Here are some papers that I’m working on. I’d be happy to talk about or email the latest draft of any of them.

An explanatory dilemma for reductive theories of aesthetic value

I present a dilemma for reductive theories of aesthetic value. Reductive theories involve two stages: the first selects which source of normativity (e.g. pleasure) grounds aesthetic value, and the second shows how that source of normativity can take on a distinctively aesthetic quality. The dilemma concerns how to explain the first stage; either all kinds of value are grounded in that source of normativity, or the difference between kinds of value must be explained by what it means for value to be “aesthetic.” I show that both options are unappealing and suggest a non-reductive approach to aesthetic value.

A paper on what it means for there to be kinds of value

Strong value pluralists believe that there are at least two irreducible kinds of value. What unifies the plurality of values into a “kind”? Traditional answers rely on the genus-species relation, the determinable-determinate relation, or some connection to reasons. I show that none of these answers are satisfactory and give my own proposal for the unity of values.