My research in ancient philosophy broadly concerns ancient Greek, Latin, and Indian physics and metaphysics. I am especially interested in how thinkers in these traditions understood the physical world. Many of my current projects examine their perspectives on empty space and the bodies that move through it. In addition to ancient philosophy, I work on feminist philosophy with a focus on pornography and whether we can change our desires. Below I describe some of my current projects.
Feminist Philosophy
(under review)
A paper on pornography. I argue that some pornography constitutes misinformation. It can and does transmit false descriptive beliefs about sex. I suggest that this pornography should be moderated by online platforms like Pornhub, just as Facebook and Twitter already moderate misinformation on their sites.
Ancient Indian Philosophy
(in progress)
A paper examining Vasubandhu’s treatment of space (ākāśa) in his Abhidharmakośabhāṣya. There Vashubandhu cites an Abhidharma view that space is “unconditioned” (asaṃskṛta) and a “neutral dharma.” What does it mean for space to be unconditioned and neutral? Vasubandhu also sites what he calls “elementary space” (ākāśadhātu), which he claims differs from space itself (ākāśa). What is this further space , and how does it differ from space itself?
(in progress)
A paper examining "condition qua object" (ālambana-pratyaya) as a type of causation in Vasubandhu’s Abhidharmakośabhāṣya. I show how nirvāṇa is meant to operate by this sort of causation.
Ancient Greek and Latin Philosophy
My dissertation looks at Aristotle’s refutation of the existence of void in his Physics IV 6-9. There Aristotle defies his predecessors and the predominant scientific belief of his time by arguing that the existence of a void is not only unnecessary for explaining physical phenomena but impossible. Aristotle’s verdict would go on to dominate scientific thought on void for nearly two millennia—perhaps to the detriment of that thought. My dissertation in part looks at what Aristotle thinks void is and the arguments he uses to prove that such a thing cannot exist. The dissertation importantly also focuses on the prior questions: how can Aristotle the metaphysician say what void is, given that he does not think void exists? And how can he carry out a nonexistence proof for void, given that void would be an empty term in a scientific demonstration? How can Aristotle by his own lights prove a negative existential? Below I describe some projects emerging within the dissertation.
(under review)
A paper showing how Aristotle can get clear about the nonexistent thing, void. Aristotle apparently takes himself to offer a correct answer to what void is, one that is superior to the answers offered by his interlocutors. Yet Aristotle’s metaphysics of explanation and predication unambiguously prevent him from defining or predicating anything of nonexistents. How can he by his own lights offer an answer to what void is, and how can he justify that answer? An upshot of my analysis is that, as it turns out, Aristotle offers even the most austere metaphysician a philosophically fruitful way of getting clear about what she does not think exists.
(under review)
A paper on the Presocratic atomists. I challenge the orthodox view and show that in fact the Presocratic atomists likely never argued that void exists.
(in progress)
A paper on inertial frames in Aristotle’s treatment of void. I show that Aristotle’s treatment appeals to what are explanatorily and structurally similar to Newtonian absolute and relative inertial frames.