Rock Ethics Institute

Biography

Ben Jones is an assistant professor of public policy, as well as assistant director and a research associate in the Rock Ethics Institute. He received his PhD from Yale University, where he was a Beinecke Scholar. He is co-editor with Eduardo Mendieta of The Ethics of Policing: New Perspectives on Law Enforcement (New York University Press 2021) and author of Apocalypse without God: Apocalyptic Thought, Ideal Politics, and the Limits of Utopian Hope (Cambridge University Press 2022). His research appears in the Journal of Politics, Journal of Applied Philosophy, Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology, and other venues, including popular outlets like the Washington Post. His research on policing has received awards from the Association for Practical and Professional Ethics and Elizabeth D. Rockwell Center on Ethics and Leadership at the University of Houston Hobby School of Public Affairs. He is the cofounder and coordinator of the Policing, Policy, and Philosophy Initiative (3PI) supported through grant funding from the American Philosophical Association. Before joining Penn State, he worked for over eight years in the nonprofit sector on criminal justice reform, which included directing the campaign that repealed the death penalty in Connecticut.