Kevin Vallier

Kevin Vallier

Professor of Philosophy

I am Professor of Philosophy and Director of Research at the Institute for American Constitutional Thought and Leadership (University of Toledo). I completed my PhD at the University of Arizona in 2011 under Gerald Gaus.

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  • Areas of Specialization: Political Philosophy, Ethics, Philosophy, Politics, & Economics (PPE)
  • Areas of Competence: Philosophy of Religion, History of Political Philosophy/Economy
  • Research Topics: Trust & Polarization, Public Reason, Religion & Politics, Economic Justice
  • Academic Metrics: citations: 2,380, h-index: 24, i10-index: 36.
Academic Appointments
  • 2024: Professor of Philosophy, Institute for American Constitutional Thought & Leadership, University of Toledo (Director of Research, 2025-)
  • 2022: Senior Visiting Scholar, Center for Social Norms and Behavioral Dynamics, University of Pennsylvania
  • 2016-2024: Associate Professor of Philosophy, Bowling Green State University
  • 2012-2016: Assistant Professor of Philosophy, Bowling Green State University
  • 2011-2012: Postdoctoral Associate, Political Theory Project, Brown University
Education

  • 2011: Ph.D. University of Arizona, Philosophy

  • 2004: B.A. Washington University in St. Louis, Philosophy (Economics minor), cum laude

Books
  1. All the Kingdoms of the World: On Radical Religious Alternatives to Liberalism, Oxford UP, 2023. (Link)
  2. Trust in a Polarized Age, Oxford UP, 2020. (Link)
  3. Must Politics Be War? Restoring Our Trust in the Open Society, Oxford UP, 2019. (Link)
  4. Liberal Politics & Public Faith: Beyond Separation, Routledge, 2014. (Link)
Edited Volumes
  1. Public Reason & Diversity: Reinterpretations of Liberalism (Vallier & Gaus), Cambridge UP, 2022. (Link)
  2. Social Trust (Vallier & Weber), Routledge, 2021. (Link)
  3. A New Theist Response to the New Atheists (Vallier & Rasmussen), Routledge, 2020. (Link)
  4. Religious Exemptions (Vallier & Weber), Oxford UP, 2018. (Link)
  5. Political Utopias: Contemporary Debates (Vallier & Weber), Oxford UP, 2017. (Link)
Journal Articles
  1. “Trinitarian Contractarianism,” Oxford Studies in the Philosophy of Religion, forthcoming (Winner of the biennial Sanders Prize in the Philosophy of Religion). (Link)
  2. “Spiritual Education,” Social Philosophy & Policy, forthcoming.
  3. “A Christian Account of the Rationality of Morality: On Theosis and the Trinity,” TheoLogica: An International Journal for Philosophy of Religion and Philosophical Theology, forthcoming.
  4. “Catholic Integralism Remains Unjust: A Reply to Pink,” American Catholic Philosophical Quarterly, forthcoming.
  5. “Integralism is Infeasible and Immoral: A Reply to Critics,” The Journal of Natural Law, forthcoming.
  6. “Three Problems for Political Perfectionism: Sectarianism, Coherence, and Stability,” Social Theory & Practice, forthcoming.
  7. “Fusionism, not Libertarianism, Burned Down the House,” Contemporary Legal Issues, 26, 503-520.
  8. “Human Rights and Divine Holiness,” 2024, Religious Studies, 60(4), 667-679.
  9. “The Justice Argument Against Catholic Integralism,” 2024, Political Studies, 72(2), 590-611. (Link)
  10. “Public Reason’s Classical Liberal Tilt Revisited,” 2023, Cosmos & Taxis, Symposium on Trust in a Polarized Age, 11(9-10), 58-68. (Link)
  11. “Trust in a Polarized Age: Reply to Critics,” 2023, Critical Review of International Social & Political Philosophy. Symposium on Trust in a Polarized Age, 26(4), 616-627. (Link)
  12. “The Symmetry Argument for Catholic Integralism,” 2023, Journal of Analytic Theology, 11, 67-84. (Link)
  13. “The Social Philosophy of Gerald Gaus: Moral Relations Amid Control, Contestation, and Complexity,” 2023, The Journal of the American Philosophical Association, 9(3), 510-532. (Link)
  14. “Political Trust,” 2022, Brigham Young University Law Review, 47: 1275-1300. (Link)
  15. “The Fairness Argument against Catholic Integralism,” 2021, Law, Culture, & Humanities, 1-19. (Link)
  16. “In Public Reason, Diversity Trumps Coherence,” 2021, (Muldoon & Vallier), Journal of Political Philosophy, 29(2): 211-30. (Link)
  17. “Process Democracy,” 2021, Journal of Moral Philosophy, 17(6): 633-57. (Link)
  18. “Christian Reconciliation Through the Public Use of Reason,” 2021, Social Theory & Practice, 47(3): 549-73. (Link)
  19. “Liberal Socialism Is Not Stable for the Right Reasons,” 2020, Philosophical Topics, 48(2): 245-264. (Link)
  20. “Equal Citizenship and Convergence,” 2020, Journal of Applied Philosophy, 37(5): 846-53. (Link)
  21. “In Defense of Idealization in Public Reason,” 2020, Erkenntnis, 85: 1109-1128. (Link)
  22. “Associations in Social Contract Theory: Toward a Pluralist Contractarianism,” 2020, Political Studies, 68(2): 486-503. (Link)
  23. “Containing Ideological Rent-Seekers: Expanding the Reach of Buchanan’s Constitutionalism,” 2019, Homo Oeconomicus, 36(1-2): 71-85. (Link)
  24. “The Duties of Officials in a Minimally Secular State,” 2019, Journal of Applied Philosophy, 36(5): 695-701. (Link)
  25. “Pluralistic Partisanship,” 2019, Res Publica, 25(4): 487-496. (Link)
  26. “Hayekian Social Justice,” 2019, The Independent Review, 24(1): 100-110. (Link)
  27. “Political Liberalism and the Radical Consequences of Justice Pluralism,” 2019, Journal of Social Philosophy, 50(2): 212-231. (Link)
  28. “Rawls, Piketty, and the Critique of the Welfare State,” 2019, Journal of Politics, 81(1): 142-152. (Link)
  29. “Freedom and Justice in a Diverse Polity,” 2018 Philosophy & Public Issues, 8(1): 97-112. (Link)
  30. “Exit, Voice, and Public Reason,” 2018, American Political Science Review, 112(4): 1120-1124. (Link)
  31. “Political Stability in the Open Society,” 2018, (Thrasher & Vallier), American Journal of Political Science, 62(2): 398-409. (Link)
  32. “Constitutional Choice Renewed: A Synthesis of Public Reason and Public Choice Approaches,” 2018, Constitutional Political Economy, 29(2): 115-136. (Link)
  33. “Public Reason in the Open Society,” 2018, Cosmos & Taxis, 5(2): 38-46. (Link)
  34. “Three Concepts of Political Stability,” 2017, Social Philosophy & Policy, 34(1): 232-259. (Link)
  35. “On Jonathan Quong’s Sectarian Political Liberalism,” 2017, Criminal Law & Philosophy, 11: 175-94. (Link)
  36. “Second Person Rules: An Alternative Approach to Second-Personal Normativity,” 2017, Res Publica, 23(1): 23-42. (Link)
  37. “On the Inevitability of Nudging,” 2016, Georgetown Journal of Law & Public Policy, 14: 817-828. (Link)
  38. “Public Reason is Not Self-Refuting,” 2016, American Philosophical Quarterly, 53(4): 349-363. (Link)
  39. “Religious Freedom and the Reasons for Rights,” 2016, Philosophy & Public Issues 6(1): 9-24.
  40. “In Defense of Intelligible Reasons in Public Justification,” 2016, Philosophical Quarterly 66 (264): 596-616. (Link)
  41. “In Defense of the Asymmetric Convergence Model of Public Justification,” 2016, Ethical Theory & Moral Practice 19(1): 255-266. (Link)
  42. “The Moral Basis of Religious Exemptions,” 2016, Law & Philosophy 35(1): 1-28. (Link)
  43. “Gaus, Hayek, and the Place of Civil Religion in a Free Society,” 2016, The Review of Austrian Economics 30: 327-352. (Link)
  44. “Is Economic Rationality in the Head?” 2015, Minds & Machines 25(4): 339-360. (Link)
  45. “Public Justification versus Public Deliberation: The Case for Divorce,” 2015, Canadian Journal of Philosophy 45(2): 139-158. (Link)
  46. “The Fragility of Consensus: Public Reason, Diversity and Stability,” 2015, (Thrasher & Vallier), European Journal of Philosophy 23(4): 933-954. (Link)
  47. “A Moral and Economic Critique of the New Property-Owning Democrats: On Behalf of a Rawlsian Welfare State,” 2015, Philosophical Studies 172(2): 283-304. (Link)
  48. “On Distinguishing Publicly Justified Polities from Modus Vivendi Regimes,” 2015, Social Theory & Practice 41(2): 207-229. (Link)
  49. “The Origin and Future of Political Liberalism,” 2014, Journal of Moral Philosophy 11: 1-18. (Link)
  50. “The Normative Significance of Conscience: A Contractualist Account,” 2013, (Swan & Vallier), Journal of Ethics & Social Philosophy 6(3): 1-21. (Link)
  51. “Can Liberal Perfectionism Justify Religious Toleration? Wall on Promoting and Respecting,” 2012, Philosophical Studies 162(3): 645-664. (Link)
  52. “Liberalism, Religion and Integrity,” 2012, Australasian Journal of Philosophy 90(1): 149-165. (Link)
  53. “Morality and Aspiration in Bourgeois Dignity,” 2012, Journal of Socio-Economics 41(6): 776-782. (Link)
  54. “Introduction,” Public Reason Symposium, 2011, Public Affairs Quarterly 25(4): 257-259. (Link)
  55. “Convergence and Consensus in Public Reason,” 2011, Public Affairs Quarterly 25(4): 261-279. (Link)
  56. “Against Public Reason’s Accessibility Requirement,” 2011, Journal of Moral Philosophy 8(3): 366-389. (Link)
  57. “Production, Distribution and J.S. Mill,” 2010, Utilitas 22(2): 103-125. (Link)
  58. “The Roles of Religious Conviction in a Publicly Justified Polity: The Implications of Convergence, Asymmetry and Political Institutions,” 2009, (Gaus & Vallier), Philosophy & Social Criticism 35(1): 51-76. (Link)
Refereed Chapters in Companions/Edited Volumes
  1. “Full Justification,” The Oxford Handbook on the Philosophy of John Rawls, edited by Lori Watson, Christie Hartley, & Blain Neufeld, Oxford UP, forthcoming.
  2. “The Emotional Decay of Liberalism,” Realism, Ideology, & the Convulsions of Democracy, edited by Mikayla Novak, Marta Podemski-Mikluch, & Richard E. Wagner, Springer Series in Public Choice, forthcoming. (Link)
  3. “Public Reason at 50,” A Theory of Justice at 50, edited by Paul Weithman, 2023, Cambridge UP, 239-256. (Link)
  4. “Social and Legal Trust: The Case of Africa,” (Bergh, Bjørnskov, & Vallier) Social Trust, edited by Kevin Vallier & Michael Weber, 2021, Routledge, 9-28.
  5. “In Defense of Yeshiva Autonomy,” Education & Religious Liberty, edited by Jay Greene & Jason Bedrick, 2020, Rowman and Littlefield, 3-14. (Link)
  6. “Christian Anarchism,” (Underwood & Vallier), The Routledge Companion to Anarchism, edited by Gary Chartier & Chad Van Scheolandt, 2020, Routledge, 187-204. (Link)
  7. “The Moral Basis of Religious Disestablishment,” in Religion & Liberal Political Philosophy, edited by Cecile Laborde & Aurelia Bardon, 2017, Oxford UP, 103-117. (Link)
  8. “Religion in Public Life,” (Eberle & Vallier), The Routledge Companion to Social & Political Philosophy, edited by Gerald Gaus & Fred D’Agostino, 2013, Routledge, 800-811. (Link)
  9. “Public Discourse,” Philosophy & Politics: Method, Tools, Topics, edited by Antonella Besussi, 2012, Ashgate, 100-115. (Link)
Policy Papers
  1. “Social and Political Trust: Concepts, Causes, and Consequences,” Knight Foundation, 2018, (Link).
Book Reviews
  1. Caleb Wellum, Energizing Neoliberalism: The Energy Crisis & American Political Culture, The Society for US Intellectual History, forthcoming.
  2. Gary Chartier, Christianity & the Nation-State: A Study in Political Theory, The Independent Review, forthcoming.
  3. Fritz Bartel, The Triumph of Broken Promises: The End of the Cold War & the Rise of Neoliberalism, The Society for US Intellectual History, forthcoming.
  4. Adam MacLeod, The Age of Selfies: Reasoning about Rights When the Stakes are Personal, The Independent Review, 2021, 25(4). (Link)
  5. Nelson Tebbe, Religious Freedom in an Egalitarian Age, Journal of Moral Philosophy, 2020, 17(3): 371-4. (Link)
  6. John Corvino, Ryan T. Anderson, & Sherif Girgis, Debating Religious Liberty & Discrimination, Faith & Philosophy, 2018, 35(4): 491-497. (Link)
  7. Andrew Lister, Public Reason & Political Community, Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews, November 4th, 2014. (Link)
  8. Nicholas Wolterstorff, Understanding Liberal Democracy, Faith & Philosophy, 2014, 31(3): 345-348. (Link)
  9. Samuel Fleischaker, Divine Teaching & the Way of the World: A Defense of Revealed Religion, Mind, 2014, 123: 207-210. (Link)
  10. Nicholas Southwood, Contractualism & the Foundations of Morality, Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews, Gary & Anastasia Friel Gutting, editors, published October 14th, 2012. (Link)
  11. Thomas Scanlon, Moral Dimensions: Permissibility, Meaning, Blame, The Journal of Value Inquiry, 2010, 44: 561-565. (Link)
Encyclopedia Entries
  1. “Public Justification,” The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, edited by Edward N. Zalta, updated on December 1st, 2022. (Link)
  2. “Neoliberalism,” The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, edited by Edward N. Zalta, January 7th, 2021. (Link)
  3. “Religion & Politics,” The Routledge Handbook of Libertarianism, edited by Jason Brennan, Bas van der Vossen, & David Schmidtz, 2017, Routledge. (Link)
  4. “Liberalism,” Vocabulary for the Study of Religion, edited by Robert Segal & Kocku von Stuckrad, 2015. Brill Press. (Link)
  5. Entries on “Liberty of Conscience,” “Martin Luther King,” and “Public Choice Theory,” The Cambridge Rawls Lexicon, edited by Jon Mandle & David Reidy, 2014. Cambridge UP. (Link)
Teaching
  • Undergraduate
    • Introduction to Ethics (Spring 2013, Summer 2014/2015/2016, Spring 2023)
    • Introduction to PPE (Spring 2013, Fall 2014/2015/2016)
    • History of Political Economy (Fall 2016/2017, Spring 2018/2020)
    • Social & Political Philosophy (Fall 2013)
    • Philosophy of Religion (Spring 2012/2014, Summer 2014/2015/2016/2017, Spring 2019/2020)
    • PPE Methods (Spring 2015/2017/2018/2019)
    • American Conservatism (Fall 2024/Spring 2025)
  • Graduate
    • Teaching & Writing Philosophy (Spring 2023)
    • Contemporary Perfectionism in Politics (Fall 2021)
    • Public Reason (Fall 2012, Spring 2016, Fall 2020)
    • History of Political Philosophy (Spring 2013, Spring 2018)
    • Deliberative Democracy: New Directions (Fall 2014)
    • Ideal & Non-Ideal Theory (Spring 2014)
Professional Service
  • 2014-24 – Director, BGSU Philosophy, Politics, Economics & Law (PPEL) Program.
  • 2014 – Director, BGSU Conference in Applied Ethics & Public Policy (Ideal Theory)
  • 2015 – Director, BGSU Conference in Applied Ethics & Public Policy (Religious Exemptions)
  • 2017-21 – Editorial Board, Public Affairs Quarterly.
  • 2019 – Director, BGSU Conference in Applied Ethics & Public Policy (Social Trust)
  • 2021-24 – Executive Board, Society of Christian Philosophers
  • 2022 – Director, Society of Christian Philosophers Midwest Conference
  • 2025 – Director of Research, Institute of American Constitutional Thought and Leadership, University of Toledo.
Prizes
  • 2023 – Sanders Prize in the Philosophy of Religion for “Trinitarian Contractarianism” essay.
Grants
  • 2017 – Kevin Vallier, Grant for the PPEL Program, $1.6 million Charles Koch Foundation Grant.
  • 2021 – Cristina Bicchieri (PI) & Vallier (Co-PI), “Trust, Norms, and Poverty,” $2.5 million John Templeton Foundation Grant.
Invited Lectures & Presentations
  • 2025 – “Dark Maritain: The Postliberal Alternative to Integralism,” Keynote Address, Religion & Democracy Conference, Center for Philosophy of Religion, University of Notre Dame, May 23.
  • 2024 – “Is the New Catholic Integralism True or False?” Keynote Address, Oxford University Symposium on All the Kingdoms of the World, Christ Church, St Aldates, June 6.
  • 2023 – “From Counter-Reformation to Counter-Revolution: The Early Modern Roots of Radical Anti-Liberalism,” Keynote Address, Research Group on Constitutional Studies Lecture Series, McGill University, October 26.
  • 2022 – “The Justice Argument Against Catholic Integralism,” PPE Speaker Series, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, March 31.
  • 2021 – “Trust in a Polarized Age,” UNC Asheville (virtual presentation via Zoom), February 10.
  • 2020 – Conversation with Nolan McCarty on Trust in a Polarized Age, Princeton Public Library.
  • 2019 – “Must Politics Be War,” University of Notre Dame.
  • 2018 – “The Normative Significance of Social Trust,” PPE Society Meeting, New Orleans.
  • 2017 – 
    • “Social Trust and Public Reason,” University of Maryland.
    • “Social Trust and Public Reason,” Tulane University.
    • “Social Trust and Public Reason,” PPE Society Meeting, New Orleans.
    • “Theological Reconciliation through the Public Use of Reason,” Oxford University.
    • Must Politics Be War? Manuscript Workshop, St. Louis University.
  • 2016 – 
    • “The Moral Basis of Religious (Dis)Establishment,” McGill University.
    • “Public Justification Grounded in Social Trust,” Australian Association of Philosophy.
    • “The Intrinsic Value of Publicly Justified Action,” Brown University.
    • Must Politics Be War? Manuscript Workshop, Brown University.
  • 2015 –
    • “Public Reason and Public Choice,” University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.
    • “The Moral Basis of Religious Exemptions,” University College London.
    • “Constitutional Choice,” Social Philosophy and Policy Conference, McGill University.
    • “Can We Never Not Nudge?” Georgetown University.
    • Liberal Politics and Public Faith, Author-meets-critics panel, American Philosophical Association Pacific Division.

  • 2014 –

    • “A Genuinely Liberal Approach to Religion in Democratic Politics,” Duke University.

    • “Justice Pluralism: A Defense,” University of Turin.

    • “Public Reason and Public Choice,” University of Birmingham.

    • “How to Publicly Justify Religious Exemptions,” Wheaton College.

    • “Liberal Politics and Public Faith,” Georgia State University.

    • “Rawls, Piketty and the Case for Property-Owning Democracy,” Georgetown University.

    • “Rawls, Piketty and the Case against the Welfare State,” Chapman University.

  • 2013 –

    • “The Intelligibility Requirement,” Ohio State University.

    • “Public Reason and Public Choice: A Synthesis,” George Mason University, PPE Group.

    • “Religion and Public Education,” Wheaton College.

    • Liberal Politics and Public Faith, Current Research Workshop, University of Arizona.

  • 2012 –

    • “Sen and Cohen on Ideal Theory: What’s Really Going On?” Association of Private Enterprise Education.

    • “In Defense of Unacceptable Reasons,” MANCEPT Workshop, University of Manchester.

  • 2011 –

    • “Liberalism, Religion and the Promise of Convergence,” University of Tennessee.

    • “Religion in Public Life: What’s the Problem?” Brown University.

    • “Capitalism: What Is It? Why Have It?” University of Kentucky.

    • “The Eligibility of a Polycentric Constitution,” American Philosophical Association Eastern Division.

  • 2010 – “Convergence and Consensus in Public Reason,” American Political Science Association.

  • 2009 – “Liberalism without Privatization,” American Philosophical Association Central Division.

  • 2008 – “A Religious Challenge to Justificatory Liberalism,” CUNY Graduate Conference.

  • 2007 – 

    • “Liberalism and Economic Growth,” American Philosophical Association Pacific Division.

    • “Two Religious Challenges to Justificatory Liberalism,” Arizona Workshop in Philosophy.