About me:
I am a fourth-year philosophy PhD student at the University of Pittsburgh. I did my undergraduate work at Seton Hall University, where I double majored in philosophy and religious studies. I am also currently an editor at 1,000-Word Philosophy: An Introductory Anthology.
For my CV, click here. If you would like to contact me, you can reach me via e-mail.
My research interests range widely over normative ethics, moral psychology, and metaphysics. Recently, I have been especially interested in three sets of questions:
(1) When, and why, are we justified to be partial towards our loved ones? Does my love for someone create non-derivative reasons for me to care about her, reasons I didn't have prior to my loving her? Does it reveal non-derivative reasons for me to care about her, reasons that already existed prior to my loving her? Or is there no interesting relationship between love and non-derivative reasons to care about someone?
(2) What is the relationship between self-interested reasons and altruistic reasons? Does our conception of the self have any bearing on that question? Some philosophers claim that no respectable ethical theory would encourage someone to sacrifice who she is in order to help others, that selflessness ought to be discouraged when it results in any loss of self. But what exactly is it to "lose oneself" and why is it problematic, if it really is?
(3) How should we feel about the passage of time, about the fact that change (and loss) is inevitable? Should we lament the fact that, in the long run, everything and everyone we love will be gone? Or should we strive to accept that fact? Is it even possible we accept that fact without deceiving ourselves? Are there certain losses we should never accept? When is it bad to stop caring about something (or someone) we used to care about?
For my CV, click here. If you would like to contact me, you can reach me via e-mail.
My research interests range widely over normative ethics, moral psychology, and metaphysics. Recently, I have been especially interested in three sets of questions:
(1) When, and why, are we justified to be partial towards our loved ones? Does my love for someone create non-derivative reasons for me to care about her, reasons I didn't have prior to my loving her? Does it reveal non-derivative reasons for me to care about her, reasons that already existed prior to my loving her? Or is there no interesting relationship between love and non-derivative reasons to care about someone?
(2) What is the relationship between self-interested reasons and altruistic reasons? Does our conception of the self have any bearing on that question? Some philosophers claim that no respectable ethical theory would encourage someone to sacrifice who she is in order to help others, that selflessness ought to be discouraged when it results in any loss of self. But what exactly is it to "lose oneself" and why is it problematic, if it really is?
(3) How should we feel about the passage of time, about the fact that change (and loss) is inevitable? Should we lament the fact that, in the long run, everything and everyone we love will be gone? Or should we strive to accept that fact? Is it even possible we accept that fact without deceiving ourselves? Are there certain losses we should never accept? When is it bad to stop caring about something (or someone) we used to care about?
