Pilar Lopez-Cantero is a philosopher working on the emotional and normative dimensions of place, identity, and personal relationships. At the intersection of ethics, moral psychology, and political philosophy, she studies how attachments—to people, institutions, and places—and policy shape well-being, agency, and self-understanding.
She is a Marie Skłodowska-Curie/YUFE4Postdocs Fellow in Philosophy and a Young Researcher at the Urban Studies Institute at the University of Antwerp. Her project, Affect in the City (AFFINITY), examines emotional well-being and affective and spatial agency in questions of urban justice, applying philosophical analysis to issues such as gentrification, migration, overtourism, and public services. She also works on the ethics of intimacy, including the normative challenges raised by online dating and AI companions.
She holds a PhD from the University of Manchester and previously worked in journalism and public-sector communications.
