Lewis Williams
Email: lewis.williams "at" philosophy.ox.ac.uk
Email: lewis.williams "at" philosophy.ox.ac.uk
I am a Postdoctoral Associate of the Oxford Philosophy Faculty, funded by the Analysis Studentship. From October 2025, I will be an Early Career Researcher in Philosophy at Merton College, University of Oxford.
I completed my DPhil in Philosophy at the University of Oxford in 2025.
I work mainly in ethics. At present, my research concerns the relationship between normativity and deliberation about what to do. My work in this area draws upon uncertainty, pluralism, and nihilism in meta-ethics. Other research interests include the ethics of AI (especially value alignment), duties of beneficence, and philosophical questions surrounding meaning in life.
Why Moral Paradoxes Actually Support Moral Nihilism (and Why That Matters). The Journal of Philosophy (forthcoming).
Revolutionary Normative Subjectivism. Australasian Journal of Philosophy (2025): 1–19.
Moral Nihilism—So What?. Ethics 134 (2023): 108–121.
At the University of Oxford, I have tutored the following courses:
General Philosophy
Moral Philosophy
Ethics
Practical Ethics
Ethics of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Technology
Theory of Politics
Knowledge and Reality
Philosophy of Religion
In spring 2026, I will teach a graduate class entitled Authoritative Normativity.
I have also served as a teaching assistant for General Philosophy and supervised an undergraduate thesis on welfare subjectivism.
I am a 2025 Philosophy in Media Fellow.
I co-organize I Didn't Know Philosophers Did That!—a series of outreach events that introduce state-educated students to topics that they might be surprised to learn that philosophers think and write about (e.g., mental health, gaming, and rap music).
Between 2022 and 2025 I co-hosted The Philosopher's Nest podcast along with Kyle van Oosterum. The Philosopher's Nest showcased the work, insights, and experiences of graduate students in philosophy.
Between 2019 and 2021 I hosted the Searching For It podcast. Searching For It explored philosophical perspective on the meaning of life. Searching For It peaked at #2 on Apple Podcasts' daily Philosophy charts in the United States of America.