Dr Alexandra Couto

Dr Alexandra Couto is a Senior Lecturer in Philosophy at the University of Kent. She holds a MPhil and DPhil in Political Theory from Oxford University (Berrow Scholar). 

She held research positions in Vienna (ERC Project, Philosophy Department, Vienna) and in Oslo (Innocently Benefitting from Injustice Project, Philosophy Department) and has also taught at Oxford University and Warwick University.

Alexandra's work is within moral and political philosophy. Her recent research focuses on the three following topics: the role of responsibility in luck egalitarianism, the conditions for the justifiability of interpersonal forgiveness and issues relating to the Beneficiary Pays Principle, a principle according to which we might accrue remedial duties by benefiting (innocently) from injustices. 

Previously, she has also worked on freedom of speech and the grounds for taking privacy to be valuable and has also published a book defending a minimal form of liberal perfectionism Liberal Perfectionism: the Reasons that Goodness Gives (De Gruyter).  

Alexandra teaches modules in political philosophy, moral philosophy, legal philosophy, applied ethics and business ethics.