Paul Billingham

I am an Associate Professor of Political Theory in the Department of Politics and International Relations, University of Oxford, and a Fellow of Magdalen College. My research centres on the relationship between the actions of the state and the beliefs and values of citizens, especially their religious beliefs. I consider both the way in which citizens’ beliefs might constrain state action, given the liberal demand that laws be justified to all citizens, and the ways in which the state might permissibly seek to influence citizens’ values, to conform them to liberal ideals. The former question concerns public justification and public reason, while the latter concerns the state's role in value-promotion and moral formation. Through this focus, my work touches upon many important topics within political theory, including state legitimacy, pluralism, freedom of conscience, religious exemptions, and the place of religion within public life.

I completed my DPhil at St Anne's College, Oxford, in 2015, and was then a Junior Research Fellow at Christ Church, Oxford, before coming to Magdalen in April 2018.

For more information on my research and teaching, see my website: http://paulbillingham.weebly.com/.