Jonathan Wolff
About
Jonathan Wolff is the Alfred Landecker Professor of Values and Public Policy at the Blavatnik School of Government and Governing Body Fellow at Wolfson College. His recent work has largely concerned equality, disadvantage, social justice and poverty, as well as applied topics such as public safety, disability, gambling, and the regulation of recreational drugs, which he has discussed in his books Ethics and Public Policy: A Philosophical Inquiry (Routledge 2011) and The Human Right to Health (Norton 2012). His most recent book is An Introduction to Moral Philosophy (Norton 2018).
He has had a long-standing interest in health and health promotion, including questions of justice in health care resource allocation, the social determinants of health, and incentives and health behaviour.
He has been a member of the Nuffield Council of Bioethics, the Academy of Medical Science working party on Drug Futures, the Gambling Review Body, the Homicide Review Group, an external member of the Board of Science of the British Medical Association, and a Trustee of GambleAware.
He writes a regular column on higher education for the Guardian.
Expertise
- Philosophy, political theory, capitalism, socialism, Karl Marx
- Inequality, poverty/poverty reduction, social exclusion
- Public policy, social policy
- Ethics, rights and justice
- Health and welfare, health governance, welfare reforms
- Risk policy and new technology (safety decision-making)
- Problem gambling
- Higher education policy
Selected publications
- Forms of Differential Social Inclusion, 'Social Philosophy and Policy'
- Social Exclusion and Capability Development, 'The Cambridge Companion to the Capability Approach' ed M. Qizilbash et al
- An Introduction to Moral Philosophy (W.W. Norton)
- Essential Readings in Moral Philosophy (W.W. Norton)
- 'An Introduction to Political Philosophy' (3rd Edn) Oxford: Oxford University Press.
- A Philosophical Review of Poverty
Media experience
Regular contributor to The Guardian on higher education policy and occasionally writes opinion pieces for other outlets.
Presented a programme on BBC Radio 3 and has been a guest on radio.
Languages
English