My research has ranged widely across numerous fields in philosophy, including epistemology, ethics, aesthetics, philosophy of language, and the history of philosophy (early modern and analytic). One theme which runs through much of this work is normativity - very roughly, the right and the good. Recent topics include: the nature of normative reasons; the distinction between subjective and objective reasons; the norms of belief, assertion, and practical reasoning; epistemic and motivational constraints on reasons; the distinction between first- and second-order reasons; normative testimony; epistemic value; aesthetic obligations; epistemic justification; and aesthetic realism.
I remain interested in all these topics, but I have two main research projects at present. The first concerns the 17th century philosopher, Margaret Cavendish. Its aim is to uncover and assess her (under-explored) views in aesthetics and ethics. I presently hold an Arts and Humanities Research Council Fellowship in support of this project, titled Sympathy in Harmony: Margaret Cavendish's Philosophy of Value. The aim of the second (non-historical) project is to develop and defend a comprehensive theory of aesthetic reasons. |
From 2019-2021, I led an international network on Higher-Order Evidence in Epistemology, Ethics, and Aesthetics, funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council. The "core" members of the network were Elinor Mason (Edinburgh), Jon Robson (Nottingham), and Weiping Zheng (Xiamen).
Between 2013 and 2015, I was the Principal Investigator on a research project, also supported by the Arts and Humanities Research Council, Normativity: Epistemic and Practical. My Co-Investigators were Conor McHugh and Jonathan Way. Prior to that, we led the 'Aims and Norms' workshop series, funded by the British Academy.
I have supervised PhD students working on such topics as inferential role semantics, epistemic value, and deflationism about truth,. I would be pleased to hear from students seeking supervision on topics which fall within my areas of research interest.