I earned my B.A. at Boston University, and my Ph.D at the University of Michigan, where I won awards for both teaching and research, including a Charlotte Newcombe Fellowship in 2005-06. I joined the faculty at Memphis in 2006. 

My recent work includes “Adam Smith on Dignity and Equality” (British Journal for History of Philosophy, 2012), "Moral Realism and Moral Rationalism" (Routledge Guide to 18th Century Philosophy, 2014, Ed. Aaron Garrett), "Moral Sentiments" (International Encyclopedia of Ethics, 2013), "Hume on Personal Merit" (forthcoming in Reading Hume on the Principles of Morals, OUP, Ed. Jackie Taylor), "From Einfuhlung to Empathy" (forthcoming in Sympathy: A History, OUP, Ed. Eric Schliesser), and “Adam Smith and the Sympathetic Imagination” (forthcoming in Adam Smith: A Princeton Guide, ed. Ryan Hanley).

Current projects include editing Dignity: A History  (under contract with Oxford University Press), and co-editing Ethical Sentimentalism (with Karsten Stueber, under contract with Cambridge University Press) - as well as writing chapters for both volumes.

In Spring 2014 I won a 72K grant from the Templeton Foundation to fund a 2014-2015 sabbatical project entitled “Understanding as a form of Respect.” See: http://www.varietiesofunderstanding.com/grant_respect.html

I have taught Introduction to Philosophy, Ethical Theory, Contemporary Moral Problems, the Philosophy of Law, and graduate seminars on Human Dignity, Empathy, and Scottish Sentimentalism. In 2009 I was named an Alumni Distinguished Teacher, one of four faculty members university-wide to receive this recognition. I was recognized again in 2010 with one of two College of Arts and Sciences Excellence in Teaching Awards. I've also served as Director of Undergraduate Advising from 2008-2011, and in 2011 I was the sole recipient of the Dean's Award for Excellence in Advising.

 

I served as Secretary/Treasurer to the International Adam Smith Society from 2007-2013.