"Im Rennen der Philosophie gewinnt, wer am langsamsten laufen kann. Oder: der, der das Ziel zuletzt erreicht." (another obscure Austrian philosopher)
I'm an Assistant Professor in Philosophy at Duke Kunshan University, a Chinese liberal arts university. I work mainly on the nature of agency & action, from various vantage points, both systematic & historical (see Research, & our favorite Greek hero: Articles).
Previously I was a Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Pennsylvania (PRRUCS), where I worked on the Anscombe Archive.
Before that (in 2020) I obtained a PhD in Philosophy at Stanford, where I co-founded & coordinated the research workshop Varieties of Agency (originally with Michael Bratman & Tamar Schapiro; most recently with David Hills & Barry Maguire).
Even earlier, I studied Philosophy as well as Law, in Austria, the Netherlands, & the UK, & worked on issues in public international law.
I mainly work on agency and practical cognition, at intersections of philosophy of mind & action, metaphysics & epistemology, & ethics & social philosophy. I have been developing an account of intentional action centered on two forms of practical cognition: our distinctive capacities to act, and our self-knowledge in acting when we exercise such capacities successfully. I use this framework to illuminate questions about our social constitution and agency—the shaping of our social orientations, habitus, and affordances, and with them our capacities to know and act overall. I further deploy it with normative and applied ethical issues, especially where our agency interfaces with digital technology. My approach is informed strongly by Aristotelian traditions, including cognate contemporary social theory, especially Bourdieu.
For some of my current projects, see Articles.
In public international law I remain particularly interested in issues concerning the use of force (ius ad bellum and in bello), anti-discrimination law, and, in dim light of present days, compliance theory.
Forthcoming:
✧ "Practical Knowledge and the Past" (Canadian Journal of Philosophy), argues against the possibility of strictly practical knowledge of our past actions.Published:
✧ (2025) "Practical Knowledge & Practical Knowledge" (Lucy Camble ed. Forms of Knowledge (OUP)), argues for the constitutive connection of the two forms of practical knowledge Anscombe discusses in Intention.
✧ (2024) ed. Anscombe and the Anscombe Archive (University of Pennsylvania), collects scholarly essays on the same.
✧ (2024) "Anscombe on Basic Action: Doubts about Doubts", in Hauthaler ed. discusses an unpublished manuscript of Anscombe's on "Doubts about 'Basic Action'".
✧ (2023) "Strong Cognitivist Weaknesses". Analytic Philosophy, challenges the identification of intention with a form of belief.
✧ (2015) “Praktisches Unwissen und Irren”, Kertscher & Müller eds. (2015): Lebensform und Praxisform. Paderborn (Mentis). discusses forms of failure of practical thought & action.
✧ (2012): “Wittgenstein on Actions, Reasons, and Causes”, Marques & Venturinha eds. (2012): Knowledge, Language, and Mind. Wittgenstein's Early Investigations. Berlin (De Gruyter). discusses Wittgenstein on causation in action.
✧ (2012): “On the Responsibility to Protect and Its Emancipation from Humanitarian Intervention”, Mathis-Moser ed. (2012): Responsibility to Protect: A Canadian Heritage. Innsbruck (Innsbruck University Press). discusses the doctrine of Responsibility to Protect in comparison to the doctrine of Humanitarian Intervention.Under review:
✧ [redacted]: challenges the dogma that all intentional action is done for reasons.
✧ [redacted]: defends the 'Simple View' that intentional action involves the execution of a corresponding intention.
✧ [redacted]: discusses the significance of luck afflicting us as bearers of reactive attitudes;In preparation for submission:
✧ “To Know Not What One Does”: offers a unified account of two key features of practical knowledge;
✧ “Actions, Processes, and Events”: defends a unified ontology of ongoing vs. concluded action;
✧ “Wanting What One Wants”: disentangles various forms of wanting and of knowledge of them;
✧ “On Intention as Action”: challenges the identification of intention with a form of action;
✧ "Extended Practical Knowledge?": articulates limitations of the possibility of extended practical cognition and knowledge;
✧ “Ten Carbon Copies” defends practical knowledge against a purportedly seminal counterexample;
✧ "Thought Friends": articulates a puzzle from mutual recognition for the nature of friendship.
I teach broadly across theoretical, practical, and historical areas of philosophy: from Introduction to Philosophy, Philosophy of Mind, Action, Metaphysics, Epistemology, Philosophy of Language, and Logic; to Ethics, Political Philosophy, and Global Justice; to History of Western Philosophy, History of Modern Western Philosophy, and History of Analytic Philosophy. I have designed and taught writing-intensive first-year seminars (on Thinking & Doing); playful, exploratory courses (on Video Games, Agency & Art); university-wide liberal arts courses on Ethics, Citizenship & the Examined Life, Evil, and Let’s Think About Climate Change; and held Junior and Senior Seminars guiding students through scholarly or creative final projects. I draw on Western but also non-Western sources—especially East Asian traditions. Outside of philosophy, drawing on my legal background I occasionally teach on public international law, especially on armed conflict and humanitarian law.
By now I've taught courses ranging from individual & group tutorials to introductory lectures to advanced seminars, for undergraduate & graduate students, & advanced high-schoolers, & prison inmates; at the University of London (Birkbeck), Stanford, CUNY (City College), Duke & Duke Kunshan University, & San Quentin State Prison
At DKU I currently advise & mentor students in various capacities (academic; signature work; pre-law; student clubs). Much of my extracurricular attention is on building out Superdeep, an extracurricular philosophical ecosystem.I offer (middle to graduate school) advising & mentorship pro bono to members of underserved communities, especially first-generation college students. If this speaks to you, don't by shy to reach out. If you're shy to reach you should feel especially encouraged to reach out :)Lastly: if you're reading this you have books at home, including ones you could pass on. Consider sending them to Books Through Bars, where I help find them new homes, or to similar initiatives.
...or send a letter to:
昆山杜克大学 | Duke Kunshan University
中国江苏省昆山市杜克大道8号邮编：215316
No. 8 Duke Avenue, Kunshan, Jiangsu, China 215316