•  136
    Why women must guard and rule in Plato's kallipolis
    Pacific Philosophical Quarterly 87 (4). 2006.
    Plato's discussion of women in the Republic is problematic. For one, arguments in Book V which purport to establish that women should guard and rule alongside men do not deliver the advertised conclusion. In addition, Plato asserts that women are "weaker in all pursuits" than men. Given this assumption, having women guard and rule seems inimical to the health, security, and goodness of the kallipolis. I argue that we best understand the inclusion of women by seeing how women's inclusion contribu…Read more
  •  52
    Natural philosophers seem to have good reasons to prefer that the kallipolis, the maximally just community of the Republic, is never realized. If such a community is realized, philosophers are under the obligation of a just demand that they govern. However, a life that contains governance as a significant part is not the happiest life a philosopher can live. The happiest life for a philosopher is one consisting entirely or largely in philosophical contemplation. I confront this puzzle by arguing…Read more
  •  27
    The female in Aristotle's biology
    Philosophical Books 48 (1): 60-65. 2007.
  •  14
    Plato recognizes faction as a serious threat to any political community. The Republic’s proposed solution to faction relies on bringing citizens into a relation of ὁμόνοια. On the dominant line of interpretation, ὁμόνοια is understood along the lines of “explicit agreement” or “consensus.” Commentators have consequently thought that the καλλίπολις becomes resistant to faction when all or most of its members explicitly agree with one another about certain fundamentals of their political associati…Read more
  •  13
    At Republic 370c-372d, Plato presents us with an early polis that is self-sufficient, peaceful, cooperative, and which provides a comfortable life for its inhabitants. While Glaucon derides this polis as a 'city for pigs', Socrates is quick to defend its virtues characterizing it as a city which is not only 'complete' , but a 'true' and 'healthy' city . Is Plato sincere when he lauds the city of pigs? If so, why does the city of pigs degenerate so precipitously into the luxurious city ? Some com…Read more
  •  10
    Swillsburg City Limits
    Polis 21 (1-2): 70-92. 2004.
    At Republic 370c–372d, Plato presents us with an early polis that is self-sufficient, peaceful, cooperative, and which provides a comfortable life for its inhabitants. While Glaucon derides this polis as a ‘city for pigs’, Socrates is quick to defend its virtues characterizing it as a city which is not only ‘complete’, but a ‘true’ and ‘healthy’ city. Is Plato sincere when he lauds the city of pigs? if so, why does the city of pigs degenerate so precipitously into the luxurious city? Some commen…Read more
  • The Best Things: Primary Substances in Aristotle's Ontology
    Dissertation, Rutgers the State University of New Jersey - New Brunswick. 2001.
    In this dissertation I explain and defend the theory of substance Aristotle presents in the Categories. In the Categories, primary substances enjoy a degree of ontologrelative to other existents. Furthermore, Aristotle finds in the Categories at a subset of concrete particulars, the animate individuals, best meet certain independence conditions and thus, best qualify as primary substances. There has been a scholarly consensus that the theory of the Categories is---at worst---internally incoheren…Read more