Jessica Flanigan

I am the Richard L Morrill Chair of Ethics and Democratic Values and Professor of Leadership Studies and Philosophy, Politics, Economics, and Law at the University of Richmond. 

My research addresses the ethics of public policy, medicine, and business. I am the author of Pharmaceutical Freedom (OUP 2017) and Why It's Ok to Have Bad Spelling and Grammar (Routledge, 2025). I am the co-author of Debating Sex Work (OUP 2019). My other work is published in journals such as Philosophical Studies, The Australasian Journal of Philosophy, Leadership, The Journal of Moral Philosophy, The Journal of Business Ethics, and the Journal of Political Philosophy. 

I am currently writing a book, The Ethics of Expecting, and several essays about the ethics of pregnancy and fertility policy. I am also writing about animal ethics, supererogation, libertarianism, pro sports, and Taylor Swift. 

Since 2025, I have served as the editor of Public Affairs Quarterly.

I teach Leadership Ethics, Ethical Decision Making in Healthcare, Leadership Ethics Applied in the Field, and Critical Thinking. Since 2022, I have also served as a Gary McDowell Institute Discussion Leader.

Here is my CV.