Rowland, Hi-Phi Nation, fall 2017. link
• ‘Stop Labelling People Who Commit Crimes “Criminals”’, Aeon, November 2017. link
• ‘The Myth of Self-Reliance’, Aeon, February 2016. An audio recording of the essay was made by Michael Bott for Curio.io. link
• ‘Four Hugs a Day’, Campaign to End Loneliness blog, December 2015.
• Contribution to the Philosop-her Blog, September 2015.
• ‘Social Deprivation and Freedom of Association’, Philosophy Bites interview, June 2015. link
  • This interview is published in Women of Ideas. Suki Finn (ed.), Oxford University Press.
• ‘Race, Rioting, and Civil Disobedience’ (co-author Thomas Parr), Critique, March 2015.
• Interviewed by Joe Humphreys on civil disobedience, Irish Times, 14 October 2014.
• Interviewed by Jeff Sparrow on the human right against social deprivation, Hullaballoo, RRR Radio, Melbourne, 16 April 2014.
• Debate with Jeff McMahan on Selective Conscientious Objection in the Military, Boston Review, November 2013. link
• ‘Is Edward Snowden a Civil Disobedient?’, OUP Blog, 23 August 2013. link
• Interviewed by Richard Marshall, 3:am Magazine, May 2013. This interview has been published in Ethics at 3:AM. R. Marshall (ed.), Oxford University Press. link
• Interviewed by Bob Talisse about Conscience and Conviction, New Books in Philosophy, May 2013. link
• ‘Quebec’s Spring of Discontent’, e-International Relations. June 2012.
• Debate on civil disobedience with David Lefkowitz, Philosophy TV, 10 December 2010.
• Interviewed by John Perry and Ken Taylor on civil disobedience, Philosophy Talk, 18 January 2010. link
• Interviewed by Erin Biba, ‘If You Can’t Buy It Online, Feel Free to BitTorrent’, Wired, 15 July 2009.
• Debate on civil disobedience, One Click Philosophy, BBC Radio, 5 July 2005.

 Reviews

• Review of C.H. Wellman, Rights Forfeiture and Punishment, in Ethics (2018) 129:1, 158-164.
• Review of J. Lichtenberg Distant Strangers, in Philosophical Quarterly (2016), 66: 262, 172–175.
• ‘Digging Up, Dismantling, and Redesigning the Criminal Law: Review of A. Duff and S. Green (eds.) Philosophical Foundations of Criminal Law’ in Criminal Law and Philosophy (2012) 7: 1, 169-178.
• Review of M. Wicclair, Conscientious Objection in Healthcare in American Philosophical Association Newsletter on Philosophy and Medicine (2012) 12: 1.
• Review of S. Sheppard, I Do Solemnly Swear: The Moral Obligations of Legal Officials, in Law and Politics Book Review, 20: 1 (2010).
• Review of C.A.J. Coady, Messy Morality, in Notre Dame Philosophical Review (2009) 06.11.
• Review of John Gardner, Offences and Defences, in Ethics 119: 3 (2009), 561-566.
• Review of Jeremy Horder, Excusing Crime, in Criminal Law and Philosophy, 3: 1 (2008), 103-105.
• Review of D. Copp (ed.) Oxford Handbook of Ethical Theory, in Political Studies Review, 6:1 (2008), 67.
• Review of Serena Olsaretti, (ed.), Desert and Justice, in Utilitas, 18:4 (2007), 449-451.
• Review of Simon Blackburn, Lust, in Think, Royal Institute of Philosophy, 5 (2007), 109-112.
• Review of Hugh LaFollette, (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Practical Ethics, in Logical Analysis and History of Philosophy, 9 (2006), 252-254.
• Review of J. Coleman & S. Shapiro (eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Jurisprudence, in The Journal of Moral Philosophy, 1:2 (2004), 229-231.
• ‘Obedience, Conformity, and Deference: Review of Philip Soper, The Ethics of Deference’ in Res Publica, 10: 3 (2004), 267-274.

Advisor: Combined Major in Philosophy and Political Science