I usually work at the intersection of three areas: the philosophy of mind and the cognitive sciences; moral psychology; and ethics. I'm particularly interested in the different ways in which humans come to be who we are. How are our ethical and practical identities formed and transformed? What kind of control (if any) do we have over determining our values and cares? How do others participate in these kinds of processes? And are there better or worse ways by which we can change ourselves?
In my dissertation, I attempt to provide a detailed, philosophically adequate, and empirically informed account of how and why applying lexical concepts to our affective, motivational, and evaluative states and processes may change them in ways that often render such states and processes more akin to the contents ascribed to them by these lexical concepts. In simple terms, I explain how and why self-interpretation can be (and often is) a kind of self-formation. Indeed, I argue that it is a particularly valuable kind of self-formation.
Apart from the usual sources of inspiration, my work is also influenced by debates in aesthetics, and by a number of Jewish authors. Perhaps most deeply by Martin Buber, Esther (Etty) Hillesum, Emmanuel Levins, and Rabbi Nachman of Breslov.
When I'm not doing philosophy -- and sometimes when I am -- I enjoy being outdoors, preferably with my partner, our dog Effie (who is, by all objective standards, the best girl), our friends, and some backpacks.
I took the pictures on this website. They're from Russia, Nepal, Israel, and The United States