Edmund Tweedy Flanigan
PhD Candidate in Political Theory
Department of Government
Harvard University
Welcome
I am a doctoral student in the Government Department at Harvard University, studying issues in contemporary moral and political philosophy.
My dissertation research concerns the moral foundations of the state-subject relationship, with a particular focus on both theoretical and practical issues relating to obligation and authority. My other work has been on the topics of value comparability and intergenerational ethics. I also maintain an interest in Kantian political philosophy.
I have an AB in philosophy from Georgetown University and an MPhil in political theory from the University of Oxford, where I wrote a thesis on climate change and future generations.
Papers
2018. ‘The Small Improvement Argument, Epistemicism, and Incomparability,’ with John Halstead, in Economics & Philosophy, 34(2), 199-219.
Work in progress
‘Do We Have Reasons to Obey the Law?’
Unpublished
2011. ‘On Discount Rates in the Cost-Benefit Analysis of Climate Change.’ MPhil Thesis Chapter. Department of Politics, University of Oxford.
Teaching
- ‘Dissent and Disobedience in Democracies’ (Gov 1038/DPI 218), as teaching fellow, Spring 2019
- ‘Ethical Foundations of Political Thought’ (Gov 2088), as seminar co-leader, Fall 2018
- ‘Safra Undergraduate Fellows Seminar,’ as seminar co-leader, Fall 2017, Spring 2018, Fall 2018, Spring 2019
- ‘Topics and Resources in Political Theory’ (Gov 63), as seminar co-leader, Spring 2018
- ‘Theory and Practice of Republican Government’ (ER 44), as teaching fellow, Fall 2017
- ‘Foundations of Political Theory’ (Gov 10), as teaching fellow, Spring 2017
- ‘Ethics, Biotechnology, and the Future of Human Nature’ (Gov 1093 / SCRB 60), as teaching fellow, Fall 2016
- ‘Money, Markets, and Morals’ (ER 39), as teaching fellow, Fall 2015