Benjamin Hale

Benjamin Hale is a Professor in the Philosophy Department and the Environmental Studies Program at the University of Colorado at Boulder. He holds a joint appointment and contributes to interdisciplinary research in ethics, policy, and environmental thought. He is actively involved in academic leadership, having served as Interim Director of the Bruce D. Benson Center for the Study of Western Civilization (2019–2020) and Director of the Center for Values and Social Policy (2006–2008). He co-organizes the annual Rocky Mountain Ethics Congress and advises students through the Committee on Environmental Thought (ComET) lab group.

Education:

• Ph.D. in Philosophy, State University of New York at Stony Brook, 2004
• M.P.A. in Natural Resource Policy, University of Arizona, 1997
• B.A. in Philosophy, Kalamazoo College, 1994

His research focuses on environmental and public health ethics, particularly on broad practical questions intersecting with public policy, economics, and emerging technologies. Key areas include natural disasters, ecological intervention, geoengineering, and the moral status of non-human entities. His work bridges normative ethics, metaethics, and applied philosophy, with a strong emphasis on policy relevance.

His recent publications reflect a trend toward addressing indeterminacy in ethical decision-making, conservation ethics in the Anthropocene, and the ethical dimensions of emerging technologies such as clean meat and geoengineering. Themes of justice, responsibility, and the limits of human control recur across his scholarship.

Scientific Contributions and Editorial Roles:

• Author of The Wild and the Wicked: On Nature and Human Nature (MIT Press, 2016)
• Editor of Routledge Companion to Environmental Ethics (2022)
• Series Editor, Routledge Environmental Ethics (2019–present)
• Co-Editor, Ethics, Policy & Environment (2009–present)
• President, International Society for Environmental Ethics (2016–2019)

Hale has advised several graduate students, including Alexander Lee, Adam Hermans, and Lucy McAllister, on topics ranging from wolf reintroduction to e-waste and climate justice. He has secured collaborative research funding and participated in international workshops on geoengineering, e-waste, and climate ethics. His public engagement includes writing for The New York Times, Slate, and High Country News, demonstrating a commitment to translating philosophical insights for broader audiences.

He is affiliated with the Sustainability, Energy, and Environment Complex (SEEC) and continues to be a central figure in environmental philosophy through research, teaching, and service.