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Research

My main research interest is agency and responsibility. My current work aims to address what you might call "existential-metaphysical" questions raised by a broadly naturalistic or "humble" picture of human agency: how can we make sense of the significance of human agency within the bounds of what we know about the natural world, and our place in it? In metaphysics and action theory, my research has focused on two themes: reductionism about agency and the metaphysics of abilities, especially how abilities relate to dispositions, causation, and counterfactuals. I am especially concerned with these issues as they pertain to the free will debate. My research in ethics and moral psychology focuses on the ethics of praise and blame, whether the aptness of certain moral emotions requires free will (or some other metaphysically significant form of agency), and how emotions can help or hinder our agency. My work also often intersects with (or directly addresses) issues in the philosophy of mind, philosophy of religion, and social and political philosophy.  Please see below for more information about my publications (powered by PhilPeople.org).

Media:

Interview at The Free Will Show (Ep. 60): "Compatibilism and Reduction with Robert Wallace"

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