Interests

I work on the foundations of value theory, the metaphysics of value, the concept and nature of well-being, and realism in metaethics. I defend a relational theory of value on which good is good for. I develop substantive accounts of the value of humanity, the value of artworks and intellectual pursuits, the value of virtuous actions and people. My approach to the value of humanity turns on what it is “to value” something, and on what it is to be “good for ourselves.” My work is grounded in the history of philosophy (Kant, Aristotle, Plato, G. E. Moore, W. D. Ross) even as it is fundamentally constructive and oriented towards contemporary discussions. I want to know what can be said for the idea that our relationship to ourselves is at the heart of ethics. This puts me in conversation (and sometimes disagreement) with Iris Murdoch whose work is inspiring a new series of papers. I am actively thinking about (and teaching) Murdoch’s views on attention, motivation, the good, and what is plausibly construed as sympathy for no-self views in the Buddhist and Vedantic traditions. I am also writing a book on the good—a topic I have come to see as almost impossibly difficult.