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Here are some of the projects I've been working on recently.

Moral criticism, hypocrisy, and pragmatics

I defend the idea that moral criticisms are best understood as moves in an agonistic conversation, and that charges of hypocrisy are attempts to prevent the hypocrite from gaining an upper hand in a situation of conflict. In: Philosophical Studies, 180 (1), 1-26 (2023).

Slurs, synonymy, and taboo

I offer a modified version of prohibitionism, according to which the taboo on using slurs is part of their conventional meaning. In: Australasian Journal of Philosophy, 101 (2), 423-439 (2023).

Mandeville on self-liking, morality, and hypocrisy

I explore Mandeville's account of moral judgement and its implications for the understanding of hypocrisy. In: Intellectual History Review, 32 (1), 157-178 (2022).

Slurs and redundancy

I raise doubts about the idea that that there is no derogatory content that is regularly and systematically communicated by slurs. In: Philosophia, 50 (4), 1607-1622 (2022).

Some remarks on Mach's philosophical doctrines

I examine the relations between the theses of the economy of thought, phenomenalism, and naturalism. In: Ernst Mach: Life, Work, and Influence (F. Stadler ed.), Springer, 2019, pp. 123-133.
Penultimate draft: pdf

A contextualist analysis of insults

I defend a view that insults are instruments of rhetorical persuasion serving to ostracise their target. In Modeling and Using Context (P. Brézillon, R. Turner, and C. Penco eds.), Springer (2017), pp. 661-677.
Penultimate draft: pdf

A naturalist view of humiliation

I explore the links between humiliation, ostracism, and social pain. In: Phenomenology and Mind, 11: 78-86 (2016).

A Hobbesian theory of shame

I defend the connection between shame and injury to self-esteem. In: Southern Journal of Philosophy, 53(2): 125-150 (2015).

Gratitude, self-interest, and love

I enquire into the nature of gratitude, with Hobbes' view being my starting point. In: Philosophia, 42(3): 645-664 (2014).

Two notions of shame

Here I explore the relationship between shame, desire, and self-esteem. In: Ratio, 27(3): 328-349 (2014).

The possibility of modified hedonism

A popular objection to hedonist accounts of personal welfare has been the experience machine argument. Several modifications of traditional hedonism have been proposed in response. Here I argue that all of them fail, for different reasons. In: Theoria, 78(3): 186-212 (2012).

Prichard's heresy

I examine H. A. Prichard's claim that Aristotle was a closeted hedonist. In: Philosophy, 86(4): 503-524 (2011).

Some remarks on Mthat

I examine Josef Stern's theory of metaphor in its relation to the contextualist debate. In: Meaning and Context (L. Baptista and E. Rast eds.), Peter Lang, 2010, pp. 213-234.
Penultimate draft: pdf

Possible worlds: a neo-Fregean alternative

I implement a neo-Fregean strategy in the debate over the nature of possible worlds. In: Axiomathes 21(4): 531-551 (2011).

Lewis' reduction of modality

I present two familiar and two novel arguments against David Lewis' realism about possible worlds. In: Acta Analytica 26(2): 95-114 (2011).

Reichenbach and Weyl on apriority and mathematical applicability

I examine the affinity between Reichenbach's axioms of coordination and Weyl's blank forms. Michael Friedman's take on the constitutive a priori provides a background to the discussion. In: Synthese 181(1): 63-77 (2011).

Review

Review of A Computational Model of Natural Language Communication, by R. Hausser. In: Natural Language Engineering 15(3): 455-457 (2009).

Surprising user-friendliness

Here I ask whether the fact of mathematical usefulness in physical sciences is a surprising phenomenon. In: Logique et Analyse 45(179-180): 283-297 (2002).