Research Interests
My primary research interests lie in social philosophy. I'm interested in the ways we conceptualize and categorize relationships, and what kinds of obligations (if any) specific types of relationships impose on those who participate in them. I'm also interested in how new forms of social life, like internet communities, push the boundaries of how we understand relationships.​
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You can read more about my current projects below.
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"Philosophy & Friendship," invited talk in the University of Kentucky "Philosophy and Modern Life" speaker series, January 2023.
Works in Progress
Drafts of all works in progress are available upon request.
"Trust as Community-Constituting"
This paper argues that trust is a necessary precondition for the development of community relationships. Communities have traditionally been defined as tight-knit social groups founded upon shared values, norms, interests, histories, and/or goals. Trust is meanwhile treated as an emergent feature of existing community relationships. However, I argue that commonalities alone do not facilitate community development; rather, for a community to form, individuals must first develop trust in one another. I further argue that two common dichotomies of trust – the thick/thin model and the interpersonal/social model – fail to identify the unique sort of trust that facilitates communities, and propose a category called community-constituting trust that is better suited to accomplishing this task.
"Obligations in Parasocial Relationships"
This paper conducts an overdue philosophical analysis of parasocial relationships, with the goal of determining whether these might impose special obligations on their participants. I first argue that these relationships should be understood as genuine rather than imaginary relationships. Second, I compare these to other relationships that have been said to generate special obligations. I argue that the obligation-generating features of other relationships are not shared by the parasocial relationship, and conclude that these relationships do not impose special obligations.