Princeton University
Department of Philosophy
PhD, 2006
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
  •  50
    The Birth of Supererogation
    Epoché: A Journal for the History of Philosophy 18 (2): 351-372. 2014.
    The essay investigates the philosophical infancy of the idea that some actions are morally praiseworthy while not being morally obligatory. It focuses on Thomas Aquinas’s distinction between commandments and counsels, the early Christian idea that some acts go beyond nature, and the Stoic notion of circumstantially appropriate actions. I discuss the Christian and Stoic justification of acts of self-denial, such as celibacy, poverty, and martyrdom, and attempt to find a unitary source of goodness…Read more
  •  50
    Plutarch's practical ethics: The social dynamics of philosophy (review)
    Journal of the History of Philosophy 49 (3): 372-373. 2011.
    Lieve Van Hoof's welcome addition to the study of Plutarch's moral works focuses on a group of writings that discuss practical issues, ranging from coping with exile and curbing one's curiosity to proper nutrition and table manners. Van Hoof collectively refers to these treatises as "Plutarch's practical ethics," setting them apart from Plutarch's theoretical works, which discuss key philosophical concepts.Van Hoof begins by noting with regret the scholarly neglect of Plutarch's practical ethics…Read more
  •  21
    Pleasure in Epicurean and Christian Orthodox conceptions of happiness
    South African Journal of Philosophy 33 (4): 523-536. 2014.
    The essay examines the central role that pleasure plays in a wide range of conceptualisations of happiness or ‘good life’, from Epicurean hedonism, to Christian asceticism, to contemporary cases of pastoral and philosophical counselling. Despite the apparent moral chasm between hedonists and ascetics, a look at the practices promoted by Epicurus and the Christian monastic fathers reveals striking similarities. The reason is that, at a fundamental level, both parties agree that one should reject …Read more
  •  19
    The essay examines the description of virtue as a craft that governs the proper use of possessions in Plato’s Euthydemus and Stoicism. In the first part, I discuss Socrates’ parallel between wisdom and the crafts in the Euthydemus, and the resulting argument concerning the value of external and bodily possessions. I then offer some objections, showing how Socrates’ craft analogy allows one to think of possessions as good and ultimately fails to offer a defense of virtue’s sufficiency for happine…Read more
  •  19
    Carving Up Virtue: The Stoics on Wisdom’s Scope and the Multiplicity of Virtues
    International Philosophical Quarterly 60 (1): 5-21. 2020.
    This essay examines the early Stoic debates concerning the number of virtues and the differentiation among them. It begins with the defense of virtue’s unity offered by the heterodox Stoic Aristo of Chios and with a comparison between the definitions that Aristo and Zeno offered for the four primary virtues. Aristo maintained that virtue consists exclusively in the knowledge of good and bad. Zeno and his successors presented the virtues as epistemic dispositions whose scopes differ. I conclude t…Read more
  •  12
    Seneca and the Old Stoics On Natural Law and Suicide
    Maritain Studies/Etudes Maritainiennes 24 35-56. 2008.
  •  10
    This paper examines the genre of practical philosophical treatises in antiquity, contrasting it with contemporary literature in philosophical practice. Its main focus concerns the role of the philosopher as a guide to practical everyday concerns and the relationship between theoretical and practical ethics. An important question for ancient works on practical philosophy has to do with whether, and to what extent, adopting the philosopher’s advice also requires an adoption of that person’s broade…Read more
  •  6
    Intermediate and Perfect Appropriate Actions in Stoicism
    Proceedings of the XXIII World Congress of Philosophy 2 (3): 5-10. 2018.
    The essay examines the Stoic notion of appropriate actions, focusing on the relationship between the perfectly appropriate actions of the virtuous person and “intermediate appropriate actions”. I present some of the philosophical motivations behind the general Stoic theory of καθήκοντα, and argue against the common interpretation of μέσα καθήκοντα as action types that make no reference to the manner of their performance, and of κατορθώματα as μέσα καθήκοντα that are rightly performed by an agent…Read more
  •  6
    Supererogation in Christianity
    In David Heyd (ed.), Handbook of Supererogation, Springer Nature Singapore. pp. 293-314. 2023.
    The philosophical origins of the concept of supererogation can be found in medieval discussions of actions that deserve extraordinary merit. These discussions focus primarily on the evangelical counsels of celibacy, poverty, and obedience, which Christian tradition has recognized as non-obligatory and especially efficacious ways of reaching perfection and salvation, ever since its early centuries. This chapter will provide a history of supererogation and the related counsels, primarily within th…Read more
  •  5
    Margaret R. Graver, Stoicism and Emotion
    Rhizai. A Journal for Ancient Philosophy and Science 241-247. 2009.