PROFESSIONAL APPOINTMENTS

 

2012-               Associate Professor, Philosophy, University of Memphis

2006-2012       Assistant Professor, Philosophy, University of Memphis

 

 

EDUCATION

 

2000-2006    Ph.D., Department of Philosophy, University of Michigan

1993-1997    B.A. Boston University, Magna Cum Laude with Distinction & College Honors

 

 

PRIMARY AREAS OF RESEARCH         

 

Moral Theory & History of Ethics: Esp. moral psychology (emotion/empathy), metaethics, and human dignity; & Enlightenment moral and political theory, Hume, and Smith

 

AREAS OF COMPETENCY

 

Applied Ethics  (esp. Race and Racism, Just War theory, Animal Ethics), Philosophy of Law

 

 

PUBLICATIONS

 

1. “On Bertram Morris, ‘Dignity of Man.’” Short retrospective essay, forthcoming in Ethics

2. “Hume on Personal Merit:  Virtue, Talent, and the True Origin of Morals.” In Reading Hume on the Principles of Morals (Oxford University Press) Ed. by Jacqueline Taylor. Forthcoming 2015/6.

3. “From Einfühlung to Empathy: Sympathy in Early Phenomenology and Psychology.” Invited chapter to Sympathy: A History (Oxford University Press). Ed. Eric Schliesser. Part of the new Oxford Philosophical Concepts series. Forthcoming 2015.

4. “Adam Smith and the Sympathetic Imagination.” Invited chapter to Adam Smith: A Princeton Guide (Princeton University Press) Ed. Ryan Hanley. Forthcoming 2015.

5. Editor and Introduction. Scottish Reactions to Mandeville. Special Edition of Journal of Scottish Philosophy 12:1 (2014) v-viii.

6. “Moral Rationalism and Moral Realism.” In the Routledge Companion to 18th Century Philosophy, Ed. Aaron Garrett (New York, NY: Routledge, 2014) 500-534.

7. “Moral Sentiments.” In the International Encyclopedia of Ethics, eds. Hugh LaFollette, John Deigh, and Sarah Stroud. 5500 words. 2013. (Double Blind Refereed)

8. “Adam Smith on Dignity and Equality,” British Journal for the History of Philosophy, 20:1 (2012): 109-140.

9. “Recasting Scottish Sentimentalism: The Peculiarity of Moral Approval.” Journal of Scottish Philosophy 10.1 (2012): 91–115.

10. Editor and Introduction. Empathy & Ethics (2011). Spindel Supplement to the Southern Journal of Philosophy. Contributors include: Stephan Darwall, John Deigh, Peter Goldie, Jesse Prinz, David Shoemaker, Justin D’Arms, Julia Driver, Michael Slote, Lori Watson, Tamar Shapiro, Stephan Finlay, Robert Roberts, Amy Coplan, & Christian Miller.

11. “Which Empathy? Limitations in the Mirrored ‘Understanding’ of Emotion,” Synthese 175:2  (2010): 219-239.

12. “Dignity’s Gauntlet,” Philosophical Perspectives. 2:1 (2009): 45-78.

13. “Neither Here Nor There: The Cognitive Nature of Emotion,” Philosophical Studies 146: 1 (2009): pp. 1-27.

14. “Has Anything Changed? Hume’s Theory of Association and Sympathy After the Treatise,” British Journal for the History of Philosophy 15:2 (2007) pp. 313-338.

    • A version of this paper was translated into Spanish, appearing in 2012 Cuadernos filosóficos ("Philosophical Notebooks"), the annual journal edited by the Departmento de Filosofía of the Universidad Nacional de Rosario (Argentina)

15. “Humanity, Sympathy, and the Puzzle of Hume’s Second Enquiry,” British Journal for the History of Philosophy 15:1 (2007): pp. 27-57.

 

Reviews

 

• 2013 - Jeremy Waldron, Meir Dan-Cohen (ed.), Dignity, Rank, and Rights (OUP: 2012). In Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews (3000 words)

• 2013 -  Michael Rosen, Dignity (Harvard U. Press). In The Philosophers’ Magazine.

• 2011 - George Kateb, Human Dignity (Harvard UP: 2011). In Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews (3500 words)

• 2011 - Peter Goldie (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of The Philosophy of Emotion (OUP: 2010). Journal of Moral Philosophy (5000 words)

• 2009 - Valerie Tiberius, The Reflective Life (OUP: 2009). In Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews (4000 words)

 

IN PROGRESS

 

• Editor Dignity: A History, part of the new Oxford Philosophical Concept series; (Under Contract with Oxford University Press – to be submitted Spring 2015)

  • Contributors include: Stephan Darwall, Laurence Thomas, Bernie Boxill, Brian Copenhaver, Bonnie Kent, Oliver Sensen, Mika LaVaque-Manty, Miriam Griffin, Patrice Rankine, Charles Mills, David Wong (and more)

• “Passionate Persons: Human Dignity Before Kant” – chapter in Dignity (OUP)  (full draft)

• Co-Editor (with Karsten Stueber) Ethical Sentimentalism (Under Contract with Cambridge University Press)

  • Contributors include: Simon Blackburn; Justin D’Arms & Dan Jacobsen; Michael Frazer; Terry Horgan & Mark Timmons; Michelle Mason; Peter Railton; Jesse Prinz; David Wong; Dian Tietjens Meyeres; Karl Schafer; Antti Kauppinen; Sabine Doring

•  “The Authority of Empathy” – chapter in Ethical Sentimentalism (full draft)

• “Understanding as Respect(ing)” (article, preliminary research and writing)

• Between Me and Thee: The Dynamic Theory of Human Dignity (early research, book manuscript)

• “Mandeville’s Critique of Human Dignity” - (In Progress - early draft)

• “Empathy and mirror neurons.” Invited Entry for Routledge Handbook of Philosophy of Empathy, edited by Heidi Maibom

• “Hume’s Peculiar Sentiment” (full draft)

 

AWARDS, HONORS, & FELLOWSHIPS

 

• Templeton Research Grant Winner (72K) 2014, 1 of 8 Philosophy awards in the “Varieties of Understanding” Project, out of an initial pool of 160 applicants

• Nominee, Thomas W. Briggs Teaching Excellence Award (Career Teaching Award) 2013

• Dean’s Award for Excellence in Advising (sole recipient, College of Arts & Sciences) 2011

• College of Arts and Sciences Excellence in Teaching Award (1 of 2 recipients) 2010

• Invited Director, Cog-Sci Seminar, Institute for Intelligent Systems, U. Memphis Fall 2010

• Alumni Assoc. Distinguished Teaching Award (U. Memphis Highest Teaching Honor) 2009

• Commencement Address, Boston University Dept. of Philosophy 2009

• PDA Research Grant University of Memphis, Fall 2009

• Nominee, Distinguished Advising Award 2008

• Faculty Research Grant, Summer Fellowship, University of Memphis (University-wide) 2008

• Nominee, Emerging Scholar Prize, Institute for the Humanities, University of Michigan 2008

• Charlotte Newcombe Fellow (National competition) 2005-6

• Also in 2005, I was awarded the following fellowships at Michigan I could not accept:

  • Institute for the Humanities Predoctoral Fellowship (University-wide competition)

  • Rackham Predoctoral Fellowship (University-wide competition)

• Rackham One-Term Fellowship (Michigan) 2004                  

• Charles L. Stevenson Award for best doctoral candidacy dossier (Michigan) 2003

• Outstanding Graduate Student Instructor (Michigan: University-wide competition) 2003    

• Marshall Weinberg Summer Fellowship (Michigan: Department-wide competition) 2002    

• Cornwell Fellowship for outstanding scholarly promise (Michigan) 2002      

• Regents Fellowship 2000-7

 

CONFERENCE & SPEAKER SERIES DIRECTION

 

• Co-Director (with Karsten Stueber), Moral Sentimentalism & The Foundations of Morality – A workshop conference for authors in the Cambridge Volume – Holy Cross, Nov. 2014

• Director, Dignity: The History of a Concept – A workshop conference for authors in the OUP Volume by the same name – Memphis, March 2014.

• Director, Liberty Fund Conference on “Liberty, Nature, and the Question of Human Dignity,” La Jolla, CA (competitive proposal, fully externally funded – 42K) – April 2013

• Conference Co-Director (with Gordon Graham), Scottish Reactions to Mandeville. At Princeton, Spring 2013. (Accompanied by selection of published papers in 2014.)

• Director, The Nature of Law, Speaker Series in the Department of Philosophy at the University of Memphis, Fall 2012 featuring Jacob Klein (Colgate), Michael Seidler (Western Kentucky), and Al Martinich (UT Austin)

• Conference Director, Empathy & Ethics: The 2010 Spindel Conference at the University of Memphis. Key Notes: Stephen Darwall, John Deigh, Peter Goldie. Other Principal Participants: Amy Coplan, Jesse Prinz, David Shoemaker, Michael Slote, Susan Brison, Justin D’Arms, Christian Miller, Julia Driver, Karsten Stueber, Robert Roberts, Charles Starkey, Tamar Schapiro, Walter Sinott-Armstrong, Sarah Buss, Charles Griswold, and more.

• Director, 2010 Cognitive Science Seminar and Speaker Series on “Others’ Minds” at the Institute for Intelligent Systems, University of Memphis. Speakers: Daniel Dennett, Shaun Gallagher, Ken Aizawa, David Morris, John Bickle, Karsten Stueber, Remy Debes, Stephan Blatti, Deborah Tollefsen, John Tienson.

 

GRANTS

 

• $72,000. To support the 2014-2015 sabbatical project, “Understanding as a Form of Respect,” part of the Varieties of Understanding Project, directed by Stephen Grimm.

• $5,900. For 2012 to support the curriculum of PHIL 3516 “The Philosophy of Law,” an associated reading group for philosophy majors on Hobbes’ Leviathan, and fully funding a speaker series on “Natural Law,” featuring Jacob Klein (Colgate), Michael Seidler (WKU), and Al Martinich (UT Austin)

 

PROFESSIONAL PRESENTATIONS, Invited (I) and Refereed (R)

 

• “Understanding as Respect(ing)” – Templeton Midpoint Conference, June 2015 I

• Panelist for session on Adam Smith – Common Sense & Enlightenment CSSP, Princeton, 2015 I

• “The Authority of Empathy,” Moral Sentimentalism and the Foundations of Morality, College of the Holy Cross, MA November 14-15, 2014

• “Passionate Persons,” Dignity, Respect, and Esteem in 17th- and 18th- Century Moral Philosophy before Kant, Université de Lausanne, Switzerland, September 2014 I

• “Mandeville’s Critique of Human Dignity,” Conference on Mandeville’s Fable of the Bees, University of Helsinki, Finland, June 2014 I

• “Adam Smith’s Answer to the “Why by Moral?” Question,” Kirkaldy, Scotland, June 2014 I

• “Passionate Persons” – Invited Symposium Paper for Pacific APA (joined by Stephen Darwall, commentators John Deigh and Tamar Shapiro). April 2014 I

• Liberty Fund Seminar, Participant,  “Liberty and the Color Line in the Post-Civil War Period,” Atlanta, February 2014 - I

• Panel Director and Presenter, “Smith and the Scots on Human Nature, Human Worth, and Identity” (together with Michael Gill (Arizona) and Ernesto Garcia (U. Mass, Amherst). “ECSSS/IASS conference on “Scotland, Europe and Empire in the Age of Adam Smith and Beyond” at the Sorbonne, Paris 3–6 July 2013 R

• Liberty Fund Seminar, Participant,  “Liberty and Responsibility in Homer’s Odyssey,” La Jolla, April 2013 - I

• Comments on Stephan Morris, “An Empirical Perspective on Enlightened Self-Interest” APA Central, 2013 - I

•  “On The Border of Truth: Smith’s Mitigated Rejection of Mandeville,” Keynote talk for a Conference on Scottish Reactions to Mandeville, Princeton, March 2013  I

• “Adam Smith on Natural Law, Natural Rights, and the Dignity of Persons,” Conference on Scottish Common Sense Philosophy and the Natural Law Tradition in America, CSSP, Princeton, September 2012 R

• Comments on Kevin Meeker’s, “Ethics and Epistemology in Hume,” Hume Society, Calgary July 2012 I

• Liberty Fund Seminar, “Sources of Adam Smith’s Theory of Moral Sentiment,” Alexandria VA, June 2012 I

• “From Einfühlung to Empathy,” All Plenary Conference on “Sympathy,” University of Richmond, June 2012 (other participants include Geoff Sayre-McCord, Eyjólfur Kjalar Emilsson, Vernon Smith, Christia Mercer, Ryan Hanley, and many more.) I

• Invited Keynote: “Hume’s Peculiar Sentiment” Graduate Conference in the Philosophy Department at Texas Tech, April 2012 I

• “On Human Dignity” Mississippi State, Feb. 2012 I

• “Moral Rationalism and Moral Realism” University of San Francisco, Nov. 2011 I

• “The Peculiar Ethics of David Hume,” South Central Seminar in Early Modern Philosophy, Texas A & M, Nov. 2011. I (one of two invited; remainder open call)

• Liberty Fund Seminar, ““Forming the Intellect and the Passions: Rousseau’s Emile.” La Jolla, CA, 2011. I

• Comments on Victor Kumar, “Moral Responsibility and Determinism” APA Central 2011 I

• “The Authority of Empathy,” SSPP 2011, New Orleans I

• “The Authority of Empathy,” UT Knoxville TN January 2011 I

• “The Authority of Empathy” Hale Series in Ethics, Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester NY October 2010 I

• “The Authority of Empathy,” Ole Miss, Oxford MI 2010 I

• “Empathy through the Ages,” University of Memphis Cognitive Science Seminar, 2010 I

• “The Peculiar Sentiment,” Hume Society, Antwerp, July 2010 R (double blind)

• Liberty Fund Socratic Seminar, “Four Ways To Freedom: Cultural Traditions of Liberty in America.” Indianapolis, 2010 I

• “A Compass to the ‘Real’: The Sentiment of Approval,” Practical Ethics in the Scottish Philosophical Tradition, Princeton Theological Seminary, 2010 R

• Comments on Scott Anderson, “Coercion, States, and the Practical Function of Principles of Responsibility,” APA Pacific 2010 (read in absentia) I

• “Dignity’s Gauntlet,” University of San Diego Dept. of Political Science, 2010 I

• “The Authority of Empathy,” Dartmouth University, 2010 I

• “Adam Smith on Dignity and Equality,” Atlantic Canada Seminar in Early Modern Philosophy, 2009 R

• “Judging Emotions Empathically,” University of Kansas, 2009 I

• Liberty Fund Seminar, “Adam Smith and William Blackstone on Jurisprudence.” Bath, UK, 2009. I

• “The Value of Persons in the Moral Philosophy of Adam Smith” 250th commemoration conference of Adam Smith’s The Theory of Moral Sentiments, Oxford University, 2009 R

• “The Value of Persons in the Moral Philosophy of Adam Smith” Southeastern Seminar in Early Modern Philosophy, 2008 R

• “What Fittingness Isn’t Fit to Do” Southern Society for Philosophy and Psychology, 2008 R

• “What Fittingness Isn’t Fit to Do” University of Arkansas, Little Rock, 2008 I

•  “Which Empathy? Limitations in the Mirrored Understanding of Emotion,” Cognitive Science Seminar, University of Memphis, 2007 I

• “Hume’s Theory of Association After the Treatise,” Hume Society Annual Meeting, Boston, 2007 R (double blind)

• “Why Thinking About Emotion Means Rethinking Cognition, Means Rethinking Emotion," the Southern Society for Philosophy and Psychology, Atlanta, 2007 R

• “Mirroring, Mistaken Empathy, and Messed Up Judgments,” the CSULB Center for Cognitive Science conference on Mirror Neurons And Cognition, 2007 I

• “Neither Here Nor There: The Cognitive Nature of Emotion,” Poster Presentation at the Emotion Pre-Conference to the Society for Personality and Social Psychology Annual Meeting, Memphis, 2007 R

• Commentary on Christopher Ciocchetti, “Non-Domination and Property: A Critique of Pettit’s Republicanism,” Central States Philosophical Association (Fall 2007) I

• Commentary on Mathew Lu, “Kantian Ethics and the Demands of Special Concern,” Tennessee Philosophical Association (Fall 2007) I

• “Why Thinking About Emotion Means Rethinking Cognition, Means Rethinking Emotion," Tennessee Philosophical Association, 2006 R

• “Humanity, Sympathy, and the Puzzle of Hume's Second Enquiry,” South Central Seminar in Early Modern Philosophy, University of Arkansas, 2006 R

• “Rethinking the Justification of Emotion,” presented at Tufts University, Colorado State, University of Minnesota at Duluth, & California State University Long Beach (all in Winter 2006) I

• “Getting Upset Doesn’t Mean You Don’t Like it: Questioning the Reliability of Emotion as a Guide to Value,” 31st Conference for Value Inquiry, U. North Dakota, April 2003 R

• “So You Want to Be a Virtue Ethicist? Then You’d Better Be a Moral Psychologist Too” - Presented at the University of Texas Graduate Conference on Virtue Ethics, April 2002 R

 

OTHER ACTIVITY

 

• Occasional Referee: Ethics, Philosopher’s Imprint, Philosophical Studies, European Journal of Philosophy, Journal of Ethics and Social Philosophy, Journal for the History of Philosophy, British Journal for the History of Philosophy, British Journal for the Philosophy of Science, Philosophical Quarterly, Hume Studies, Philosophical Psychology, Journal for Value Inquiry, Journal for Philosophical Research, The Southern Journal of Philosophy, Journal for Law and Society, Dialectica, Philosophia, Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews (Cognitive Science), among others

• Editorial Board, Journal of Scottish Philosophy

• Secretary & Treasurer, International Adam Smith Society (2008-Spring 2014)

• Grant Referee: Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada

• Invited Session Chair: Central APA (2009 & 2010); APA Meeting of the International Adam Smith Society (2010, 2011, 2012); Southwestern Philosophical Society (2010); Hume Society (2009); Southern Society for Philosophy and Psychology, Atlanta (2007) & New Orleans (2008); Annual Madison Metaethics Workshop (2007)

 

TEACHING: Fall (F) & Spring (S)

 

• Graduate Seminar on Human Dignity: S08

• Graduate Seminar on Sentimentalist Ethics: S10

• Graduate Seminar on Empathy: S12

• Graduate Seminar on Ethics: F13

• Graduate Seminar on Hume’s Treatise: S14

• Introduction to Philosophy: F06, S07, F07, S08, F08, S09, S11, F12, F13

• Honors Introduction to Philosophy: S13

• Philosophy of Law: F07, F08, S10, S12

• Contemporary Moral Problems (Applied Ethics): F06; Summer 2010

• Ethical Theory: S07, S11, S13

• Topics in Ethics (Split Grad/Undergrad): “16th and 17th Century Ethics” F10; “Egoism” F12

• Director, Cognitive Science Seminar (Psychology Department): F10

• Dissertation Committee Member: Suzanne Antley (Ph.D. 2007), Gabriella Beckles (PhD 2011), Nicolas Garerra, Michael Burroughs (PhD 2012), Matthew Lexow; Jennifer Roche (Psychology)

 

SERVICE

• Department Service

  • Director of Undergraduate Advising, Dept. of Philosophy 2008-Spring 2011; Summer 2013-Spring 2014

  • Undergraduate Curriculum Committee (2012-)

  • Chair, Undergraduate Curriculum Assessment Committee (to fulfill requirements mandated by TN Board of Regents) (2010-2012)

  • Chair, Practical Comprehensive Exam Committee (2007-2008; Fall 2011-present)

  • Bornblum Graduate Travel Award Committee (2011-present)

  • Graduate Admissions Committee (2011-2012)

  • Member, Graduate Comprehensive Exam Revision Committee (2010)

  • Director: Proseminar and Graduate Teaching Skills (2011-2012)

  • Faculty Advisor to Philosophy Circle, Memphis Undergrad Philosophy Club (2008-9)

  • Placement Coordinator (2006-Spr. 2008)

 

• University Related

  • Search Committee for Vice President of Research (Fall 2014)

  • Alumni Distinguished Teaching Award Selection Committee (2011-12)

  • Faculty Research Grant Review Committee (2009-2010)

  • Search Committee for the Director of the Humanities Center (2007)

  • Faculty Judge, Student Research Fair (Spring 2010)

  • Humanities Center Faculty Reading Group, Invited Speaker, (Spring 2007).

 

• Teaching Related

  • Director, 2010 Cognitive Science Seminar and Speaker Series on “Others’ Minds” @ the Institute for Intelligent Systems, University of Memphis.

  • Learning Communities Professor: Values and the Modern World (Fall 2008)

  • Honors Contracted Course (Fall 2007 & Spring 2008)

  • Undergraduate Directed Study (Spring 2008, 2 in 2011)

  • Undergraduate Honors Program Faculty Mentor (2006-7)

  • Speaker, Undergraduate Philosophy Club (Fall 2006)

  • Graduate Teaching Mentor: J. Nale, C. Yazici, K. Gissberg, N. Garrera, D. Larkin

 

• Community Related

  • Invited Host for Great Conversations, College of Arts and Science Community Outreach Dinner, upcoming April 19, 2007

  • Interview with Fox Evening News, “The Honesty Test” February 27, 2007

  • Interview with Fox Evening News, “Bad Call” June 2010.

  • Interview with the Commercial Appeal “Defeatist Attitude? It may be OK, if star is the prize” January 13, 2007

  • Interview with the Commercial Appeal “Does It Pay to be a Snitch” October 22, 2006

 

PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZATIONS & AFFILIATIONS

• American Philosophical Association

• Secretary & Treasurer, International Adam Smith Society (2007-2013)

• Hume Society

• International Society for Research on Emotion (ISRE)

• Associate, Behavioral and Brain Sciences

• Affiliate, Institute for Intelligent Systems (University of Memphis)

• Affiliate, Manchester Centre for Emotions and Value (MANCEV)

• Society for Philosophy and Psychology

• Southern Society for Philosophy and Psychology

• Tennessee Philosophical Association