Christopher Lebron

cjl2n@virginia.edu
Phone: 434-924-3192

(Ph.D., MIT), Assistant Professor
Field: Political Theory
Christopher Lebron is Assistant Professor of Politics. He received his PhD in 2009 from MIT. Trained in Social Theory and Political Philosophy, Chris’ works primarily on normative theory, with an underlying preoccupation with relations of political and social power. His dissertation offered a comprehensive explanatory framework for explaining the troubling persistence of racial inequality (historically evolved socially embedded power) and formulated a conception of justice in response (justice as democratic partnership). Chris’ new project engages the notions of luck, responsibility, and blame, and argues that, given their centrality in moral theory, they require theoretical recalibration and remobilization in light of the facts of subordination and systematic inequality in contemporary society. For example, subordinated populations (i.e. minorities, women) are often held responsible and blamed for their various misfortunes. What if it is the case that blaming impedes society’s ability to express equal concern and consideration for such populations? If this turns out to be right, then there are serious implications for theorizing and formulating conceptions of justice that more closely reflect real social and political concerns.

Theory methodology is a persistent concern in Chris' work. His research seeks, whenever appropriate, to engage empirical research and history as a way of providing stronger foundations for explanatory and normative arguments. He holds as a core principle that philosophy cannot consistently stand apart from the world and still hope to imagine a world better than the one we have got.