BRADLEY HILLIER-SMITH
Researcher. Teacher. Author.
ETHICS, POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY, & PHILOSOPHY OF LAW
I study, teach and write philosophy as an Associate Lecturer at the University of St Andrews. My main research interests are in global justice, human rights, migration ethics, obligations towards refugees, as well as ethical issues behind pressing social and political problems. My research aims to make a positive difference to people’s lives, wellbeing and rights through improving public policy and our social and political institutions.
My central research project focuses on state policies and practices towards refugees. With over 35 million refugees worldwide, there is vast and extensive political and philosophical disagreement on how states ought to respond to refugees seeking safety. My book The Ethics of State Responses to Refugees develops an account of the specific negative and positive moral duties that states owe to refugees that together constitute the elements of what an ethical response towards refugees would be. The book argues that an ethical response to refugees is not only possible but within our reach. In doing so, the book aims to provide a basis for urgent political reform of state practices towards an ethical standard.
About Me
I received my PhD in Philosophy from the University of Reading in 2021, before taking up a Teaching Fellowship at Durham University. I am currently Associate Lecturer in Moral, Legal, and Political Philosophy at the University of St Andrews.
There I teach Moral and Political Philosophy, Philosophy of Law, The Ethics of Immigration and Forced Displacement, and The Ethics of Artificial Intelligence.
I research mostly applied and normative ethics, normative political theory, and what I loosely call applied political ethics (ethical issues behind pressing contemporary political and social topics).
Within these areas, I am interested in the nature and justifications of human rights and associated obligations, what obligations states owe to refugees, the ethics of immigration and (within applied political ethics) the harms of, and solutions to, homelessness, and the ethics of protest and disobedience.
I am also involved in political campaigning and charity work advocating for the rights and wellbeing of refugees, as well as persons facing homelessness in the UK.
There is more information about my research and publications below.
Research
Publications
The Ethics of State Responses to Refugees (2024)
Routledge
This books outlines the moral obligations of states, that together constitute the elements of an ethical response to refugees. You can order the book here.
Doing and Allowing Harm to Refugees (2020)
The Journal of Ethics and Social Philosophy
This paper provides a normative analysis of certain state practices used in response to refugees including push backs, detention, encampment and containment.You can read the paper here.
Can a Right to Control Borders Justify Harming Refugees? (2023)
Moral and Political Philosophy
This paper analyses whether the dominant moral justifications for a state's right to control border can justify harmful practices against refugees. You can read the paper here.
Direct and Structural Injustice Against Refugees (2022)
Journal of Social Philosophy
This paper assesses the nature of the injustice that refugees endure as a result of state practices. You can read the paper here.
On What Matters for Obligations to Refugees (2024)
The Journal of Controversial Ideas
This paper rejects recent claims that refugees' IQ levels are lower than the national average in Germany, and demonstrates that IQ levels are irrelevant to obligations towards refugees.
You can read the paper here.
The Moral Harms of Homelessness (Forthcoming)
The Journal of Ethics and Social Philosophy
This paper seeks to provide an account of the under-acknowledged moral harms of homelessness, the recognition and alleviation of which would ground and motivate durable responses.
The Egalitarian Case for Open Borders: Moral Arbitrariness (Forthcoming)
Moral Philosophy and Politics
This paper demonstrates that recent debates in migration ethics overlook a powerful principle that underpins egalitarian objections to inequalities: the Principle of Moral Arbitrariness, which I suggest has significant implications for the justifications of immigration restrictions.
Teaching
Associate Lecturer in Moral, Legal, and Political Philosophy at St Andrews
Moral and Political Controversies
Philosophy of Law
Ethics and Politics of Immigration, Refugees and Forced Displacement
Ethics of Artificial Intelligence
Reading Philosophy
Matters of Life and Death
Political Campaigning and Charity Work
Policy Researcher for Stop Inhumanity at Europe's Borders
Policy Writer and Campaigner with Liberal Democrats for Seekers of Sanctuary, helping to devise refugee policy for the Liberal Democrat party
Campaigner with Safe Passage
Former Volunteer in Calais Refugee Camp
Volunteer with Street Work supporting those facing Homelessness in Edinburgh
Writer for the Independent
Contact
Address
Department of Philosophy. University of St Andrews The Scores, St Andrews KY16 9AL