Most of my research focuses on early modern approaches to issues at the intersection of philosophy, theology, and the natural sciences. I'm especially interested in the way these issues were understood in seventeenth and eighteenth century Britain and North America. I also have a longstanding interest in medieval philosophy, both on its own merits and as a key resource for understanding early modern thinkers. And I'm committed to recovering the contributions of early modern women philosophers. Most of my work on this front has involved the philosophical thought of Susanna Newcome.
My book, Newton's Metaphysics of Substance: God, Bodies, Minds, is forthcoming with Oxford University Press.
My current projects include editorial work for a volume in the Clarendon Edition of the Works of John Locke, a modern edition of Susanna Newcome's Enquiry, and several papers on early modern philosophy. I am also editing the Oxford Handbook of Locke.
A lot of my previous and ongoing research falls under one of these three categories:
Newton's Metaphysics
Newton is, obviously, best known for his work in physics and mathematics. But he also thought carefully about fundamental metaphysical issues. My forthcoming book offers a systematic reconstruction of his views on God, bodies, minds, and the relations that obtain between them. The early chapters explore Newton’s arguments for God’s existence and analyze his understanding of the non-univocity of substance. Subsequent chapters explore his innovative approach to bodies, on which they are mere collections of powers, and work through issues relating to divine and natural causation. The final chapters explore Newton’s views on the nature of mind, dualism, and the mind-body problem before examining his infamous claim that space is God’s sensorium. The metaphysical system that emerges from the analysis on offer in the book shows Newton to have developed views that are innovative, perceptive, and—by the standards of the period—compelling.
The book developed, in part, from some earlier work exploring Newton's views on the metaphysics of absolute space and the relationship between space and God in his thought.
Locke's Approach to Cognitive Psychology
I’m fascinated by all things Lockean. But I am especially focused on an interpretation of John Locke’s Essay Concerning Human Understanding as an exercise in what we would now call cognitive psychology. Rather than a systematic examination of traditional questions in metaphysics and epistemology, I see the Essay as an analysis of our cognitive functions and mental abilities. My belief is that approaching the Essay in this way and paying careful attention to Locke’s theory of ideas shows the depth and dynamism of his thought.
I argue that Locke's views were governed by a well-motivated but strict form of epistemic humility. I've pursued this idea in two directions. First, I've explored what it means for Locke's claims about our understanding of the natural world with respect to powers, laws of nature, and mechanism. Second, I've examined the ways it links up with his account of knowledge and especially with his claims about logic, demonstration, and proof.
Causation and Early Modern Natural Philosophy
A set of questions about causation also animate my research. There is a question from medieval philosophy that casts a long shadow over early modern debates on causation. Specifically, what causal work can be accomplished by created beings and what causal work must be done by God? This traditional question, and its relationship to innovations in thinking about causation like laws of nature and occasionalism, make early modern discussions of causation both fascinating and fruitful. I see Locke as making important contributions to these discussions and have worked to understand his views on the nature of causal processes and causal powers.
I also believe that Newton's achievements, particularly his claim that gravitational attraction is a distinct type of cause, refocused and brought urgency to questions about causation in the period following the publication of the Principia. I've worked to explore the ways in which questions about causation stemming from Newton force thinkers in the period to reevaluate their views on matter theory, cosmology, and natural theology. I’m committed to the idea that a number of early Newtonians—individuals like Susanna Newcome, Colin Maclaurin, and George Cheyne—develop philosophically innovative views that are worth exploring.