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My
research interests range across a wide variety of topics in ethics, the
philosophy of art, and general value theory, such as the nature of
pleasure, the relationship between well-being and the meaning of life,
theories of love, the metaphysics of death, theories of humor, the
appeal of horror, and the nature of aesthetic value. I have written
essays on an array of topics in the philosophy of art and have
particular interests in the philosophy of film. Currently, I am
writing a book examining the philosophical contributions made by
several exemplary films, such as Wings of Desire (Wim Wenders, 1987)
and Happy Accidents (Brad Anderson, 2000).
Recently I have been working on a variety of topics in value theory. In particular, I am pursuing questions related to theories of well-being, such as the nature of pleasure and desire. For instance, I have developed a defense of a "hedonic tone" theory of pleasure in contrast to what has become the dominant view of pleasure since Sidgwick. The nature of pleasure is an extremely productive research topic. Pleasure and its relationship to desire are not only significant to well-being, they are important to our theories of the value of art and our reasons for seeking putatively painful art experiences. Currently, my research is primarily focused on the role of pleasure in aesthetic value, a topic that has yet to come under sufficiently careful analysis. CV Research Teaching |