Updates:
Hello!
I am an Assistant Professor in the Philosophy Department at the College of Charleston.
My research concerns the political ethics of unofficial actors with regard to pressing global issues. Complex problems such as combating climate change and seeking labor and environmental standards in global supply chains are hard for sovereign states to solve alone. In response, unofficial political actors try to respond appropriately to these problems. These actors include firms, their investors, employees, and customers, and non-profit organizations. When they do so, they take political positions and (I argue) become subject to special ethical standards that apply to political actors engaging with one another on complex and contested issues. I ask what such standards might look like in practice, given the distinct epistemic and motivational strengths and weaknesses of each kind of actor.
To date, I have concentrated primarily on the role of consumers. I argue that consumers should focus on contributing to positive structural changes over shunning “tainted” goods and selecting “pure” goods. I also am developing an account of non-profit organizations’ role in assessing the mitigation efforts of countries under the Paris Agreement. Future work will assess the appropriate level of firms’ involvement in political processes, and whether civil society should forgive fossil fuel firms for their past transgressions.
My work lies at the intersection of political philosophy, business ethics, and environmental ethics. I take a strong interest in the policy details of my key case studies: climate change mitigation and global supply chains.
I have several other research interests within social epistemology, non-western philosophy, and the history of political philosophy. I have also researched the appropriate regulation of price gouging in the current global pandemic.
I am committed to fostering the skills of critical thinking, perspective taking, close reading and clear communication through teaching philosophy.
Write to me at: ewan.kingston@cofc.edu
See also my Google Scholar profile and my Philpapers profile.
Ewan Kingston 