Tom Dougherty

Tom Dougherty is a Professor in the Department of Philosophy at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and a Core Faculty member of the Philosophy, Politics, and Economics (PPE) Program. He holds editorial roles at Ethics and has held academic positions at institutions including Stanford University, the University of Sydney, and the University of Cambridge. Dougherty specializes in moral philosophy, focusing on consent ethics, moral duress, and the intersection of law and morality. His research addresses topics such as the rational significance of temporal perspective, female under-representation in philosophy, and the ethical implications of institutional detail in legal frameworks.

Education: B.A. in PPE from Oxford University (2004), PhD in Philosophy from MIT (2010). Key works include The Scope of Consent (2021) and Consent under Duress (2024), which explore the philosophical foundations of consent and its limitations. His recent projects investigate relational morality, nonjudgmental ethics, and antitrust principles.

Research interests emphasize the ethical dimensions of consent in legal and social contexts, including sexual agency, coercion, and institutional accountability. He has contributed to debates on moral vagueness, contractualism, and political solidarity through interdisciplinary collaborations. His work often bridges abstract philosophical inquiry with practical legal and social implications.

Publications span over 30 peer-reviewed articles in journals like Philosophy and Public Affairs, Ethics, and Law and Philosophy, with a focus on refining theoretical frameworks for understanding consent, coercion, and moral responsibility.