WELCOME!
I am a Visiting Assistant Professor in the Philosophy Department at Dartmouth College. I study the history of modern philosophy, especially the rationalists, though I also have an interest in ancient Greek and 19th century German philosophy. I focus on issues in moral psychology, including weakness of will, imagination, emotion, motivation, happiness, and judgment.
SCHOLARLY INTERESTS AND BACKGROUND:
In December of 2006, I received a Ph.D. in the history of modern philosophy from the University of Wisconsin, under Steven Nadler. I have presented conference papers on Aristotle, Maimonides, Berkeley, Hume, Kant, Hegel, Schopenhauer, and Nietzsche. In addition, I've written research papers on Plato, the Stoics, Locke, and Leibniz, as well as on the aesthetic experience, free will, personal identity, and modal intuitions.
My published work, like my dissertation, concerns Spinoza's psychology. In my dissertation, I locate a theory of akrasia in Spinoza's Ethics, as well as discuss weak judgment internalism - the view that our practical judgments entail a defeasible motivation to act accordingly. After comparing Spinoza's thoughts on akrasia with the thoughts of other thinkers, such as Socrates, Aristotle, Hume, Davidson, and Al Mele, I argue that Spinoza's account is a viable and interesting theory, one that has many advantages over its competitors.
I have one paper published on Spinoza's theory of the affects. I also have two papers forthcoming, one on innate and adequate ideas in Spinoza. The other paper diagnoses a problem with contemporary discussions of akrasia and offers a Spinozist alternative. In the near future I hope to publish work on the principle of association of ideas, as well as Spinoza's reliance on the principles of harmony and discord in the mind and in the state.
My current work concerns two topics. First, I continue the work begun in my dissertation and hope to put together a book manuscript, tentatively titled, Spinoza's Moral Psychology. This book would deepen, broaden, and systematize the work I have already done and am currently undertaking on the topic of Spinoza’s moral psychology.
My second book-length project, on the other hand, is broader. That book, tentatively titled, Thinking With the Body in the Seventeenth Century, would look at the physiological and imaginative basis of conscious experience and thought in general among several prominent thinkers of the period.
For a fuller description of my research plans, click here.
TEACHING:
My teaching at Dartmouthincludes the following courses: Ancient Philosophy, Continental Rationalism, British Empiricism, a course on Hume and Kant, a course on 19th Century German philosophy, and two special topics seminars, one on akrasia and the other on Spinoza. My courses taught at Dartmouth also include Intro to Ethics, Intro to Philosophy, and Critical Thinking.
While completing my dissertation during the '06-'07 school year, I taught Intro to Philosophy and Intro to Ethics at the University of Rhode Island. I was also a Visiting Lecturer at Bridgewater State College in nearby Bridgewater, MA, teaching Reasoning and Religion and Critical Thinking.
While I was in residence in Madison, I taught my own applied ethics course for a year. I was also a teaching assistant for five semesters, assisting in Intro to Philosophy, Contemporary Moral Issues, the History of Modern Philosophy, and Existentialism.
To see my teaching statement, click here.
PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES:
I also recently organized a mini-conference on Spinoza's psychology. This conference, organized under the auspices of the Pacific Division of the APA, was held concurrently with its 2008 division meeting in Pasadena. Please click here to visit the website for the conference, where the papers and comments can be read.
In 2004, I was the project assistant to the NEH Institute on Early Modern Philosophy, organized by Don Rutherford and Steve Nadler, held in Madison, WI. Click here for pictures.
I am a member of the APA and the North American Spinoza Society.
PERSONAL: 
My wife Amy is working on a Ph.D. in History from Brown University. While I was at Dartmouth during the 2007-08 school year, Amy attended the Inter-University Center, a language and research center in Yokohama, Japan, administered by Stanford University. We lived in Sapporo, Japan, for the '04-5 school year, while she attended Hokkaido U as an exchange student.
Besides philosophy, I like international travel, food, and film, as well as reading, cycling, soccer, and running.