•  36
    Exterminous Hypertime
    Philosophies 6 (4): 85. 2021.
    This paper investigates ‘exterminous hypertime’, a model of time travel in which time travellers can change the past in virtue of there being two dimensions of time. This paper has three parts. Part one discusses the laws which might govern the connection between different ‘hypertimes’, showing that there are no problems with overdetermination. Part two examines a set of laws that mean changes to history take a period of hypertime to propagate through to the present. Those laws are of interest b…Read more
  •  30
    Fission theories of Original Guilt
    International Journal for Philosophy of Religion 92 (1): 15-30. 2022.
    One reading of the Doctrine of Original Sin has it that we are guilty of a sin committed by Adam, thousands of years ago. Fission theorists account for this by saying that Adam fissioned after he sinned and that each of us is one of his ‘fission successors’. This paper recaps the current discussion in the literature about this theory, arguing that the proposed version does not work for reasons already raised by Rea and Hudson. I then introduce a new version of fission theory that avoids the Rea-…Read more
  •  23
    Multiple studies and weak evidential defeat
    with Malcolm J. Price
    Theoretical Medicine and Bioethics 38 (5): 353-366. 2017.
    When a study shows statistically significant correlation between an exposure and an outcome, the credence of a real connection between the two increases. Should that credence remain the same when it is discovered that further independent studies between the exposure and other independent outcomes were conducted? Matthew Kotzen argues that it should remain the same, even if the results of those further studies are discovered. However, we argue that it can differ dependent upon the results of the …Read more
  •  22
    The Wave Theory of Time: A Comparison to Competing Tensed Theories
    Journal of the American Philosophical Association 9 (1): 172-192. 2023.
    This paper introduces a new theory in temporal ontology, ‘wave theory’, and argues for its attractions over and above existing tensed theories of time.
  •  20
    What Truth Is by Mark Jago (review)
    Philosophical Review 129 (4): 661-664. 2020.
    Book review of 'What is Truth' by Mark Jago
  •  19
    If a lump of clay is shaped into a statue, is there one thing or are there two? That is: are the lump and the statue two distinct things? This dialogue introduces some reasons to think they are two different things and then discusses the issues involved.
  •  18
    In Favour of Mereological Nominalism: reply to Cumpa and Declos
    Philosophia 50 (4): 1707-1719. 2022.
    Mereological nominalism is the thesis that properties are identical to mereological fusions of their instances. Cumpa and Declos have raised two problems for the view. This paper is a reply to both problems.
  •  14
    Endurantism and timeless worlds
    with Joseph Melia
    Analysis 67 (2): 140-147. 2007.
    A discussion of Ted Sider's argument for perdurantism on the grounds of the possibility of timeless worlds.
  •  13
    This paper discusses the problem of Hell, defending the Aquinas-Anselm-Edwards response that any immoral act deserves eternal punishment because it offends against God. I argue that the response is more defensible than one might at first think, but nevertheless faces a serious objection. If we differentiate two different problems of Hell—the logical problem and the evidential problem—we see that, in light of this objection, the Aquinas-Anselm-Edwards response only solves the logical problem of H…Read more
  •  12
    The Close Possibility of Time Travel
    Philosophies 8 (6): 118. 2023.
    This article discusses the possibility of some outlandish tropes from time travel fiction, such as people reversing in age as they time travel or the universe being destroyed because a time traveler kills their ancestor. First, I discuss what type of possibility we might have in mind, detailing ‘close possibility’ as one such candidate. Secondly, I argue that—with only little exception—these more outlandish tropes fail to be closely possible. Thirdly, I discuss whether these outlandish tropes ma…Read more