Research

I write about freedom, politics, and the ethics of everyday life.

More information about my research is available on my CV or PhilPeople profile.

Bioethics

Most of my work in bioethics focuses on patient autonomy and the limits of authority in public health and clinical contexts. In Pharmaceutical Freedom, I argue against prescription requirements and defend rights of self-medication. I have also written about vaccination, informed consent, challenge trials, organ markets, and public bioethics.

Selected work: Pharmaceutical Freedom (OUP, 2017), "The Ethics of Prenatal Injury" (2020).

Current projects: The Ethics of Expecting (Under Contract, OUP), Pounds of Prevention, Rethinking Chronic Pain.

Methodology and Pedagogy

I am increasingly interested in methodological issues in applied ethics. This research includes work on questions related to model-building, standpoint epistemology, and conceptual engineering.

I also write about the purpose of ethics education, including questions that lie at the intersection of metaphilosophy and philosophical pedagogy.

Selected work: “Boundary Problems and Self-Ownership” (2020) "Credibility and the Standpoint Expectation” (2022).

Current projects: Permissibility Problems, The Purpose Project.

Culture and Everyday Ethics

I write about the ethics of social norms, gender, and pop culture. This includes work on spelling and grammar, Christianity, free speech, and Taylor Swift.

Selected work: “Speech and Campus Inclusivity” (2021) Why It’s OK to Have Bad Spelling and Grammar (Routledge, 2025), The Philosophy of Taylor Swift (OUP 2026).
Current projects: The Passive Aggression Game, The Gendered Division of Labor, The Ethics of Animal Offsets.

Political Philosophy and Leadership Ethics

My research addresses the ethics of sex work, wealth inequality and economic justice, law enforcement and criminalization, and the limits of political authority. My work in leadership ethics challenges the idea that leaders are subject to distinctive moral standards.

Selected work: “Duty and Enforcement” (2019), Debating Sex Work (Co-authored with Lori Watson) (OUP, 2019), Libertarianism: The Basics (Co-authored with Chris Freiman) (Routledge, 2025).
Current projects: Who's Afraid of Mere Migration?, Child Labor and Development.

© Jessica Flanigan. Except where otherwise indicated, scholarly work, consulting, media, and pedagogical materials are licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0. Attribution to Jessica Flanigan, University of Richmond, is required for any use or adaptation.

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