My primary research interests include the metaphysics of ordinary objects, mereology, mental fictionalism, and modality.
I am currently working on a monograph (under contract) with Cambridge University Press as part of their Elements series called Parts and Wholes. It is a brief survey of various views of composition and mereology as a lead up to – and defense of – a theory of modal parts of ordinary objects.
Two of my papers – “Mental Fictionalism” and “Mental Fictionalism: a foothold amid deflationary collapse” – recently came out in T. Demeter, T. Parent, and A. Toon (eds.), Mental Fictionalism: Philosophical Explorations (Routledge), an anthology on the topic of mental fictionalism (April 2022).
Some of my recent publications include: “The Polysemy of ‘Part'” Synthese (2021), “Counterexamples and Common Sense: When (not) to Tollens a Ponens” in Analysis (2020), and “The Lump Sum: a Theory of Modal Parts” Philosophical Papers (2019).
Published – Professional Philosophy
2022 – “Mental Fictionalism” (draft; original paper written in 2007); T. Demeter, T. Parent, and A. Toon (eds.), Mental Fictionalism: Philosophical Explorations (Routledge) 2022
2022 – “Mental fictionalism – a foothold amid deflationary collapse ” (draft); T. Demeter, T. Parent, and A. Toon (eds.), Mental Fictionalism: Philosophical Explorations (Routledge) 2022
2021 – “The Polysemy of ‘part’” Synthese 198, 4331–4354 (2021); online 2019 [Draft – pdf]
2020 – “Counterexamples and Commonsense: When (Not) to Tollens a Ponens” Analysis 80(3): 544-558 (2020)
2019 – “The Lump Sum: A Theory of Modal Parts” Philosophical Papers (2019).
2018 – “The Haecceitic Euthyphro problem” co-authored with Jason Bowers, Analysis 78(1): 13-22 (2018).
2016 – “Saving Mental Fictionalism from Cognitive Collapse” in Res Philosophica 93(2): 405-424 (2016)
2015 – “Rearming the Slingshot?” Acta Analytica 30(3): 283-292 (2015).
2014 – “Composition as Identity, Mereological Essentialism, and Modal Parts” in Composition as Identity, eds. Donald Baxter and Aaron Cotnoir, OUP (2014).
2014 – “The Argument from Vagueness from Modal Parts” in dialectica vol. 68 (3): 355-373 (2014).
2013 – “Counterparts and Compositional Nihilism: A Reply to A. J. Cotnoir” in Thought: A Journal of Philosophy vol. 2 (3): 242-247 (2013).
2011 – “Composition as Identity: Part 1” in Philosophy Compass vol. 6(11): 804-816 (2011).
2011 – “Composition as Identity: Part 2 ” in Philosophy Compass vol. 6(11): 817-827 (2011)
Published – Public Philosophy
2021 – “Circus and Philosophy: Teaching Aristotle Through Juggling” in Aesthetics for Birds
Under Contract – In Progress:
Parts and Wholes – manuscript in progress – under contract (Cambridge University Press)
Objects and Worlds: A Theory of Modal Parts – manuscript in progress
“Modal Parts and Material Plenitude” – in progress
“Endless Possibilities” – in progress