Draft:James Orr (philosopher)

James Tristan Ward Orr (born November 1978) is a British academic and philosopher. He is currently an associate professor of Philosophy of Religion at the Faculty of Divinity at the University of Cambridge. Formerly, he spent four years as a McDonald Postdoctoral Fellow in Theology, Ethics, and Public Life at Christ Church, Oxford.

Career
After studying Classics at Balliol College, Oxford, Orr became a corporate lawyer first at Freshfields, then Sullivan & Cromwell, in London. Thereafter, he returned to academia to take an MPhil and PhD in Philosophy of Religion at the University of Cambridge.

In recent years, Orr has publicly commented on topics including conservatism, religion, and current affairs.

Jordan Peterson Lecture at Cambridge
In November 2021, Jordan Peterson was invited by Orr to address an audience at the University of Cambridge.

Previously, in 2019, an invitation to spend time at Cambridge as a visiting academic was rescinded after a small campaign of complaints. It became one of the most talked-about examples of “cancel culture” and spurred into action a network of faculty members at Cambridge who were determined to reverse what they saw as a descent into intellectual cowardice and a surrender of the principles of free enquiry.