Joel Vall Thomas

Joel Vall Thomas photo
Graduate Student
228 Middlebush Hall
Graduate Students
Education

B.A. Philosophy (Bennington College, 2009-2013)
M.St. Ancient Philosophy (University of Oxford, 2017-2018)
M.A. Analytic Philosophy (University of Barcelona, 2019-2020)

Bio

I’m mostly interested in issues in both moral and political philosophy. During my undergraduate and early graduate studies I became very interested in contemporary virtue ethics—particularly the philosophical writings of Iris Murdoch and its connections to the ethical thought of both Plato and Aristotle. However, my research interests changed and I now mostly study applied issues in both animal ethics and climate change ethics as well questions to do with the political authority of states and distributive justice. While not interested in virtue ethics anymore, I still maintain an active interest in normative ethics—especially in so far as it becomes relevant to the applied moral and political issues I study. I also have side interests in the philosophy of language (pragmatics) and social epistemology.

Research

Ethics (normative ethics, animal ethics, climate change ethics)
Political philosophy (secession and self-determination, distributive justice, property rights and taxation).

Teaching

Phil 1000 - The Big Questions: An Introduction to Philosophy (instructor of record)

Select Publications

"Species Membership as a Supplementary Ground of Moral Status" (2022, Cincinnati, conference of the Association for Practical and Profession Ethics)

Areas of Study
Office Hours

Fridays, 12:30-2:30 p.m.