Education 

PhD, UC San Diego, 2004

Research Interests 

Early Modern Philosophy

My historical research focuses on the rich, creative period in the history of moral philosophy between the decline of eudaimonistic ethics at the beginning of the seventeenth century and the emergence of utilitarianism and Kantian ethics at the end of the eighteenth century. I am particularly interested in how moral philosophers during this period worked to ground moral concepts and commitments in human nature in the face of a rapidly changing conception of the natural world. This leads me to related interests in philosophical accounts of the passions and the history of the development of secular moral philosophy.

I am interested in this history because it is formative to our understanding of key moral concepts: freedom, happiness, the passions, the self, and the good life. In general, I am interested in the history of philosophy because it helps us to answer the question of how we got here, which is critical to answering the question of, where do we go from here. Thus, I see the history of philosophy as living in the present and as essential to philosophy today. Relatedly, I believe that philosophy, then and now, responds to the wider world, including science, the arts, culture, and social and economic conditions. Consequently, I see philosophy as inherently interdisciplinary, and I resist efforts to understand the history of philosophy in isolation from history generally, for instance, as a conversation among great minds about timeless big questions.

My book, Spinoza’s on Human Freedom: Reason, Autonomy, and the Good Life (Cambridge, 2011), examines how Spinoza builds a naturalistic ethics around the concept of freedom and autonomy. I am currently working on a book defending Spinoza’s legacy as the founder of modern secular moral philosophy, Spinoza’s Moral Revolution: The Fate of Virtue in a Godless World. I also write on Descartes and the British Moralists, especially Hobbes and Shaftesbury. I am working on a book about the nature and moral importance of wonder, which is partly based on reflection about the history of ethics.

Environmental Ethics and Community Engagement

I believe that the climate crisis is the greatest threat humankind has ever faced and that we are morally obligated to respond by taking political action. I am interested in reforming universities so that they play a greater leadership role in the transition to a more sustainable, resilient, and just society. These commitments have led me to participate in a variety of initiatives and programs to support South Carolina communities in responding to environmental challenges.

This community engagement work has led me to develop a secondary area of research in environmental ethics. My main research question is, how should we structure collaborations between communities and experts (scientific and policy experts) to promote environmental justice, community autonomy, and democracy? This research aims to articulate what environmental justice demands in practice both for policymakers and especially for environmental justice practitioners working to support communities in responding to environmental justice issues. Answering this question requires engaging with ethical theories of environmental justice and a variety of ethical questions that arise in the practice of environmental justice.

My work in environmental ethics and community engagement has been supported by awards from the Environmental Protection Agency, the Ann Johnson Institute for Science, Technology, and Society, and the Henry H. Luce Foundation (grants totaling $1 million+).

Regularly Taught Courses

• PHIL 304: Seventeenth and Eighteenth Century Philosophy
• PHIL 502: Continental Rationalism
• PHIL 501: The British Moralists
• PHIL 103: The Ethics of Food
• PHIL 324: Business Ethics
• PHIL 370: Climate Justice in Columbia

Selected Publications

Books

• Spinoza on Free Will, Cambridge Elements Series (Cambridge University Press, forthcoming, 2026)
• Spinoza’s Ethics, Cambridge Texts in the History of Philosophy, editor and co-translator with Michael Silverthorne (Cambridge University Press, 2018).
• Essays on Spinoza’s Ethical Theory, editor, with Andrew Youpa (Oxford University Press, 2014).
• Spinoza on Human Freedom: Reason, Autonomy and the Good Life (Cambridge University Press, 2011).

Recent Articles

• “Maimonidean and Crescian: Spinoza on Moral Education and Human Perfection,” Theory and Research in Education, special issue responding to the work of Steve Nadler, 22 (3), published online November 2024, https://doi.org/10.1177/14778785241291136
• “A Story of Three Fables: Mandeville, Montesquieu, and Spinoza on the Development of Secular Morality,” Roczniki Filozoficzne: Modern Faces of Law, Freedom and Toleration, 72 (3): 2024, 109-128.
• “Shaftesbury’s Distinctive Sentiments: Moral Sentiments and Self-Governance,” Archiv für Geschichte der Philosophie, 2023. 
• “Spinoza’s Defense of Toleration: The Argument from Pluralism,” Roczniki Filozoficzne, special issue on Spinoza and toleration, celebrating the work of Ed Curley, 70 (4): 2022.
• “Spinoza’s Guise of the Good: Getting to the Bottom of 3p9s,” Philosophical Explorations, 24: 2021, 34-47.

Grants and Awards

• Co-Principal Investigator with Lori Ziolkowski on the South Carolina subaward for the Environmental Justice Thriving Communities Grant ($10 million award for the Southeast region, $1 million subaward for South Carolina).
• Engineering the City of the Future: Columbia and Climate Change, $37,700 Grant from the Ann Johnson Institute for course development, a speaker’s series, and a conference (2020-2022)
• Theme Semester Course Development Grant for Climate Justice and Columbia from the College of Arts and Sciences, UofSC (2020)

Other

• I'm a Faculty Affilate for the Groningen Center for Early Modern Studies
• I co-host Possessed, a podcast about ideas from history that haunt us in the present.