Charity. That is, the virtue of excellent love—not the more specific virtues of giving money or being kind to dialectical opponents. I think charity is a more important virtue than it is commonly given credit for in contemporary philosophy (with the notable exception of explicitly Christian work). I take a Thomistic view of what charity is—i.e., friendship with God—though I think any decent ethical theory, even a secular one, needs to center some understanding of it.

One runs into all sorts of questions from there: how does charity relate to justice or wisdom, and what does charity look like when it is imperfect or when it is perfect, and what does it mean to love something other than God from charity? In general, I first look for answers to questions like these in those I think are wise—Aquinas, Anscombe, Kierkegaard, Scotus, Augustine, and others. But, since not everything which can helpfully be said has been said already (and since, after all, what should be said depends on whom you are speaking to), I've ended up writing a few words on the subject myself, mainly in the form of a dissertation.

Action. I could also have said ‘practical reasoning’ or ‘moral psychology’. Anscombe famously argued that it is impossible to say much of anything about ethics without an underlying understanding of action and practical reason. Aristotle was brilliant on this, and for the most part, I follow him (and those who followed him before me). I have spent a good deal of time on, for example, the guise of the good thesis (i.e., that we want and do what we see as good), the structure of intention and its relevance in deontic ethical systems, the way in which the actions which constitute a life are organized by the ultimate end, and the form which that organization must take if a life is to remain a coherent whole (even if it never ends).

One interesting phenomenon—and one which, in my view, is an action-theoretic phenomenon—is redemption, the mechanism by which an evil is, in some way, made good. A theory of redemption is useful, I'd argue, in discussions about the problem of evil, or self-understanding, or forgiveness. Speaking of which…

Forgiveness. I probably should have written of it under the ‘charity’ heading, given that my views commit me to thinking that’s where it belongs. But I did my first published work on forgiveness, so I suppose it deserves a separate mention. I've argued that forgiving is usefully understood as a practical declaration: a declaration that someone who would rightly be an enemy (in some respect, and perhaps in some very minimal sense) is instead to be treated as a friend. If you’d like to be convinced of my view—or to remain no more convinced than you are now but with better roots—you’re welcome to see my list of papers.

Some neighboring topics which interest me include the relationship between forgiveness and fraternal correction (which are the two loving responses to wrongdoing), the possibility of tension between forgiveness and respect, questions about reasons to forgive (or not to), and (as just noted) the relationship between forgiveness and redemption.

Thomas Aquinas. Having an interest in a particular thinker is a bit different from having an interest in a philosophical question. But one cannot get anywhere in this field without picking a few favorite giants whose shoulders to mount, and Aquinas is my own favorite giant. So I try my best to figure out what he thinks, because that's an interesting question even if it turns out not to align with what's true. (Though, of course, that hardly ever happens.)

So that's a sample. You're welcome to read some of my work if you care for the details.

some major threads in my research