About Me

I am a philosopher specialising in intimacy, love, and relationships.

Currently, I work as an Associate Professor in Applied Ethics at the IDEA ethics centre in the University of Leeds, which I joined in 2022. I previously held positions at the University of Birmingham and the University of Oxford.

At Leeds, I co-established and run the Centre for Love, Sex, and Relationships, a research hub for the philosophy of intimacy. (Find it on Bluesky and Instagram.)

In 2024 I also co-established Ethical Dating Online, a research network of academics who want to improve online dating. (Find it on Bluesky and Instagram.)

Current Research

My main research project currently focuses on online dating and digital intimacy. Dating apps are used by millions, but few people love them. Using them feels like work, they gamify our attention and are becoming more inauthentic. I will explain how this came to be and how we can transform the industry.

Projected outputs of this work include a trade book, an edited collection on the ethics of dating apps (with Bloomsbury) and an impact case study of my practical work with the dating app industry.

Some of my core activities outside academia include:

• Acting as an independent advisor to the dating app Feeld.

• Leading a review of the industry ethical standards of the Online Dating and Discovery Association.

• Collaborating with the UK charity Brook.

• Collaborating with the UK charity Relate.

Other Research 

I have published often on intimacy and relationships - from asexuality and polyamory, to envy and compersion - and have written three books: an accessible academic work Romantic Agency: loving well in modern life (Polity), a trade book Does Monogamy Work? (Thames & Hudson), and, with Natasha McKeever, a textbook The Philosophy of Love, Sex and Relationships: An Introduction (Polity).

Current side projects include a project on relationship anarchy and a projected edited book exploring the philosophy of asexuality and aromanticism (with Ela Przybyło).

My academic work appears in prestigious journals like Philosophy and Phenomenological Research, Analysis, Journal of Ethics and Social Philosophy, the European Journal of Philosophy, and the Journal of the American Philosophical Association.

Aside from intimacy, I have also written on microaggressions, letting go of blame, oppression and forgiveness, social role ethics, striking healthcare workers, value pluralism, ideals of the integrated self, and the Buddhist doctrine of emptiness.

Popular philosophy

My writing for popular audiences features in venues like the New Scientist, The Conversation, Aeon, the Times Higher Education, the Independent, and the Times Literary Supplement.

Social commentary

I am a regular commentator on topics related to my research, and have experience talking about the philosophy of intimacy with journalists and on television and radio.

I have provided 50+ pieces of commentary on the topic of modern dating to publications including: The Observer, The Guardian, BBC News, Financial Times, Le Monde (France), The Telegraph,Daily Mail, The Economist,The Atlantic, CNN, Les Echos (France), NRC (the Netherlands), New York Post, The Evening Standard, Metro, BBC In Depth, New Scientist, British Vogue, Huffington Post, Cosmopolitan, Prospect, Elle, Men’s Health, Times Higher Education, ABC Australia, Futur (France), Vice, Dazed, Vox, Pink News, Time Out London, Elle Australia, Prensa Libre (Guatemala), Mashable, Gooseberry Magazine, The Lead, and The Tab.

I have also appeared on BBC and ITV television, as well as on BBC 5 Live, LBC News Radio, Radio New Zealand, News Talk Radio Ireland, and BBC Leeds, as well as a range of podcasts.

The British Academy invited me to talk about Love in the Time of Tech, alongside Prof. Kate Devlin and Dr Shannon Phillip.

Contact me

Email: l.brunning1@leeds.ac.uk