University of Reading
Department of Philosophy
PhD, 2003
Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa
  •  718
    “How Do I Live in This Strange Place?”
    Journal of Social Philosophy 41 (3): 323-342. 2010.
  •  251
    Cynicism and Morality
    Ethical Theory and Moral Practice. 2011.
    Our attitude towards cynicism is ambivalent: On the one hand we condemn it as a character failing and a trend that is undermining political and social life; on the other hand, we are often impressed by the apparent realism and honesty of the cynic. My aim in this paper is to offer an account of cynicism that can explain both our attraction and aversion. After defending a particular conception of cynicism, I argue that most of the work in explaining the fault of cynicism can be done by referring …Read more
  •  151
    Literature and the narrative self
    Philosophy 78 (1): 93-108. 2003.
    Claims that the self and experience in general are narrative in structure are increasingly common, but it is not always clear what such claims come down to. In this paper, I argue that if the view is to be distinctive, the element of narrativity must be taken as literally as possible. If we do so, and explore the consequences of thinking about our selves and our lives in this manner, we shall see that the narrative view fundamentally confusues art and life. We learn from art itself that our selv…Read more
  •  96
    On the Tedium of the Good
    Ethical Theory and Moral Practice 8 (4): 459-476. 2005.
    It seems to be a phenomenon of contemporary life that we consider goodness embarrassing and rather dull. In contrast, the activities and inner lives of villains are deemed more complex and fascinating than those of good people. This paper attempts to understand the conception of goodness that underlies this phenomenon, and I suggest that informing it is the combination of two ideas, in tension with each other: firstly, a distorted understanding of the ancient conception of full virtue as the abs…Read more
  •  68
    Beauty, Mourning and the Commemoration of Evil
    Midwest Studies in Philosophy 36 (1): 142-162. 2012.
  •  47
    The Ethics of Animal Beauty
    Environmental Ethics 39 (1): 75-96. 2017.
    Taking hunting as an example, an account of animal beauty as animation can be developed. Our delight in many kinds of animals is crucially a matter of an aesthetic property which can be called “the animate” or “animation.” A proper response to animate animal beauty is a virtuous character trait that hunters lack. The beauty of animals calls for particular responses from observers: it brings along certain duties and requires the cultivation of certain traits of character—ones that are incompatibl…Read more
  •  39
    Stain removal: Ethics and race (review)
    Contemporary Political Theory 19 (1): 33-36. 2020.
  •  35
    Gerald Dworkin's influential account of Personal Autonomy offers the following two conditions for autonomy: Authenticity - the condition that one identify with one's beliefs, desires and values after a process of critical reflection, and Procedural Independence - the identification in must not be "influenced in ways which make the process of identification in some way alien to the individual" . I argue in this thesis that there are cases which fulfil both of Dworkin's conditions, yet are clearly…Read more
  •  32
    This paper considers Tabensky's method of critical introspection, and in particular the conception of personhood that informs it. By interrogating the lives of pure hedonism, divinity and immortality from our already existing conception of personhood, Tabensky argues that such lives are incompatible with what it is to be a person, and desiring to live them is therefore irrational. Concentrating on the example of immortality, I argue that, while there are undoubtedly disadvantages associated with…Read more
  •  30
    Reflections on 'How Do I Live in This Strange Place?'
    South African Journal of Philosophy 30 (4): 503-518. 2011.
    This paper replies to the responses in this special issue to my essay, ‘How Do I Live in This Strange Place?&rsquo
  •  28
    Essentialising Rhetoric and Work on the Self
    Philosophical Papers 45 (1-2): 103-131. 2016.
    This paper is a response to recent student protests at South African universities, and the essentialising rhetoric and practices that characterise South African public debates. I explore the likely responses of white South Africans to views that seem to make their whiteness inescapable and necessarily morally bad.
  •  26
    Introduction
    with Tom Martin
    Philosophical Papers 41 (3): 331-333. 2012.
    No abstract
  •  21
    Emigration and community
    South African Journal of Philosophy 36 (1): 13-23. 2017.
    In this paper I discuss Gillian Brock’s and Michael Blake’s discussion of emigration in Debating Brain Drain in relation to the particular case of South Africa, and explore whether skilled white people have a duty to remain in the country. Focusing on the role of community in this debate, I argue that communities and allegiances in South Africa are still too divided and antagonistic for them to play the duty-grounding role that Brock requires.
  •  1
    The Ethics of Self-Concern
    In Anne Rowe (ed.), Iris Murdoch: A Reassessment, . pp. 60--71. 2007.
  •  1
    Morality and the Good Life (edited book)
    with N. Athanassoulis
    Palgrave MacMillan. 2008.
  • The Insignificance of the Self: Partiality and Spirituality
    In Nafsika Athanassoulis & Samantha Vice (eds.), The Moral Life: Essays in Honour of John Cottingham, Palgrave-macmillan. pp. 9. 2008.