About me

I am a public philosopher, freelance writer, and recovering academic. 

From 2005 until the 30th September 2022 I was a Senior Research Fellow at St Benet's Hall, a Permanent Private Hall of Oxford University, and a a member of the Philosophy Faculty of Oxford.

In 2015 I was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (FRSA).

Research and teaching interests:
Ethics (ie the modern kind)
Aristotle's Nicomachaean Ethics

Plato
Medieval Philosophy: Aquinas on Action and Ethics

What I am writing about:
My latest philosophical publications are part of a long-term project on intention in Ethics (such as in the context of the 'Principle of Double Effect').

I have also been writing in recent years on the Catholic liturgy, and edited The Case for Liturgical Restoration (Angelico Press, 2018).

A brief CV:

After doing a first degree in Oxford (Politics and Philosophy: 2.1 in 1994) I did a year's theology here (Diploma in Theology: Distinction, 1995), followed by the Bachelor of Philosophy (1997) and a doctorate in Philosophy (DPhil, submitted Trinity Term 2000).

I taught from 1997 onwards in various places, being the Philosophy Advisor at Wycliffe Hall for three years, and a Stipendiary Lecturer in Philosophy at Regent's Park College 2000-2001.

From 2000/01-2004/05 I held a non-stipendiary Junior Research Fellowship at Wolfson College.

From 2005/06-2009/10 I was Subject Tutor in Philosophy at St Benet's Hall.

From then until 2022 I remained a Senior Research Fellow at St Benet's. From 2012 to 2015 I was Dean of Degrees.

From 2008/09 to 20012/13 I was the External Examiner for the BA in Philosophy at the Maryvale Institute, a degree course validated by Open University.

From 2009 to 2018 I have been a Governor of the Anscombe Bioethics Centre; from 2013-18 I have been Vice Chairman.

At the end of the 2021/22 academic year St Benet's Hall was closed.

Non-academic:

In 2005 I helped to found the Oxford University Gregorian Chant Society, and I am the Senior Member.

From 2009 to the present I have been the Chairman of the Latin Mass Society.

From 2013 to 2015 I was Treasurer of the Foederatio Internationalis Una Voce (FIUV); In 2017 I became its Secretary, and in 2021 I became its President.