About
I'm an Associate Professor in philosophy at the working on issues in philosophical logic, philosophy of language, metaphysics, and aesthetics. I'm also Editor of (with David Liggins and Stacie Friend); Treasurer of the ; and a member of the executive committee of the .
I was lucky enough to have been a British Academy Mid-Career Fellow (2016/17), and a junior fellow at the , CEU, Budapest (2015). Before joining Southampton in 2013, I taught for two years at , Oxford. Previously, I took an MA, MPhil, and PhD in Philosophy at .
Research
Research groups
Research interests
- Metaphysics
- Philosophy of Language and Logic
- Aesthetics
Current research
Most of my research is focused on:
1. Fictional characters. I'm writing a monograph arguing that 1) fictional names have use on which they don't refer and a use on which they refer to fictional characters; 2) authors create fictional characters which are representations of things that don't exist; and 3) there are true sentences containing empty names.
2. Free logic and metaontology. Given that there are true sentences containing empty names, and generalizations from such sentences, how should we approach ontological commitment? See .
3. The metaphysics of repeatable artworks. I defend the view that repeatable artworks are created types propagated through causal chains. See . ​
4. The logic and semantics of conditionals. I argue that the truth of irrelevant semifactuals show that , and that .
Outside of these areas, I've also published on , , , and .
I am very happy to supervise graduate students in any of my current research areas broadly construed.
Research projects
Completed projects
Publications
Pagination
Teaching
- Metaphysics
- Philosophy of Language
- Epistemology
External roles and responsibilities
Biography
Prizes
- British Society of Aesthetics Essay Prize (2012)
- British Society of Aesthetics Essay Prize (2012)