Overview
I enjoy studying ancient philosophy from the eastern and western traditions, primarily on the topics of ethics and moral psychology. My scholarly work has focused on Plato's views of these topics, but I am also heavily interested in comparative philosophy. In my classes, I bring these perspectives into conversation with one another and help my students see the value, not only of ancient philosophy, but of philosophy from a broader range of geographic locations presented in varying types of written works.
I've worked with Cornell's Center for Teaching Innovation for four years and cannot recommend enough engaging with their resources to enhance your teaching practices no matter the stage you are at in your teaching journey. I also work with the Office of Academic Diversity Initiatives and regularly mentor undergraduate students to support their scholarship, sense of belonging, and professional development.
In 2020, I co-published a grammatical commentary on Plato's Philebus with colleagues from Northern Arizona University: George Rudebush and Hayden Niehus. This commentary makes this famously difficult text accessible for students of Ancient Greek language and scholars with limited Greek proficiency. Our hope is that more people will come to appreciate the text through this commentary, the nuances in the language, and the interesting perspectives this text has to offer about the "mixed" life. You can find a manuscript of this text on my Academia.edu website.
My dissertation, Spirited Motivations, Virtue, and the Good: The Interdependence of Spirited Motivations on Rational Beliefs in Plato's Moral Psychology argues that we can use the psychology of Plato's final dialogue the Laws and especially the famous "puppet passage" to understand what, based on the tripartition dialogues, we call “spirited motivations” (shame, courage, etc.). I've found that these motivations are especially closely linked to reason—not only in following reason but also in enabling reason’s best condition: wisdom. Along the way, I address early and middle dialogues, arguing that the speech of the laws in the Crito appeals to shame (before those who share one’s conception of the good), and that this shame is crucial to the work of Socrates' elenchus; however, whether the elenchus succeeds in getting the refuted party to seek knowledge or to avoid the shame by bringing down others (in the Laches but also Apology) depends on the person’s conception of the good. Further, the myth of the Protagoras depicts shame’s role as reason-dependent and, for that reason, it is conducive to political community. Finally, I argue that courage in the Republic, understood as belief-preservation, is crucial for the development of wisdom.
Awards and Honors
Stephen Russell Family Teaching Awards