About Me
Philosophical Persona
I am an old-school systematic metaphysician in a new-school specialized world. I also introduce elements of pragmatism and social justice into high church analytic metaphysics (and vice versa).
General Metaphysics
My current research project in general metaphysics2 concerns truthmaking, aboutness, and realism. Truthmaking: the idea that a sentence is true in virtue of something. Aboutness: the idea that sentences are about something. Realism: the idea that sentences are about, or are true in virtue of, something mind-independent. I believe these notions pull apart in surprising ways. Specifically, I am interested in (a) the idea that sentences are sometimes not about their truthmakers and (b) the idea ordinary sentences are about the way the world appears to us, but we ought to nonetheless theorize about the world in itself, anyway.
My previous research program in general metaphysics defended pluralism about metaphysical grounding.
For more specific examples of my research, see my publications page.
Areas
Areas of Specialization: Metaphysics, Social Ontology
Areas of Competence: Philosophy of Language, Social Philosophy, Logic
Education
Massaschusetts Institute of Technolology | PhD in Philosophy | 2012 - 2017
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill | BA in Philosophy | 2008 - 2012
Spirit Animal
The octopus. I have my hands on a lot of things.
Social Ontology
In social ontology,1 I argue for a spatial, scalar theory of social categories. Instead of identifying as men or women, many people now identify as non-binary, agender, or genderqueer. Instead of identifying as gay or straight, many people now identify as bisexual, pansexual, or demisexual. There is an emerging shift away from identifying with the standard binary gender (male/female) and sexual orientation (gay/straight) categories. This shift has frightened some and been a source of confusion for others. My new book presents a new way to understand gender and sexuality beyond the binary categories: the spatial theory. On this view, gender and sexuality are best understood as social spaces that individuals locate themselves within. For a longer summary, see my book page.