Philosophical Interests
I am especially interested in imagination and its many philosophically significant impacts -- I believe that an understanding of imagination can shed light on a variety of traditional philosophical inquiries.
I am working on a dissertation about the role of imagination in epistemology. What role does imagination play in the acquisition of knowledge? In particular, how does imagination give us access to knowledge of indicative and counterfactual conditionals? What is the connection between imagination and modal knowledge? (Is there a link between 'conceivability' and possibility?) What is the role of imagination in thought experiments? I am also interested in skeptical worries from imagination -- how can we recognize our imaginings as such? Is there room for skeptical scenarios here?
Here are some of the other imagination-related questions I am interested in:
Philosophy of Mind
- What is imagination? A faculty? A mental state? A collection of mental states?
- What is the relation between imagination and belief? Desire?
- What is the connection between imagination and imagery?
- Can we imagine the impossible?
- What is the relation between imagining and supposing?
- Which of the various features of imagination are constitutive of imagination? Voluntariness? A need for sustained attention?
- Does 'simulation theory' accurately explain (much of) our knowledge of other people's mental life?
Metaethics
- What motivational role can imagination play? Can imaginings take the places of beliefs and/or desires in Humean action explanation?
- Is fictionalism about normativity plausible? Can 'imaginary values' play the motivational roles we need from normativity?
Moral Psychology
- What connections are there between imagination, empathy, and ethics?
- What connections are there between imagination, empathy, and rationality?
Philosophy of Fiction
- What is the constitutive relation between imagination and fiction? Fictional utterance? Fictional truth?
- What role does imagination play in our emotional engagement with fictional characters and events?
- What explains systematic failures of authorial fiat? We sometimes refuse to go along with authors of fictions, both with respect to imagining and to considering fictionally true. (The puzzle of imaginative resistance.)
I am also interested in the standard questions in epistemology, metaethics, and normative ethics. I occasionally flirt with metaphysics.
If you know the answer to one of these questions, get in touch. For a true answer, I'll buy you a drink.