Dr Kate Greasley
Tutorial Fellow in Law
Associate Professor in Law
Dr Greasley read Law at New College, graduating with a first-class degree, before studying for the BCL and later the DPhil. Her thesis focussed on the relevance of moral personhood in abortion ethics and law, the topic of her first book, Arguments About Abortion (OUP, 2017). During her time as a research student, she held a stipendiary lectureship at Hertford College, and later took up a Junior Research Fellowship at University College. She returned to Hertford in Michaelmas 2018 from University College London, where she had been a lecturer in the Law Faculty.
Dr Greasley’s current research focuses on sexual offending and the philosophy of consent, and pornography and free speech (among other things). She recently produced a video podcast series entitled Conversations on Consent, in which she interviews fellow scholars about the law and philosophy of consent to sex as well as other #Me-Too related themes.
Undergraduate teaching
Criminal Law, Jurisprudence, Medical Law & Ethics.
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Research interests
Philosophy of law, criminal law theory, applied ethics, feminist legal theory.
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Publications
Books
Abortion Rights: For and Against (co-authored with Christopher Kaczor), (2017, Cambridge University Press)
Arguments About Abortion: Personhood, Morality, and Law, (2017, Oxford University Press).
Edited collections
The Morality in Law: Themes from the Work of Leslie Green, Adams, Greasley, and Réaume eds. (forthcoming, Oxford University Press, 2025)
Persons, Parts and Property: How Should We Regulate Tissue in the 21st Century?, edited by I. Goold, K. Greasley, J. Herring, and L. Skene, (Oxford: Hart Publishing, 2014).
Journal Articles
‘Mistaken Consent and Socially Reasonable Beliefs’, forthcoming, Law & Philosophy (2026)
‘How Omissions Aren’t Special’, Criminal Law and Philosophy, 20 (1):121-134 (2026)
‘Sex, Reasons, Pro Tanto Wronging, and the Structure of Rape Liability, (2020) Criminal Law and Philosophy
‘The Morality of Lying and the Murderer at the Door’, Law and Philosophy (2019) 38: 439-452
‘Prenatal Personhood and Life’s Intrinsic Value: Reappraising Dworkin on Abortion’, (2016), Legal Theory 22: 124-152
‘Is Sex-Selective Abortion against the Law?’, (2016) Oxford Journal of Legal Studies, 36(3), 535-564
‘The Pearl of the Pro-Life Movement? Reflections on the Kermit Gosnell Controversy’, Journal of Medical Ethics, 40 (6) 419-423 (2014)
‘A Legal Market in Organs: The Problem of Exploitation’, Journal of Medical Ethics (2014) 40 (1) 51-6
‘Abortion and Regret’, Journal of Medical Ethics (2012) 38 705-711
‘R (Purdy) v DPP and the Case for Wilful Blindness’, (2010) (2) Oxford Journal of Legal Studies, 301-326.
Book Chapters
‘Using Law to Improve Sexual Morality’, forthcoming in The Morality in Law: Themes from the Work of Leslie Green, Adams, Greasley, and Réaume eds (forthcoming, OUP, 2025).
‘Pornography and the Limits of Speech Act Analysis’, in R. Chang and A. Srinivasan eds, New Conversations in Philosophy, Law, and Politics (OUP, 2024)
‘Rape Trauma and Rape’s Wrongness’, in M. Dempsey & F. Tanguay-Renaud eds. From Morality to Law and Back Again: Liber Amicorum for John Gardner (OUP, 2023)
‘Silencing Without Uptake’, in J. Gardner, L. Green & B. Leiter eds. Oxford Studies in the Philosophy of Law, vol 4 (2021, OUP)
‘Abortion, Feminism, and ‘Traditional’ Moral Philosophy’, in J. Herring et al eds., Philosophical Foundations of Medical Law (OUP, 2019)
‘The Right to Die and the Right to Help: R v Purdy and its Legacy’, in J. Herring and J Wall eds. Landmark Cases in Medical Law (Hart Publishing, 2015)
‘The Human Body as Property: Objectification and Commodification’, in I. Goold et al eds, Persons, Parts and Property (Hart Publishing, 2014)
Book Reviews
Review of David Boonin, Beyond Roe: Why Abortion Should be Legal Even if the Fetus is a Person (2021) Criminal Law & Philosophy 15(3), 535-544
Abortion Law in Transnational Perspective, edited by Rebecca Cook, Joanna Erdman and Bernard Dickens (2016) Feminist Legal Studies, 97–102
Case Notes
‘Taking Abortion Rights Seriously: Whole Woman’s Health v Hellerstedt’ (2016) Modern Law Review.
‘Medical Abortion and the ‘Golden Rule’ of Statutory Interpretation’, (2011) 19(2) Medical Law Review, 314-325
‘A Negligent Blow to Children at Risk: MAK and RK v the United Kingdom’, (2010) 73(6) Modern Law Review 1026-1047
Under review
‘Mistaken Consent and Socially Reasonable Beliefs’ (draft available upon request)