Elena Yi-Jia Zeng

She specializes in Enlightenment political theory and intellectual history. Her research addresses three of the main challenges of liberal democracy today, namely, freedom of inquiry, public opinion and economic stagnation, from the history of political thought’s perspective. Her current project investigates how modern skepticism facilitates political stability by encouraging value pluralism and counteracting extreme beliefs. Her works have been published in History of European Ideas and International Journal of Philosophical Studies. She also guest-edited the special issue “David Hume and Political Epistemology” for Cosmos and Taxis.

Elena was elected a Postgraduate Member of the UK’s Royal Historical Society in 2022. She completed her PhD at the University of Cambridge in 2024. She read history in Taiwan, and gained an MA in History of Political Thought and Intellectual History at the University of London.