My research interests focus primarily on Ancient Greek philosophy, particularly the dialogues of Plato, though I have ancillary interests in ethics (classical and contemporary) and in questions surrounding the practice of philosophical inquiry and argument.
I’m currently at work on a book, Lovers of Argument: A Study of Plato’s Moral Psychology, that explores issues at the intersection of Plato’s views in ethics and political philosophy. The central claim is that the way in which we approach argument typically reveals something at a deeper level about our desires and motivations; in particular, since the power of argument lies in its ability to influence others, a proper engagement with argument demands a proper engagement with others. On this reading of Plato, the key to engaging in argument correctly is found in his understanding of erôs. I develop this reading by focusing on the theme of philologia (literally: “love of argument”) in Plato’s moral psychology and its appearance in four of his works that discuss the topic of love, rhetoric, and the practice of philosophy: the Gorgias, Symposium, Republic, and Phaedrus. When complete, this book will offer the first systematic study of Plato’s views on the role of human motivation in argument and on the role of argument generally in civic life. I’ve presented parts of my work at meetings of the Ancient Philosophy Society, the International Plato Society, and at regional meetings of the American Philosophical Association, and published an article related to the project in Philosophy and Literature.
My other main area of interest in Plato concerns his views in metaphysics and epistemology, and their relation to his understanding of philosophical method. I’m especially intrigued by his treatment of this topic in three of his later-period dialogues, the Theaetetus, Sophist, and Statesman, whose philosophical and dramatic connections have been a source of puzzlement for me since I first grappled with them in my doctoral dissertation.