Syracuse University
Department of Philosophy
PhD
Spokane, Washington, United States of America
Areas of Specialization
Aesthetics
Normative Ethics
Areas of Interest
Aesthetics
Normative Ethics
  •  49
    Knowing Fictions: Metalepsis and the Cognitive Value of Fiction
    Res Philosophica 93 (2): 483-506. 2016.
    Recent discussions about the cognitive value of fiction either rely on a background theory of reference or a theory of imaginative pretense. I argue that this reliance produces a tension between the two central or defining claims of literary cognitivism that: (1) fiction can have cognitive value by revealing or supporting insights into the world that properly count as true, and (2) that the cognitive value of a work of fiction contributes directly to that work’s literary value. I address that te…Read more
  •  4
    Troubled Trades
    Southwest Philosophy Review 33 (1): 195-203. 2017.
    One common set of arguments against universal markets contends that the special status of certain goods (e.g., organs, reproductive services, or native artifacts) makes it inappropriate or wrong to compare their worth to the value of a commodity or to some amount of money. These arguments rest on the fear that market valuations would distort the way we value the goods in question rather than the fear that their sale could exploit or directly harm the people involved in the exchange. In this pape…Read more
  •  58
    How to Value the Liberal Arts for Their Own Sake without Intrinsic Values
    Philosophy in the Contemporary World 17 (2): 37-47. 2010.
    I argue that there is an important problem with framing the value of a liberal arts education through a contrast between intrinsic and instrumental value. The paper breaks down into three sections. First, I argue that the traditional divide between intrinsic and instrumental value conflates two pairs of related concepts and that distinguishing those concepts frees us from an important impasse found in contemporary discussions about the liberal arts. Second, I argue that a liberal arts education …Read more