I’m an Associate Professor in the Department of Philosophy at Saint Louis University. Previously, I was an Assistant Professor in the Department of Philosophy at Toronto Metropolitan University, and a Research Fellow in the School of Philosophy at Australian National University.
I received my Ph.D. from the Department of Philosophy at the University of Notre Dame, and my BA in philosophy at Kansas State University.
My primary research is in epistemology. I’m currently working on a monograph defending epistemic permissivism, tentatively titled Breaking Epistemic Ties: A Defense of Permissivism. Epistemic permissivism is the view that the evidence can rationally permit more than one attitude toward a proposition. (For more info on the book, see the bottom of my research page.) I’m also interested in belief and credence; I defend dualism, the view that belief and credence are mutually irreducible. My interests in epistemology also include the nature of evidence and evidentialism, (arguing against) pragmatic and moral encroachment, (defending) doxastic voluntarism, and other issues in social epistemology (e.g. disagreement, epistemic paternalism).
My secondary research interests are in philosophy of mind, specifically the nature of belief, and philosophy of religion, specifically Pascal’s Wager and the nature of faith. I have further interest in decision theory, ethics and normativity, and metaphysics. See here for a long-form interview (with Richard Marshall’s 3:16 series) that summarizes my research for a non-specialist audience.
My non-philosophical interests include sports (especially basketball), traveling, avocados, coffee, weight lifting, cooking, and podcasts.
Recent Talks & Events
2025
February 3, 2025: “How to Publish in Philosophy”, for SLU Grad Students (Handout)
February 26, 2025: “Permissivism and Pragmatic Belief” at University of Missouri-St. Louis
February 28, 2025: “Direct (Doxastic) Control is Overrated” Central APA (Session on Doxastic Voluntarism, online) (Handout)
March 11, 2025: “Explaining Evil and Pragmatic Belief” (Concordia University at Edmonton) (Handout) (Video)
March 13, 2025: “The Puzzle of Faith and Reason” (Mac & Rena Watson Public Lecture, University of New Brunswick) (Slides) (Video)
March 14, 2025: “The Puzzle of Faith and Reason” (St. Thomas University, New Brunswick) (Slides) (Video)
April 5-6, 2025: “Beliefless, Credence-Based Faith” (Atlanta, GA, Beliefless Spirituality Workshop) (Handout) (Video)
April 11, 2025: “The Limitations of Evidence: Epistemic Options, Parity, and Permissions” (Colloquium Talk, Northwestern University) (Handout) (Video)
May 18-20, 2025: St. Louis Conference on Reasons and Rationality
June 8-14, 2025: “The Psychological Case for Doxastic Voluntarism” (with Mark Boespflug), Summer Seminar on the Psychology of Faith (University of St. Thomas, Minnesota) (Slides)
June 19-21, 2025: “The Psychological Case for Doxastic Voluntarism” (with Mark Boespflug), (Society for Philosophy and Psychology, Cornell) (Poster)
July 7-10, 2025: Veritas Graduate Scholars Conference (University of Notre Dame) (Handout: Women in the Academy) (Handout: Work/Life Balance)
November 14, 2025: “Locke on Credence” (Locke Epistemology Workshop, online) (Handout) (Full Paper)
2026 and later
February 6, 2026: “Withholding is Not Assessable For Accuracy” (with Chris Tucker) (William and Mary, online) (Handout)
March 10, 2026: “Withholding is Not Assessable For Accuracy” (with Chris Tucker) (Inquiry Network Work-in-Progress Group) (Handout)
April 18, 2026: “Why Smart People Disagree About God—And What That Means for You” (Keynote, St. Louis Undergraduate Philosophy Conference, Washington University St. Louis)
May 17–19, 2026: St. Louis Conference on Reasons and Rationality
June 28–July 2, 2026: Veritas Graduate Scholars Conference, University of Notre Dame
September 11–12, 2026: Midwest Epistemology Workshop, Ohio State
Fall 2026: Colloquium Talk, Wichita State University
Fall 2026: Colloquium Talk, University of Delaware
March 18–19, 2027: Beliefless Spirituality Capstone Conference
June 9–11, 2027: Workshop on Steup on Justification, Wayne State University
Contact
Saint Louis University, Department of Philosophy
Adorjan Hall 305
3800 Lindell Blvd
Saint Louis, MO 63108 USA