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
Associate Professor of Philosophy
·
2025 - Present
Philosophy,
Trinity College of Arts & Sciences
Associate Professor in Gender, Sexuality & Feminist Studies
·
2025 - 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 CiteNeo-Hegelian Idealism
Journal Article European Journal of Philosophy · January 1, 2025 In Idealism and the Harmony of Thought and Reality, Thomas Hofweber argues for what he calls a reformed neo-Kantian approach to metaphysics. On this approach, we can make substantive conclusions about reality on the basis of reflections about language alon ... Full text CiteRacial Domination
Journal Article Social Theory and Practice · 2025 In cases of institutional racism, the racist actor is not an individual who is racist or possesses racist motives; rather, it is an institution that embodies a racist ideology or otherwise has a racist impact. While the concept of institutional rac ... Full text CiteEducation, Training & Certifications
Massachusetts Institute of Technology ·
2017
Ph.D.