Faculty

My primary interests lie in moral theory and political philosophy. I am interested in contemporary questions, but also in bringing the history of these fields to bear on current debates. I have studied Kant and the contemporary Kantian tradition in the most depth, but will gladly learn from any historical figure. I am eager to develop my knowledge of ancient ethics, especially Plato and Aristotle, the early modern period leading up to Kant, Hegel, Kierkegaard, and Nietzsche, among others. My most recent work examines the way that others should figure in our deliberations about what to do, asking why we should take ourselves to have reasons to act on others' behalf and how we should understand the content of these reasons. In answering these questions, I try to reconcile the Kantian notion of autonomy with the equally Kantian idea that we have an obligation to make others' ends our own. My past work in political philosophy has centered on Kant's Doctrine of Right and on critique and development of contemporary political liberalism. I intend to continue to pursue questions about the normative aspects of interpersonal relationships within a Kantian framework, focusing on a cluster of issues that arise because of the ways in which we are susceptible to one another's influence on our character and moral development. These include questions about the content of our obligations to one another, the place for and limits of individual responsibility, and the nature of individual freedom and the best social institutions for protecting it. .


Writings and Recently Taught Courses

Works in Progress

• Moral Community: Escaping the Ethical State of Nature

I explain how one person can have the authority to make choices that create reasons for another by developing Kant's argument, found in Religion within the Bounds of Mere Reason, that we have an obligation to leave what he calls the Ethical State of Nature and join together in the Moral Community. This argument parallels the political argument of the Doctrine of Right.

• Against Beneficence

I argue that rather than aiming at the well-being of those whom we love, we should aim to share in their ends, and defend an interpretation of the latter requirement.

• Children's Interests and the Fathers' Rights Movement

I argue that fundamental commitments of political liberalism demand that we take parental rights rather than children's interests to provide standards for settling custody cases. But I reject the claim that this should lead us to embrace a 50/50 split as our default custody arrangement.

• The Beginning of Community: Politics in the Face of Disagreement

I argue that we have strong reasons to conduct our political inquiry within the guidelines of Rawls' political liberalism, but deny that we have an obligation always to do so.

• Inner Freedom and Required Ends

I argue for a more robust role for required positive ends within a Kantian moral theory than others have acknowledged. Reason must give us a task to work towards, not merely limit our actions, if we are to be free in Kant's own sense.

• The Hobbesian Agent and the Bondage of Self-Interest

I claim that a Hobbesian view of reasons puts us in manipulative relationships not just towards others, but also towards ourselves. I then argue that a similar problem arises for David Gauthier's contemporary rehabilitation of a Hobbesian view.

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Current CV

• CURRENT CV

Recently Taught Courses

• PHIL 360 Topics in Moral Theory: Kant's Moral Theory
• PHIL 410 Special Topics in Philosophy: Responsibility

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