Education
Northwestern University (2014-present): PhD, Ancient Philosophy (Exp. 2021)
Committee: Richard Kraut (chair), Kyla Ebels-Duggan, Patricia Marechal
Oriel College, University of Oxford: M.St. in Ancient Philosophy (2012-2013)
Masters Thesis: Early Atomism as a Response to Parmenides
Supervisor: Christopher Shields
Corpus Christi College, University of Oxford: Visiting Student (2010-2011)
Emory University: B.A. in Philosophy and Classical Civilization (2008-2012), Magna cum laude
Honors Thesis: The Mystery of the 7th Platonic Epistle – An Analysis of the Philosophy Digression in Plato’s Letter to Dionysius
Honors Supervisors: Cynthia Patterson, Richard Patterson, and Louise Pratt
Dissertation: “Aristotle and the Promise of Scientific Politics”
Aristotle says that true assertions in practical philosophy are true “for the most part.” I argue an assertion is true “for the most part” if it refers to the hypothetical realization of a substance’s essential capacities under some set of impediments. The removal of impediments to the full realization of human capacities is the ultimate goal of legislation and political science, and this insight underlies much of Aristotle’s influence in contemporary political philosophy.
Research Areas:
Areas of Specialization
Ancient philosophy, political philosophy
Areas of Competence
Ethics, metaphysics
Publications
“Aristotle’s Philosophy of Histories” – Polis: The Journal for Ancient Greek and Roman Political Thought, vol. 39 (forthcoming, 2022)
“The Modal Definition of Being in Plato’s Sophist” – Melita Classica vol. 8, University of Malta Press, (forthcoming, 2022)
“Sleepless in Syracuse: Plato and the Nocturnal Council,” Plato at Syracuse: Essays on Plato in Western Greece, with a new translation of the Seventh Letter by Jonah Radding, (ed. Heather Reid & Mark Ralkowski), Parnassos Press, pp. 215-230, 2019.
Works in Progress
“The Relationship between Eternal Recurrence and Personal Identity in Stoicism” (Under Review)
“Good Governance and the Beautiful City in Aristotle’s Politics” (In Preparation)
Teaching
Instructor of Record –
(assigned all readings, graded all assignments, and held office hours)
Northwestern University:
Introduction to Metaphysics, Summer 2021
Introduction to Political Philosophy, Summer 2019
School of the Art Institute of Chicago:
Ancient Greek and Roman Philosophy, Fall 2021
Teaching Assistant –
(led discussion sections, graded all assignments, and held office hours)
History of Rome, Spring 2021 (Online)
Introduction to Ancient Greek History, Winter 2021 (Online)
Classical Mythology, Fall 2020 (Head TA – Online)
Ethical Problems and Public Issues, Winter 2020
Elementary Logic II, Spring 2018
History of Philosophy I: Ancient, Fall 2017
Ethical Problems and Public Issues, Winter 2017
History of Philosophy I: Ancient, Fall 2016
History of Rome, Spring 2016
Introduction to Philosophy, Fall 2015
Honors and Awards
Joseph Clyde Murley Prize for Outstanding Performance by a Graduate Teaching Assistant, Northwestern University
Honors Fellow, The Bill and Carol Fox Center for Humanistic Inquiry, Emory University
Presentations ( * – Refereed)
April 2021, “Plato’s Modal Definition of Being” – Malta Classics Association Postgraduate Research Conference (Virtual).*
November 2019, “Aristotle and Confucius on Practicing Politics,” ECNU 2019 International Philosophy Conference – Theory (Li 理) and Practice (Shi 事): Frontiers of Contemporary Philosophy, East China Normal University, Shanghai, China.*
October 2019, “Parks and Kalon: Aristotle and Jane Jacobs on the Political Aesthetics of Urban Design,” Public Classics Workshop, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL*
July 2019, “Aristotle’s Rivals: Early Categorialism in Ancient Greek Philosophy” The History of Science Society Annual Meeting, Early Sciences Forum Utrecht, Netherlands*
June 2019, “The Wrong Side of Town: Aristotle’s Urban Planning and the Ethical Importance of Space” On Panel – “The Question of Boundaries in Ancient Thought: Blurring, Crossing, Reshaping” Celtic Conference in Classics, Coimbra, Portugal*
April 2019, “The Modal Definition of Being in Plato’s Sophist,” The British Society for the History of Philosophy Annual Conference, Kings College London, Strand Campus, London.*
February 2019, “60 Percent of the Time, It works every Time: The Semantics of Aristotle’s ‘For the Most Part’ Modality,” Northwestern University Moral and Political Philosophy Workshop
November 2018, “Between the Aesthetic and Political: Aristotle and Jane Jacobs on Urban Design and Human Flourishing,” Engaging the Contemporary 2018: Reconfiguring the Aesthetic, University of Malta, Valletta.*
October 2018, “Anaximander’s Conception of Time,” Classics Graduate Colloquium, University of Colorado, Boulder.*
June 2018, “Sleepless in Syracuse: Plato and the Nocturnal Council,” Seminar on Plato at Syracuse, 4th Interdisciplinary Symposium on the Heritage of Western Greece, Sicily Center for International Education. Syracuse, Italy.*
June 2018, “Good Governance and the Beautiful City in Aristotle’s Politics,” 4th Interdisciplinary Symposium on the Heritage of Western Greece, Sicily Center for International Education. Syracuse, Italy.*
April 2018, “Stoic Identity and Cosmology,” Fordham Philosophical Society 8th Biennial Graduate Student Conference, Fordham University, Rose Hill, New York City.*
December 2018, “Relatively Democratic: A Possible Defense of Liberal Democracy in Plato’s Protagoras,” Northwestern University Moral and Political Philosophy Workshop
March 2017, “Aristotle on the Humanity of the Exceedingly Virtuous Man,” Dissertation Research Seminar, Northwestern University
Comments:
February 2021, “The Unity of Aristotle’s Concept of Life,” Cameron Coates (DePaul University) –American Philosophical Association Central Division Meeting
May 2019, “Self-mastery in Plato’s Laws,” Brian Reese (University of Pennsylvania) – Northwestern University Society for the Theory of Ethics and Politics (“NUSTEP”)
Service and Experience
2022: Organizer, APA-AAPT Teaching Hub – “Teaching Core Ideas Using Non-Canonical Texts,” American Philosophical Association Central Division Meeting
2022: Chair, “Plato’s Definition of Poetry in Republic 2,” American Philosophical Association Pacific Division Meeting
2021 – Present: Elected Member, Graduate Student Council (GSC) of the American Philosophical Association (APA)
Coordinator of Activities, Northwestern Classics Cluster, 2020 – Present
President, Philosophy Graduate Student Association, 2019 – 2020
Coach, Sullivan High School (Chicago, IL) Ethics Bowl Team, 2018 – Present
President, Northwestern University Ancient Philosophy Workshop, 2017-2019
Department Representative for Philosophy on the Graduate Leadership and Advocacy Council, 2015-2017, 2018-present
External Communications Chair, Graduate Leadership and Advocacy Council, 2019 – Present
Graduate Student Liaison to Search Committee, Philosophy, Northwestern University 2018
Session Chair, 2018 Central Division Meeting, American Philosophical Association
Session Chair, Conference on Late Plato, Northwestern University, 2016
Head of Publicity, Northwestern University Society for Theory of Ethics and Politics, 2016-2018
Organizer, Northwestern University Film and Philosophy Series, 2018-present
Editor-in-Chief, Emory Political Review, 2011-2012
Executive Editor, Emory Political Review, 2010-2011
Senior Copy Editor, Emory Political Review, 2009-2010
Vestry Committee Member, St. Paul’s Church by-the-Lake, Chicago, 2017-present
Senior Legislator-at-Large, Student Government Association, Emory University, 2011-2012
Languages
Greek (Reading proficiency), Latin (intermediate), English (native)
References
Richard Kraut – rkraut1@northwestern.edu – Kresge Hall 3512, 1880 Campus Dr., Evanston, IL 60208
Patricia Marechal – patricia.marechal@northwestern.edu – Kresge Hall 3512, 1880 Campus Dr., Evanston, IL 60208
Kyla Ebels-Duggan – kebelsduggan@northwestern.edu – Kresge Hall 3512, 1880 Campus Dr., Evanston, IL 60208
Mark Sheldon – sheldon@northwestern.edu – Kresge Hall 3512, 1880 Campus Dr., Evanston, IL 60208 [Teaching Reference]
Christopher Shields – cshield3@nd.edu – 327 Malloy Hall, South Bend, IN 46556
Dissertation Abstract
Aristotle says that true assertions in practical philosophy are true “for the most part.” I argue an assertion is true “for the most part” if it refers to the hypothetical realization of a substance’s essential capacities under some set of impediments. The removal of impediments to the full realization of human capacities is the ultimate goal of legislation and political science, and this insight underlies much of Aristotle’s influence in contemporary political philosophy.
The first two chapters address the prevalent view that Aristotle’s methodology discourages pursuing a scientific and systematic basis for ethics and politics. The common interpretation is that Aristotle’s theorizing concerns reconciling the conflicting “credible opinions” [endoxa] of the well-educated societal elite. Due to this limited starting point and method, his conclusions in practical philosophy can only describe what tends to happen and nothing more “precise.” In contrast I argue, first, endoxa take a plurality of forms including common opinion, laws, societal customs, traditional sayings, and scientific discoveries. Second, endoxa can be used in a variety of contexts to settle both general and specific issues in practical philosophy. Third, the theories reached from the method are designed to be highly revisable, aiming towards a progressively more precise account of ethics and politics. He expects us to repeat this method continuously throughout time since, as he claims, we are designed to seek what is good and not just what is traditionally taken as good (Politics II.8). Aristotle is confident that, under a proper application of dialectic, the “most authoritative account” will arise among the endoxa. There is no hard limit on how exacting investigations can be in practical philosophy with my interpretation of endoxa. While some levels of theoretical exactness may be unnecessary in a given practical context, that does not mean such exactness is conceptually impossible.
In the third through fifth chapters, I argue that, despite the common view that “for the most part” refers to statistical frequency, in reality for Aristotle a proposition is true “for the most part” if it correctly describes the realization of a substance’s capacities under given conditions. It is the additional information available from my expanded scope of endoxa which provide the needed data for these claims. In politics, assertions are true “for the most part” if they correctly detail the realization of a person’s capacities under some social or political condition. Importantly, as “for the most part” refers to capacities under hypothetical conditions, it is possible for assertions to be true for the most part in political science even if they rarely obtain. The phrasing “for the most part” extends from his studying current conditions in Greece, but it hides a more powerful concept. The assertion “wealth is beneficial” is true for the most part because, even if people are rarely wealthy, it expresses the idea that wealth provides conditions for the fulfillment of our political and rational capacities. With plenty of money, I can go to the assembly and read philosophy as I will be relieved of time-consuming manual labor.
A full understanding of the phrase “for the most part” reveals that Aristotle’s practical philosophy contains the needed tools for constructing a truly “human science.” My concluding chapter considers how this capacital interpretation motivates later receptions of Aristotle from a variety of points on the political left. I consider three figures and their projects: 1) Martha Nussbaum’s project of “Aristotelian social democracy” and engagement with Rawlsian liberalism; 2) Karl Marx’s reception of Aristotle in his view of species-being and comments on what a communist society would look like (German Ideology, P&E Manuscripts); and 3) Murray Bookchin’s eco-anarchism as found in The Ecology of Freedom: The Emergence and Dissolution of Hierarchy, which takes Aristotle’s biological understanding of the polis as a product of our political capacities and the foundation for his vision of an anarchist society.
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