Romy Eskens

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romyeskens.com·r.s.eskens@uu.nl Department of Philosophy & Religious Studies, Utrecht University

Research interests
AOSEthics, Moral Psychology, Social Philosophy
AOCFeminist Philosophy, Political Philosophy, Meta-Ethics
Positions
2023– Assistant Professor (permanent) Department of Philosophy & Religious Studies, Utrecht University
Fall 2022 Postdoctoral Researcher Department of Philosophy, Stockholm University
International visits
Spring 2027 Visiting Fellow, Harvard University Sponsor: Quinn White
Spring 2020 Visiting Research Scholar, University of Texas at Austin Sponsor: Julia Driver
Education
2018–2022 PhD in Philosophy, Stockholm Centre for the Ethics of War and Peace (SCEWP), Stockholm University Nominated for the 2022 Swedish Higher Education Association Thesis Award · Thesis: Payback Time: Essays on Attitudes, Partiality, and Rescuing · Supervisors: Helen Frowe (primary), Gunnar Björnsson (secondary) · Examiner: R. Jay Wallace
2016–2018 BPhil in Philosophy (distinction in thesis), Balliol College, University of Oxford Supervisor: Jeff McMahan
2014–2016 BA in History (cum laude), Utrecht University
2012–2015 BA in Philosophy (cum laude), Utrecht University
Publications
Articles
2025 On Discounting Wrongdoers. with Gunnar Björnsson. Analysis Online First.
2025 Gratitude and Rights. Australasian Journal of Philosophy 103(4): 1024–1038.
2025 Moral Gratitude. Journal of Applied Philosophy 42(1): 115–130.
2024 Reciprocity, Inequality, and Unsuccessful Rescues. Utilitas 36(1): 64–82.
2022 Other-Sacrificing Options: Reply to Lange. Journal of Ethics and Social Philosophy 21(2): 290–297.
2017 Is Sex with Robots Rape? Journal of Practical Ethics 5(2): 62–76.Oxford Uehiro Prize in Practical Ethics (3rd Annual)
Book chapters
Forthcoming Gelijkheid ("Equality"). Basisboek Ethiek, ed. Eskens, Hopster, de Mesel & Nys (Amsterdam: Boom)
Forthcoming Enemies and Rivals. with Gunnar Björnsson. Oxford Handbook of the Philosophy of Personal Relationships, ed. Betzler & Stroud (Oxford: OUP)
2024 Expressive Duties Are Demandable and Enforceable. Oxford Studies in Normative Ethics, vol. 14, ed. Timmons (Oxford: OUP) 203–226.
As editor
2026 Co-editor, Basisboek Ethiek. Textbook ethics for university-level education, with Jeroen Hopster, Benjamin de Mesel, and Thomas Nys. Amsterdam: Boom.
2025 Symposium on Gratitude and Community. Journal of Applied Philosophy 42(1).
Reviews
2022 George Sher: A Wild West of the Mind. Ethical Theory and Moral Practice 25(5): 895–897.
Work in progress
Under review
A paper on the ethics of advice (with Jonas Haeg).
In preparation
A paper on agency balancing norms (with Gunnar Björnsson).
A paper on agent-regret and counterfactuals.
A paper on the possibility of mental wronging.
A paper on the nature and wrong of degradation.
A paper on the currency of distributive justice (with Gunnar Björnsson).
A paper on interpersonal affecting.
Selected presentations

  • Degradation First

    2026
    Linköping Workshop on DehumanisationInvited

  • Oversharing (with Jonas Haeg)

    2026
    Swedish Congress of PhilosophyPeer-reviewed

  • Wronging and Affecting

    2026
    LSE Moral and Political Philosophy SeminarInvited

  • Degradation

    2026
    VU Moral and Political Philosophy ColloquiumInvited
    2026
    Bern Moral Philosophy SeminarInvited
    2026
    Utrecht Ethics Institute Colloquium
    2025
    Philosophy, Ethics and Killing WorkshopInvited
    2025
    Utrecht Workshop on Degradation and Dehumanisation

  • Distributing State Agency (with Gunnar Björnsson)

    2026
    American Association for Political TheoryPeer-reviewed
    2026
    Central APA, Symposium SessionPeer-reviewed

  • Balancing Acts (with Gunnar Björnsson)

    2025
    Lund Workshop on PraiseInvited
    2024
    MANCEPT: Setting Things Right

  • Good Advice, Bad Values (with Jonas Haeg)

    2025
    Society for Applied Philosophy Annual ConferencePeer-reviewed
    2024
    Dutch Research School in Philosophy Annual ConferencePeer-reviewed
    2024
    UvA Philosophy & Public Affairs ColloquiumInvited
    2024
    KCL Moral and Political Philosophy Research SeminarInvited

  • Mental Wronging

    2026
    Mannheim Workshop: New Ideas on NormativityPeer-reviewed
    2025
    BSET Annual ConferencePeer-reviewed
    2025
    SWIP Panel, Joint Session of the Aristotelian Society and Mind AssociationPeer-reviewed
    2024
    Erasmus Institute for Philosophy & Economics SeminarInvited
    2024
    Leeds Centre for Aesthetic, Moral, and Political Philosophy SeminarInvited
    2023
    Utrecht Philosophy Lunch Lecture
    2023
    Tilburg Practical Philosophy SeminarInvited
    2023
    Society for Applied Philosophy Annual ConferencePeer-reviewed
    2022
    Stockholm Higher Seminar in Practical PhilosophyInvited
    2022
    Lund-Gothenburg Responsibility Project SeminarInvited

  • Distributing Risk in Humanitarian Intervention

    2022
    The Political Role of the Moral Emotions ConferencePeer-reviewed

  • Expressive Duties are Demandable and Enforceable

    2022
    Arizona Workshop in Normative Ethics / Oxford Studies in Normative EthicsPeer-reviewed
    2022
    Gothenburg Research Seminar in Practical PhilosophyInvited
    2022
    LMU Munich Research Colloquium in Practical PhilosophyInvited
    2021
    KCL Graduate Conference in Politics, Philosophy & LawPeer-reviewed
    2021
    SCEWP Workshop on Gratitude
    2021
    Philosophy, Ethics and Killing WorkshopInvited

  • Gratitude and Rights

    2022
    Utrecht Ethics Institute Colloquium
    2022
    Philosophy, Ethics and Killing WorkshopInvited
    2021
    Postgraduate Session, Joint Session of the Aristotelian Society and Mind AssociationPeer-reviewed

  • On Discounting Perpetrators (with Gunnar Björnsson)

    2021
    Uppsala Higher Seminar in Practical PhilosophyInvited
    2021
    Lund Higher Seminar in Practical PhilosophyInvited
    2021
    Umeå Research Seminar in Practical PhilosophyInvited
    2021
    Stockholm Higher Seminar in Practical PhilosophyInvited

  • Moral Gratitude

    2021
    Varieties of Moral Address Workshop: Agency, Authority and ResponsibilityPeer-reviewed
    2021
    APA Pacific Division MeetingPeer-reviewed
    2021
    Philosophy, Ethics and Killing WorkshopInvited
    2020
    Lund-Gothenburg Responsibility Project SeminarInvited

  • Reciprocity, Inequality, and Unsuccessful Rescues

    2019
    Pavia Graduate Conference in Political PhilosophyPeer-reviewed
    2019
    SCEWP Annual Graduate and Early Career Reading Retreat
    2019
    Society for Applied Philosophy Annual ConferencePeer-reviewed
    2019
    Swedish Congress of PhilosophyPeer-reviewed
    2019
    REAPP Graduate/Early Career ConferencePeer-reviewed

  • Defensive Harming and Aggregation: The Problem with Numbers

    2018
    LSE Political Theory Graduate ConferencePeer-reviewed

  • Are Unjust Non-Combatants Liable to Attack?

    2018
    St. Andrews CEPPA Graduate ConferencePeer-reviewed

  • Is Sex with Robots Rape?

    2017
    Oxford Uehiro Prize in Practical Ethics finalist presentationPeer-reviewed
Invited commentaries
2026 Katie Ebner-Landy, Character Sketch as Philosophy Utrecht Philosophical Café
2025 Julia Driver, Blame, Praise, and Normative Expectations Book Manuscript Workshop
2024 Samuel Reis-Dennis, "Blame's Topography: Standing on Uneven Ground" VU Normative Philosophy Workshop
2023 Philip Södermark, "Lucrepaths at War: The Ethics of Profit in the Context of Warfare" SCEWP Graduate/Early Career Reading Retreat
2021 Dan Khokhar, "Why Is It Bad to Beg?" KCL Graduate Conference in Politics, Philosophy & Law
2021 Helen Frowe and Derek Matravers, The Ethics of Protecting Heritage in War Book Manuscript Workshop
2021 Nicolas Cornell, "Third Parties" Second Annual Rights Workshop: Rights and Harm
2020 Lisa Hecht, "Benevolent Risk-Taking" Stockholm Higher Seminar in Practical Philosophy
2019 Robert J. Hartman and Benjamin Matheson, "Acting Out of Character and Moral Responsibility" Stockholm Higher Seminar in Practical Philosophy
Teaching
Lecturer
2026Tutorial: MacKinnon's A Feminist Theory of the State
2025Topics in Ethical Theory: Blame
2025Normative Ethics
2025Political and Social Philosophy
2024Topics in Moral Psychology: Emotion
2024Normative Ethics
2023Emotions
2023Normative Ethics
2023Core Seminar: The Active Mind
2023Contemporary Political Philosophy
2023Political and Social Philosophy
2020Introduction to Political Philosophy
2020Global Ethics
2019The Ethics of War
Seminar Convenor
2015Ancient Philosophy
2014Medieval and Early Modern Philosophy
2014Ancient Philosophy
2022Introduction to Normative Ethics
Guest Lecture
2022Guest lecture & seminar on moral contractualism (Normative Ethics)
Supervision
BA Philosophy theses (×12)
MA Applied Ethics theses (×10)
BA Liberal Arts & Sciences thesis (×1)
RMA Philosophy thesis (×1)
BA Philosophy internships (×6)
BA Language and Culture Studies internships (×2)
MA Applied Ethics internships (×10)
RMA research internships — degradation (×1), mental wronging (×1)
RMA teaching internship — Normative Ethics (×1)
Qualifications & training
2024 BKO University Teaching Qualification (full-year course), Centre for Academic Teaching and Learning, Utrecht
2024 Professional Development Workshop: Communicating with Journalists and the Public, Utrecht
2023 Professional Development Workshop: Active Bystander in the Workplace, Utrecht
2023 Teaching Workshop: Feedback and Assessment, Utrecht
2022 University Teaching Qualification (one-semester course), Centre for the Advancement of University Teaching, Stockholm
2022 Teaching Workshop: Digital Learning and Teaching Essentials, Stockholm
2022 Teaching Workshop: Internationalisation of Higher Education, Stockholm
2021 Teaching Workshop: Discussion and Argumentation in Teaching, Stockholm
Honours, grants & awards
2025Veni Research Grant, NWO Talent Programme, for 'The Guilty Mind' €320,000
2022Society for Applied Philosophy Further Funding, for travel to the 2023 Arizona Workshop in Normative Ethics and a visit to UC Berkeley £1,100
2020APA Pacific Graduate Travel Award (cancelled — event moved online) $400
2020Society for Applied Philosophy Event Funding, for the SCEWP Workshop on Gratitude (cancelled — event moved online) £3,000
2019Cultuurfonds, for research visit at UT Austin €10,000
2017Oxford Uehiro Prize in Practical Ethics (3rd Annual), for 'Is Sex with Robots Rape?' £300
2017Balliol College Travel Grant, for the 9th European Society for Analytic Philosophy Congress £250
2016VSB Foundation, for BPhil tuition fees and living expenses €10,000
2016Vreedefond Foundation, for BPhil tuition fees and living expenses €6,000
2016Vrijevrouwe van Renswoude Foundation, for BPhil tuition fees and living expenses €4,000
2016Hendrik Müller Foundation, for BPhil tuition fees and living expenses €4,000
Event organising & refereeing
2025 Co-organiser, Utrecht Workshop on Degradation and Dehumanisation
2024 Co-organiser and reviewer, MANCEPT Workshop: Setting Things Right
2023 Reviewer, 2024 Workshop Oxford Studies in Normative Ethics
2022 Co-organiser and reviewer, 7th SCEWP Graduate and Early Career Reading Retreat
2021 Reviewer, NordPhil Conference
2021 Co-organiser and reviewer, 6th SCEWP Graduate and Early Career Reading Retreat
2021 Co-organiser and reviewer, 7th Stockholm Graduate Philosophy Conference
2021 Sole organiser, SCEWP Workshop on Gratitude
2020 Invited chair, Arizona Workshop in Normative Ethics
2019 Reviewer, 6th Stockholm Graduate Philosophy Conference
2017 Reviewer, 21st Oxford Graduate Philosophy Conference
Professional service
2026– Chair of a working group on transforming the professional and personal development learning line in the BA Language and Culture Studies, Utrecht University
2025– 'Core teacher' in the BA Language and Culture Studies, Utrecht University
2024– Member of the examination board for the BA Language and Culture Studies and BA Liberal Arts and Sciences, Utrecht University
2024– Personal tutor for the BA Philosophy, Utrecht University
2024– Personal tutor for the BA Language and Culture Studies, Utrecht University
2023– Thesis coordinator for the BA Philosophy, Utrecht University
2023–2025 Coordinator and chair of the Utrecht Ethics Institute Colloquium
2018–2022 Co-founder and co-chair of Stockholm's chapter of Minorities and Philosophy
2018–2022 Member of the Stockholm Philosophy PhD Council
2018–2022 Administrative assistance for the Stockholm Centre for the Ethics of War and Peace
Reviewer Noûs (3×), Oxford Studies in Normative Ethics (entire volume), Philosophy, Journal of the American Philosophical Association, Journal of Ethics and Social Philosophy, Philosophia, Journal of Moral Philosophy