Ben is a Senior Lecturer in Philosophy at the University of St. Andrews. Previously he was Assistant Professor/Faculty Fellow in Environmental Studies and Bioethics at New York University, and Postdoctoral Fellow in Bioethics at the (U.S.) National Institutes of Health prior to that.

His work focuses on ethics and political philosophy, especially on issues concerning the welfare state. His research aims to advance our understanding of what ethical function pensions serve and how they can be designed to best serve that function, as well as our understanding of the extent to which pension systems must be reliant on our ignorance as to our own future health.

Ben was co-Investigator for the AHRC Research Network, “The Future of Work and Income”, from 2021 to 2023. In addition, he is the founder and lead organiser of The Ethics Cup, a Britain-wide ethics debating tournament for 14-18 year-old students.