Research
My first book was Epistemology after Protagoras: Responses to Relativism in Plato, Aristotle, and Democritus (Oxford: Clarendon Press 2005). It explored the responses to relativism in Plato, Aristotle, and Democritus -- ranging from Plato's sophisticated formulation of relativism as a theory of knowledge, his refutation of relativism, and Aristotle's discussion of the skeptical consequences of Protagoras' ideas, to Democritus' incorporation of some modified Protagorean ideas in his theory of knowledge and perception.
I am currently writing a book on Aristotle's ethics and political philosophy called Justice in Aristotle's Ethics and Political Philosophy, under contract with Oxford University Press. The aim of the book is to argue that, contrary to a widespread understanding of Aristotle, justice is the central virtue in his ethics and the central guiding principle in his political philosophy. Justice is an ideal in Aristotle's theory of the virtues of character, which shows how deeply he is committed to the idea that man is a 'political animal'. Furthermore, justice is also the concept from which he derives the notion of obligations and what we would call duties towards other people. The book focuses on his principles of justice and his conception of the common good, and shows how it shapes his conception of virtue, morality, and the good life. Selected papers:
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Epistemology after Protagoras(Oxford 2005)
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Strategies of Argument |
poster credit to Victor Caston
Justice in Aristotle's Ethics and Political PhilosophyMy current book project, under contract with Oxford
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