Title: 'How To Be a Pluralist About Gender' Abstract: There are various of attractive accounts of gender kinds on offer (Haslanger 2012, Asta 2018), as well as accounts of the ontology of human social kinds (or social groups) more broadly (Mallon 2016, Ritchie 2020) that are much more conducive to feminist aims than a lot ... Read more
Title: 'The Problem of Polarization' Abstract: “The cure for democracy's ills is more democracy.” This popular adage is false. Contemporary democracy faces problems that have their source in otherwise laudable forms of political participation. In short, enactments of democratic citizenship heighten our exposure to polarization, which in turn erodes our capacities to perform well as ... Read more
Title: 'Conflict, Discord, and Strife' Abstract: Given that interpersonal relationships are relationships between persons, we might hold out hope that a better philosophical understanding of the nature of persons can help us to better understand the structure and dynamics of interpersonal relationships. In this talk I will argue that this thought is correct. In particular, ... Read more
TITLE: RISK AND AMBIGUITY IN ETHICAL DECISION-MAKING ABSTRACT: Some of my choices are primarily guided by the interests of others: for example, which charities to give to or which political policies to vote for. Other of my choices have at least a significant component where I must take others’ interests into account, though perhaps I ... Read more
The Epistemic Value of Affective Intentional Experience In this paper, I argue that despite risks of falsehood, theorists should recognize that affective intentional experience (AIE), which includes emotions, pains/pleasures and some gut feelings, can be a source of knowledge and justification. Indeed, AIE provides the best explanation for how we know certain things. I will ... Read more
Title: Biased Evaluative Descriptions Abstract: In 2008, Joseph Biden called Barack Obama “an African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy.” Though intended as a compliment, such a description would not be applied to a non-African-American leader in the same context. Such biased evaluative descriptions, roughly, well-intended descriptions whose apparently positive surface ... Read more
Title: 'Challenging the Pursuit of Novelty' Abstract: Novelty—understood as the value of saying something new—appears to be a good-making feature of a philosophical contribution. Beyond this, however, novelty functions as a marker of philosophical success: contributions that say something new are considered successful, while contributions that do not say something new are considered unsuccessful. When ... Read more
Title: 'Normative Expectations' Abstract: In supplementing the familiar ways that our interpersonal relationships are morally fraught, recent work in epistemology on doxastic wronging has highlighted how these relationships can be epistemically fraught as well. However, in focusing predominantly on beliefs— mental states that arguably constitute a small fraction of our mental lives—these theories have their ... Read more
Title: The Permissibility of Lesser Evil Abstract: Flood: Flood water is headed toward a cave where five innocent people are trapped and will be killed if the water reaches them. The water can be diverted into a mineshaft, but innocent Betty is trapped in the mineshaft and will be killed if the water is redirected. ... Read more
TITLE: ‘Interactional Wrongs and Vices’ ABSTRACT: This paper explores a domain of action that we often regard as a minor moral matter, the domain of ordinary interactions. Yet, ordinary interactions are morally significant for two reasons: they are the primary vehicle through which 1) we show respect and disrespect for each other, and 2) we ... Read more