Research interests:

My principal area of research is metaethics. Metaethics is the branch of moral philosophy concerned with such questions as the meaning of moral terms, the nature of moral language, the ontology of moral properties, and the epistemological status of moral judgments. (A metaethicist won't provide advice on how you ought to act, but might tell you six different ways that the word “ought” is used.)

I am also interested in moral psychology, practical rationality, engagement with fiction, the nature of emotions, the epistemology of disagreement, and many other topics too numerous to mention. I have been labeled a nihilist, a fictionalist, a projectivist, a cognitivist, and a nativist. It's a fair cop.

For a number of years I pursued an active research interest in evolutionary psychology, especially as it relates to human morality. The bell curve of that interest peaked around 2006, when I wrote a book on the subject. These days, not so much.

I dislike the widespread assumption that the aim of academic philosophy should be the vindication of everyday beliefs. I prefer the methodology advocated by Edward Gorey: