Overview
I am a philosophy professor who interprets the social world and seeks to change it, too. I study the nature and meaning of social categories—things like race, gender, and sexual orientation.
My current research question is: how do social categories operate in a diverse, fragmented, and ambiguous social world? In a series of papers, I argue that social categories are often indeterminate and scalar (viz., come in degrees).
I received my PhD in Philosophy from MIT in 2017. I received my BA in Philosophy from UNC Chapel Hill in 2012. I specialize in metaphysics and philosophy of language.
Current Appointments & Affiliations
Andrew W. Mellon Assistant Professor of Philosophy
·
2024 - Present
Philosophy,
Trinity College of Arts & Sciences
Assistant Professor of Philosophy
·
2021 - Present
Philosophy,
Trinity College of Arts & Sciences
Assistant Professor in Gender, Sexuality & Feminist Studies
·
2024 - Present
Gender, Sexuality & Feminist Studies,
Trinity College of Arts & Sciences
Recent Publications
Derivative Indeterminacy
Journal Article Erkenntnis · January 1, 2025 Indeterminacy is metaphysical (or worldly) if it has its source in the way the world is (rather than how it is represented or known). There are two questions we could ask about indeterminacy. First: does it exist? Second: is indeterminacy derivative? I foc ... Full text CiteValue Magnetism: Why Conceptual Engineering Requires Objective Values
Journal Article Global Philosophy · December 1, 2024 Conceptual ethics concerns the question: what concepts ought we use? The goal of this paper is to answer a related foundational question: what determines what concepts we ought to use? According to one view, it is our values — our goals, interests, purpose ... Full text CiteSocial Reasons
Journal Article Journal of Applied Philosophy · November 1, 2024 The goal of this article is to motivate the idea of a social reason and demonstrate its usefulness in social theorizing. For example, in a society that values getting married young, the fact that one is young is a reason to get married. In racist and sexis ... Full text CiteEducation, Training & Certifications
Massachusetts Institute of Technology ·
2017
Ph.D.