Jason F. Brennan (born 1979) is an American

philosopher Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

and business professor. He is the Robert J. and Elizabeth Flanagan Family Professor of Strategy, Economics, Ethics, and Public Policy at the McDonough School of Business at

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private Jesuit research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789, it is the oldest Catholic higher education, Ca ...

. Brennan writes about democratic theory, the ethics of voting, competence and power, freedom, and the moral foundations of commercial society. His work focuses on the intersection of normative political philosophy and the empirical social sciences, especially on questions about voter behavior, pathologies of democracy, and the consequences of freedom. He argues that most citizens have a moral obligation not to vote.

Early life

Brennan grew up in

Tewksbury, Massachusetts Tewksbury is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. Its population was 31,342 as of the 2020 United States census. History Tewksbury was first settled in 1637 and was officially incorporated on December 17, 1734, from Bil ...

, and

Hudson, New Hampshire Hudson is a town in Hillsborough County, New Hampshire, United States. It is located along the Massachusetts state line. The population was 25,394 at the 2020 census. It is the tenth-largest municipality (town or city) in the state, by populatio ...

, where he attended Alvirne High School. He attended

Case Western Reserve University Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) is a Private university, private research university in Cleveland, Ohio, United States. It was established in 1967 by a merger between Western Reserve University and the Case Institute of Technology. Case ...

and the

University of New Hampshire The University of New Hampshire (UNH) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university with its main campus in Durham, New Hampshire, United States. It was founded and incorporated in 1866 as a land grant coll ...

as an undergraduate. He earned his Ph.D. in philosophy at the

University of Arizona The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it ...

under the direction of David Schmidtz. From 2006 to 2011, he was a research fellow at the Political Theory Project, and later assistant professor of philosophy at

Brown University Brown University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. It is the List of colonial colleges, seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the US, founded in 1764 as the ' ...

His case against democracy

Differing modalities of elite governance

Books

* , with David Schmidtz * * * , with Lisa Hill * * , with Peter Jaworski * * * , with Bas van der Vossen * * , with Phil Magness * , with Chris W. Surprenant * * * , with William English, John Hasnas and Peter Jaworski * , with Hélène Landemore * * , with Samuel Arnold, Richard Yetter Chappell, and Ryan Davis * , with Samuel Freeman

References

External links