• Professor of Philosophy, University of Memphis (2023- )

• Chair, Department of Philosophy (Aug. 2019-July 2024)  

• Associate Professor of Philosophy, University of Memphis (2012)

• Assistant Professor of Philosophy, University of Memphis (2006)

• Editor, The Southern Journal of Philosophy (2017-2026*)

*Excepting Sabbatical AY24-25

• Ph.D., Department of Philosophy, University of Michigan (2000-2006)

• B.A. Boston University, Magna Cum Laude withDistinction & College Honors (1993-1997)

• Ethics: Moral theory, human dignity, respect, moral psychology, empathy, emotions, metaethics

• History of Ethics: Enlightenment moral and political theory, Adam Smith & David Hume

Books

1. The Possibility of Respect: Human Dignity and the Ethics of Difference (Oxford University Press, 2025)

2. Editor, Dignity: A History, part ofthe Oxford Philosophical Concept series (Oxford University Press, 2017).

3. Co-Editor (with Karsten Stueber), Ethical Sentimentalism: New Perspectives (Cambridge University Press, 2017).

Edited Journal Volumes

1. Guest Editor and Introduction. Scottish Reactions to Mandeville. Special Edition of Journal ofScottish Philosophy 12:1 (2014) v-viii.

2. Guest Editor and Introduction. Empathy & Ethics. Spindel Supplement to the SouthernJournal of Philosophy (2011).

Articles & Book Chapters

1. “Adam Smith, Political Stability, and the Pull of Sympathy.” In The Empathetic Emotions in the History of Philosophy, Eds. Keith Ansell-Pearson and David James. (Oxford University Press, 2025) pp. 146-166.

2. “A Place for Animals? Rethinking the History of Human Dignity.” In Animal Dignity: Philosophical Reflections on Non-Human Existence, Ed. Melanie Challenger. (London: Bloomsbury Press, 2023) pp. 33-48.

3. “Dignity.” The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Feb. 18, 2023.

4. “Respect: A History.” In Respect: Philosophical Essays. Ed. Richard Dean and Oliver Sensen (New York: Oxford University Press, 2021) 1-28.

5. “Hume on Personal Merit:  Virtue, Talent, and the Import of Appendix 4.” In Reading Hume on the Principles of Morals. Ed. by Jacqueline Taylor. (New York, Oxford University Press, 2020).

6. “How Many Bachs Do We Have? Reflections on the Work of Gordon Graham” (Journal of Scottish Philosophy 17:1 (2019)

7. “Understanding Persons and the Problem of Power.” In Making Sense of the World: New Essays in the Philosophy of Understanding, Ed. Stephen Grimm (New York: Oxford University Press, forthcoming, October 2017).

8. “The Authority of Empathy.” In Ethical Sentimentalism, Ed. Remy Debes and Karsten Stueber (Cambridge University Press, November 2017).

9. “Understanding Others in an Alienating World: Comments on Lori Gruen’s Entangled Empathy,” Hypatia 32:2 (2017) 428-438

10. “Passionate Persons: Human Dignity Before Kant.” In, Dignity: A History, Ed. Remy Debes (Oxford University Press, 2017) pp. 203-237.

11.  “Empathy and mirror neurons.” In, Routledge Handbook of Philosophy of Empathy, Ed. Heidi Maibom. (Routledge, 2017) 54-63

12. “Adam Smith and the Sympathetic Imagination.” In Adam Smith: His Life, Thought, and Legacy Ed. Ryan Hanley. (New York: Princeton University Press, 2016) 192-207.

13. “On Bertram Morris, ‘Dignity of Man.’” [Retrospective Essay] Ethics 125:3 (2015): 836-839.

14. “From Einfühlung to Empathy: Sympathy in Early Phenomenology and Psychology.” In Sympathy: A History, Ed. Eric Schliesser. Part of the new Oxford Philosophical Concepts series. (Oxford University Press, 2015).

15. “Moral Rationalism and Moral Realism.” In the Routledge Companion to 18th Century Philosophy, Ed. Aaron Garrett (New York, NY: Routledge, 2014) 500-534.

16. “Moral Sentiments.” In the International Encyclopedia of Ethics, eds. Hugh LaFollette, John Deigh, and Sarah Stroud. 5500 words. 2013. (Double Blind Refereed)

17. “Adam Smith on Dignity and Equality,” British Journal for the History of Philosophy, 20:1 (2012): 109-140.

18. “Recasting Scottish Sentimentalism: The Peculiarity of Moral Approval.” Journal of Scottish Philosophy 10.1 (2012): 91–115.

    • Reprinted in Moral Emotions in the Scottish Enlightenment, a special virtual issue of JSP featuring eleven articles curated from past issues

19. “Which Empathy? Limitations in the Mirrored ‘Understanding’ of Emotion,” Synthese 175:2 (2010): 219-239.

20. “Dignity’s Gauntlet,” Philosophical Perspectives. 2:1 (2009): 45-78.

21. “Neither Here Nor There: The Cognitive Nature of Emotion,” Philosophical Studies 146: 1 (2009): pp. 1-27.

22. “Has Anything Changed? Hume’s Theory of Association and Sympathy After the Treatise,” British Journal for the History of Philosophy 15:2 (2007) pp. 313-338. A version of this paper was translated into Spanish, appearing in 2012 Cuadernos filosóficos ("Philosophical Notebooks"), the annual journal edited by the Departmento de Filosofía of the Universidad Nacional de Rosario (Argentina)

23. “Humanity, Sympathy, and the Puzzle of Hume’s Second Enquiry,” British Journal for the History of Philosophy 15:1 (2007): pp. 27-57.

 Public Facing

24. “Facing Up to Oppression: Adam Smith and The Question of Reparations” Adam Smith Works, Oct. 1, 2020

25. “Dignity is Delicate.” Aeon. Sep. 17, 2018

26.  “The History of Dignity.” The Forum. February 2018.

 Reviews

1. 2024: “Adam Smith on Humanity and the Genesis of Moral Concern: Comments on Samuel Fleischacker’s, Being Me Being You.” Book symposium for Adam Smith Review. (2024)

2. 2022: Suzy Killmister, The Contours of Dignity. In, Kennedy Institute of Ethics Journal (John Hopkins University Press) Volume 32, Number 3, September 2022.

3. 2018:   Jacqueline A. Taylor. Reflecting Subjects: Passion, Sympathy, and Society in Hume’s Philosophy. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2015. In Journal for the History of Philosophy.

4. 2013:   Jeremy Waldron, Meir Dan-Cohen (ed.), Dignity, Rank, and Rights (OUP: 2012). In Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews (3000 words)

5. 2013:   Michael Rosen, Dignity (Harvard U. Press). In The Philosophers’ Magazine.

6. 2011:   George Kateb, Human Dignity (Harvard UP: 2011). In Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews (3500 words)

7. 2011:   Peter Goldie (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of The Philosophy of Emotion (OUP: 2010). Journal of Moral Philosophy (5000 words)

8. 2009:   Valerie Tiberius, The Reflective Life (OUP: 2009). In Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews (4000 words)

In Progress

• The Smithian Mind, in Routledge’s Philosophical Minds Series. Co-Edited with Nir Ben-Moshe and Michelle Schwarze (Under Contract)

• “Adam Smith on Social and Political Stability” (freestanding article)

• “The Commercial Man,” chapter for The Smithian Mind

• “Hume on the Peculiarity of Approbation” (freestanding article)

• Invited Scholar-in-Residence, The Stephenson Institute for Classical Liberalism, Wabash College, Nov. 18-25, 2024

• Graduate Student Association Faculty Mentor Award (one of eight university wide) 2024

• Alumni Assoc. Distinguished Teaching Award (University Wide Teaching Honor) 2019

• Faculty Fellow, Marcus Orr Center for the Humanities, (College-Wide) Spring 2019

• Nominee, Thomas W. Briggs Teaching Excellence Award (Career Teaching Award) 2017

• Templeton Research Grant Winner (72K) 2014, 1 of 8 Philosophy awards in the “Varieties of Understanding” Project, out of an initial pool of 160 applicants

• Faculty Research Grant, Summer Fellowship, University of Memphis (University-wide) 2014

• Nominee, Thomas W. Briggs Teaching Excellence Award (Career Teaching Award) 2013

• Dean’s Award for Excellence in Advising (sole recipient, College of Arts & Sciences) 2011

• College of Arts and Sciences Excellence in Teaching Award (1 of 2 recipients) 2010

• Invited Director, Cog-Sci Seminar, Institute for Intelligent Systems, U. Memphis Fall 2010

• Alumni Assoc. Distinguished Teaching Award (University Wide Teaching Honor) 2009

• Commencement Address, Boston University Dept. of Philosophy 2009

• PDA Research Grant University of Memphis, Fall 2009

• Nominee, Distinguished Advising Award 2008

  Faculty Research Grant, Summer 2008, University of Memphis (University-wide) 2008

• Nominee, Emerging Scholar Prize, Institute for the Humanities, U. Michigan 2008

• Charlotte Newcombe Fellow (National competition) 2005-6

• Also in 2005, I was awarded the following fellowships at Michigan I could not accept:

  • Institute for the Humanities Predoctoral Fellowship (University-wide competition)

  • Rackham Predoctoral Fellowship (University-wide competition)

• Rackham One-Term Fellowship (Michigan) 2004               

• Charles L. Stevenson Award for best doctoral candidacy dossier (Michigan) 2003

• Outstanding Graduate Student Instructor (Michigan: University-wide competition) 2003

• Marshall Weinberg Summer Fellowship (Michigan: Department-wide competition) 2002

• Cornwell Fellowship for outstanding scholarly promise (Michigan) 2002       

• Regents Fellowship 2000-7

• Co-Director (with Charles Griswold, Boston University), Liberty Fund Conference, Perfecting Liberty: Utopia and Dystopia in Philosophy and Fiction (competitive proposal, externally funded, ~50K). October. 2022

• Director, The 2022 SJP Workshop, Early Modern Social Justice. April 2022. Featuring Susan James, Samuel Fleischacker, James Harris, Brandon Hogan, Lori Watson, Myisha Cherry, Getty Lustilla, Dwight Lewis, and Charlotte Sabourin.

• Director, The 2021 SJP Workshop, The Ethics of Big Data. By Zoom, April 2019. Featuring Michael Lynch, Josh Fairfield, & David Gunkel (proceeding published in 2022).

• Director, The Inaugural SJP Workshop, The Epistemology of Justice, Memphis, March 2019. Featuring Elizabeth Anderson and Chris LeBron (proceedings published in 2020).

• Director, Liberty Fund Conference, Living the Paradox of Liberty: Three Generations of Black Narrative in America (competitive proposal, externally funded, ~50K). Feb. 2019

• Co-Director (with James Harris), The Scottish Tradition: Explaining its Rise, Understanding its Legacy. At Princeton CSSP, Spring 2018.

• Director, Liberty Fund Conference, Sociability and Governability: Bishop Butler in Context, Arlington, VA (competitive proposal, externally funded – 40K) – Sep. 2016

• Co-Director (with Karsten Stueber), Moral Sentimentalism & The Foundations of Morality – A workshop conference for authors in the Cambridge Volume – Holy Cross, Nov. 2014

• Director, Dignity: The History of a Concept – A workshop conference for authors in the OUP Volume by the same name – Memphis, March 2014.

• Director, Liberty Fund Conference, Liberty, Nature, and the Question of Human Dignity, La Jolla, CA (competitive proposal, fully externally funded – 42K) – April 2013

• Co-Director (with Gordon Graham), Scottish Reactions to Mandeville. At Princeton, Spring 2013. (Accompanied by selection of published papers in 2014.)

• Director, Natural Law, Speaker Series in the Department of Philosophy at the University of Memphis, Fall 2012 featuring Jacob Klein (Colgate), Michael Seidler (Western Kentucky), and Al Martinich (UT Austin)

• Director, Empathy & Ethics: The 2010 Spindel Conference at the University of Memphis. Key Notes: Stephen Darwall, John Deigh, Peter Goldie. Other Principal Participants: Amy Coplan, Jesse Prinz, David Shoemaker, Michael Slote, Susan Brison, Justin D’Arms, Christian Miller, Julia Driver, Karsten Stueber, Robert Roberts, Charles Starkey, Tamar Schapiro, Walter Sinott-Armstrong, Sarah Buss, Charles Griswold, and more.

• Director, 2010 Cognitive Science Seminar and Speaker Series on “Others’ Minds” at the Institute for Intelligent Systems, University of Memphis. Speakers: Daniel Dennett, Shaun Gallagher, Ken Aizawa, David Morris, John Bickle, Karsten Stueber, Remy Debes, Stephan Blatti, Deborah Tollefsen, John Tienson.

• Convener: “University Middle Research Cluster” 2018 Winner of a University of Memphis, Interdisciplinary “Communities of Scholars” $5K Seed Grant. Together with Stephanie Ivey (Assoc. Dean of Research, Engineering), Alfred Hall (College of Ed), Kenneth Ward (Public Health), Deborah Tollefsen (Assistant Dean and Professor, Philosophy), Lawrence Blackwell (Hatiloo Theater), Terrence Tucker (African American Literature), Sally Gates Parish (Assoc. Dean of Leadership), Sarah Petschonek (Volunteer Odyssey), Jason Braasch (Experimental Psych), and Brian Ruggaber (Theatre & Dance).

• Co-PI: €27,000 for 2017-19 (Spanish Government Grant). “Artificial Intelligence and Biotechnology of Moral Enhancement. Ethical Aspects” (FFI2016-79000-P). PI: Francisco Lara (University of Granada).

• $72,000. To support the 2014-2015 project, “Understanding as a Form of Respect,” part of the Varieties of Understanding Project, directed by Stephen Grimm, funded by the John Templeton Foundation.

• $5,900. 2012 to support (1) a Philosophy of Law reading group for majors on Hobbes’ Leviathan; and (2) fully funding a speaker series on “Natural Law,” featuring Jacob Klein (Colgate), Michael Seidler (WKU), and Al Martinich (UT Austin)

Invited (I) and Refereed (R)‍ ‍

• Introduction and Replies, Author-meets-critics, The Possibility of Respect, St. Andrews, Scotland, March 2026 I. Critics: Michael Cholbi (Edinburgh), Adam Etinson (St. Andrews), Emma Gordon (Glascow), Chaired by James Harris (St. Andrews)

• “The Possibility of Respect,” The Murphy Seminar Series in Philosophy, Tulane University, September 2025 (I)

• “Between Persons and States: The Problem of Political Personality,” Center for the Study of Scottish Philosophy, Keynote, Fordham University, May, 2025 (I)

• “Hume on the Peculiarity of Moral Approbation,” Indiana University, Bloomington, May 2025 (I)

• “Dignity and Respect: Then and Now,” Five Lecture Seminar at University Vita-Salute San Raffaele, Milan, March 20025 (I)

• “Adam Smith’s Commercial Man.” International Adam Smith Society, Lecce Italy, March 2025 (R)

• “Was Adam Smith a Virtue Ethicist? Comments on Nir Ben-Moshe”, Commemorating the 20th Anniversary of Samuel Fleishhacker’s On Adam Smith’s “Wealth of Nations”: A Philosophical Companion. Wabash November 2024 (I)

• “Adam Smith's Hierarchy of Political Stability in TMS,” Boston College Workshop on 18th Century Philosophy, May 2024 (I)

• “The Possibility of Respect,” Inaugural Meeting of MWS Workshop in Political Philosophy, April 12-14, Chicago (I)

• “The Possibility of Respect,” Washington University, St Louis, April, 2024 (I)

• “The Possibility of Respect,” Guest Speaker, Olivia Bailey’s Seminar on “Empathy and its Kin,” Berkeley, Apr 2024 (I)

• “The Possibility of Respect,” LSU, Baton Rouge, Jan. 26, 2024 (I)

• “Adam Smith on Social and Political Stability,” Wabash College, Oct 10, 2023 (I)

• “The Possibility of Respect,” University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Sep. 8, 2023 (I)

• “Adam Smith, Social Stability, and the Joy of Sympathy” International Adam Smith Society, St. Andrews. July 18-21, 2023 (R)

• “Adam Smith, Social Stability, and the Joy of Sympathy.” Boston College. April 13-14, 2023 (I)

• Podcast Interview with The Dignity Initiative at McGill University, Montreal, and funded by the Foundation for Psychocultural Research in Los Angeles in collaboration with UNICEF. https://www.dignityinitiative.net

• “The Possibility of Respect: The High Stakes of Understanding Persons.” APA Pacific, Vancouver, Canada. April 2022

• Comments on Samuel Fleischaker’s Being You Being Me, International Adam Smith Society, Madison, October 2021 (I)

• Discussion Leader, Liberty Fund Seminar. “Freedom and Responsibility in Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man.” Virtual Conference, March 2021. (I)

• “The Moral Status of A.I.” APA Pacific, San Francisco, April 2020. I (Cancelled, Covid)

• “Facing Up to Oppression: Reparations & Repair in Adam Smith’s Liberalism,” McDonald Center for America’s Founding Principles, Mercer University, February 2020. (I)

• “Is Respect an Emotion?” APA Eastern, Philadelphia, Jan. 2020. (I)

• “Facing Up to Oppression: Adam Smith on Reparations” Indianapolis, Nov. 2019. (I)

• “Rethinking Respect,” Practical Philosophy Round Table, University of Bergen, Nov. 2019, (I)

• “Respect as Understanding.” Center for Ethics, Philosophy, and Public Affairs at St. Andrews, April 2019, (I)

• “Dignitas Ex Machina,” Legal Theory Seminar Series, University of Edinburgh. April 2019 (I)

• “Dignity as Perspective,” Institute for Advanced Studies in Culture, University of Virginia, October 2018, (I)

• “Dignitas Ex Machina,” Fall 2018, University of Memphis Cognitive Science Series (I)

• Conferee, Liberty Fund Seminar, “Frankenstein” Spring 2018. (I)

• Panelist, “Reflections on the Work of Gordon Graham,”The Scottish Tradition: Explaining its Rise, Understanding its Legacy. At Princeton CSSP, Spring 2018. (I)

• Commentator, APA Eastern, Savannah. 2018 (I)

• Discussion Leader, Liberty Fund Seminar. “Liberty, Family, and Self-Direction in Jane Austen.” Miami Beach, December 2017. (I)

• “Understanding Persons and the Problem of Power.” Wesleyan University. Sep. 2017 (I)

• Liberty Fund Seminar, Participant. “2017-18 Socratic Leadership Seminar.” Indianapolis, September 2017. (I)

• “Understanding as Respect(ing).” Ninth European Congress of Analytic Philosophy (ECAP9) in Munich (August 21-26, 2017). (R)

• Discussion Leader, Liberty Fund Seminar. “Liberty, Responsibility, and the Human Condition in Montaigne and Pascal.” Charleston, January 2017. (I)

• “Understanding as Respect(ing)” Rhodes College. November 2016. (I)

• Liberty Fund Seminar, Participant. “Liberty and Modernity in Thomas Mann’s The Magic Mountain. New Paltz, October 2016. (I)

• Liberty Fund, Participant. “Smith and Rousseau in Conversation: Liberty, Commerce and Moral Responsibility.” Paradise Valley, June 2016. (I)

• “Understanding Others in an Alienating World: Comments on Lori Gruen’s Entangled Empathy,” Author Meets Critics Panel, APA Pacific, March 2016. (I)

• “Understanding as Respect(ing)” 51st Annual Cincinnati Philosophy Colloquium: Perspectives on Empathy. September 2015. (I)

• Liberty Fund Seminar, Participant. "Liberty and Revelation in the Holy Qur'an.” Tuscon, September, 2015. (I)

• Liberty Fund Seminar, Participant. “Liberty and Responsibility in Cervantes’s Don Quixote” Santa Fe, August 2015. (I)

• “Hume on Personal Merit: Making Sense of EPM Appendix 4,” 42nd Hume Society Meeting, Stockholm, July 2015. (R)

• “Understanding as Respect(ing)” – Templeton Capstone Conference, June 2015 (I)

• Discussion Leader, Liberty Fund Seminar. “The Scottish Enlightenment on Educating for Liberty.” Boulder, April 2015. (I)

• Discussion Leader, Liberty Fund Seminar. “Liberty and Individual Responsibility in the Upanishad and Bhagavad Gita. La Jolla, May 2015. (I)

• Panelist for session on Adam Smith – Common Sense & Enlightenment CSSP, Princeton, 2015 (I)

• Liberty Fund Seminar, Participant. “Liberty, Nature, and Wisdom in the Philosophical Tales of the French Enlightenment.” La Jolla, January 2015. (I)

• “The Authority of Empathy,” Moral Sentimentalism and the Foundations of Morality, College of the Holy Cross, MA November 14-15, 2014

• “Passionate Persons,” Dignity, Respect, and Esteem in 17th- and 18th- Century Moral Philosophy before Kant, Université de Lausanne, Switzerland, September 2014 (I)

• “Mandeville’s Critique of Human Dignity,” Conference on Mandeville’s Fable of the Bees, University of Helsinki, Finland, June 2014 (I)

• “Adam Smith’s Answer to “Why by Moral?”, Kirkaldy, Scotland, June 2014 (I)

• “Passionate Persons” – Invited Symposium Paper for Pacific APA (joined by Stephen Darwall, commentators John Deigh and Tamar Shapiro). April 2014 (I)

• Liberty Fund Seminar, Participant, “Liberty and the Color Line in the Post-Civil War Period,” Atlanta, February 2014 (I)

• Panel Director and Presenter, “Smith and the Scots on Human Nature, Human Worth, and Identity” (together with Michael Gill (Arizona) and Ernesto Garcia (U. Mass, Amherst). “ECSSS/IASS conference on “Scotland, Europe and Empire in the Age of Adam Smith and Beyond” at the Sorbonne, Paris 3–6 July 2013 (R)

• Liberty Fund Seminar, Participant, “Liberty and Responsibility in Homer’s Odyssey,” La Jolla, April 2013 (I)

• Comments on Stephan Morris, “An Empirical Perspective on Enlightened Self-Interest” APA Central, 2013 (I)

• “On The Border of Truth: Smith’s Mitigated Rejection of Mandeville,” Keynote talk for a Conference on Scottish Reactions to Mandeville, Princeton, March 2013 (I)

• “Adam Smith on Natural Law, Natural Rights, and the Dignity of Persons,” Conference on Scottish Common Sense Philosophy and the Natural Law Tradition in America, CSSP, Princeton, September 2012 (R)

• Comments on Kevin Meeker’s, “Ethics and Epistemology in Hume,” Hume Society, Calgary July 2012 (I)

• Liberty Fund Seminar, “Sources of Adam Smith’s Theory of Moral Sentiment,” Alexandria VA, June 2012 (I)

• “From Einfühlung to Empathy,” All Plenary Conference on “Sympathy,” University of Richmond, June 2012 (other participants include Geoff Sayre-McCord, Eyjólfur Kjalar Emilsson, Vernon Smith, Christia Mercer, Ryan Hanley, and many more.) (I)

• Invited Keynote: “Hume’s Peculiar Sentiment” Graduate Conference in the Philosophy Department at Texas Tech, April 2012 (I)

• “On Human Dignity” Mississippi State, Feb. 2012 (I)

• “Moral Rationalism and Moral Realism” University of San Francisco, Nov. 2011 (I)

• “The Peculiar Ethics of David Hume,” South Central Seminar in Early Modern Philosophy, Texas A & M, Nov. 2011. (I) (one of two invited; remainder open call)

• Liberty Fund Seminar, “Forming the Intellect and the Passions: Rousseau’s Emile.” La Jolla, CA, 2011. (I)

• Comments on Victor Kumar, “Moral Responsibility and Determinism” APA Central 2011 (I)

• “The Authority of Empathy,” SSPP 2011, New Orleans (I)

• “The Authority of Empathy,” UT Knoxville TN January 2011 (I)

• “The Authority of Empathy” Hale Series in Ethics, Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester NY October 2010 (I)

• “The Authority of Empathy,” Ole Miss, Oxford MI 2010 (I)

• “Empathy through the Ages,” University of Memphis Cognitive Science Seminar, 2010 (I)

• “The Peculiar Sentiment,” Hume Society, Antwerp, July 2010 (R) (double blind)

• Liberty Fund Socratic Seminar, “Four Ways To Freedom: Cultural Traditions of Liberty in America.” Indianapolis, 2010 (I)

• “A Compass to the ‘Real’: The Sentiment of Approval,” Practical Ethics in the Scottish Philosophical Tradition, Princeton Theological Seminary, 2010 (R)

• Comments on Scott Anderson, “Coercion, States, and the Practical Function of Principles of Responsibility,” APA Pacific 2010 (read in absentia) (I)

• “Dignity’s Gauntlet,” University of San Diego Dept. of Political Science, 2010 (I)

• “The Authority of Empathy,” Dartmouth University, 2010 (I)

• “Adam Smith on Dignity and Equality,” Atlantic Canada Seminar in Early Modern Philosophy, 2009 (R)

• “Judging Emotions Empathically,” University of Kansas, 2009 (I)

• Liberty Fund Seminar, “Adam Smith and William Blackstone on Jurisprudence.” Bath, UK, 2009 (I)

• “The Value of Persons in the Moral Philosophy of Adam Smith” 250th commemoration conference of Adam Smith’s The Theory of Moral Sentiments, Oxford University, 2009 (R)

• “The Value of Persons in the Moral Philosophy of Adam Smith” Southeastern Seminar in Early Modern Philosophy, 2008 (R)

• “What Fittingness Isn’t Fit to Do” Southern Society for Philosophy and Psychology, 2008 (R)

• “What Fittingness Isn’t Fit to Do” University of Arkansas, Little Rock, 2008 (I)

•  “Which Empathy? Limitations in the Mirrored Understanding of Emotion,” Cognitive Science Seminar, University of Memphis, 2007 (I)

• “Hume’s Theory of Association After the Treatise,” Hume Society Annual Meeting, Boston, 2007 (R) (double blind)

• “Why Thinking About Emotion Means Rethinking Cognition, Means Rethinking Emotion," the Southern Society for Philosophy and Psychology, Atlanta, 2007 (R)

• “Mirroring, Mistaken Empathy, and Messed Up Judgments,” the CSULB Center for Cognitive Science conference on Mirror Neurons And Cognition, 2007 (I)

• “Neither Here Nor There: The Cognitive Nature of Emotion,” Poster Presentation at the Emotion Pre-Conference to the Society for Personality and Social Psychology Annual Meeting, Memphis, 2007 (R)

• Commentary on Christopher Ciocchetti, “Non-Domination and Property: A Critique of Pettit’s Republicanism,” Central States Philosophical Association (Fall 2007) (I)

• Commentary on Mathew Lu, “Kantian Ethics and the Demands of Special Concern,” Tennessee Philosophical Association (Fall 2007) (I)

• “Why Thinking About Emotion Means Rethinking Cognition, Means Rethinking Emotion," Tennessee Philosophical Association, 2006 (R)

• “Humanity, Sympathy, and the Puzzle of Hume's Second Enquiry,” South Central Seminar in Early Modern Philosophy, University of Arkansas, 2006 (R)

• “Rethinking the Justification of Emotion,” presented at Tufts University, Colorado State, University of Minnesota at Duluth, & California State University Long Beach (all in Winter 2006) (I)

• “Getting Upset Doesn’t Mean You Don’t Like it: Questioning the Reliability of Emotion as a Guide to Value,” 31st Conference for Value Inquiry, U. North Dakota, April 2003 (R)

• “So You Want to Be a Virtue Ethicist? Then You’d Better Be a Moral Psychologist Too.” Presented at the University of Texas Graduate Conference on Virtue Ethics, April 2002 (R)

University & College Level

• Chair, Provost’s “AI & Pedagogy Task Force” (2025-26): The purpose of this task force is to help establish a campus-wide community of practice (broadly understood) that will foster meaningful, ongoing, interdisciplinary study of and discussions about the ways that Generative AI can enhance learning as well as its risks. Further to this end, we will provide guidance for creating a roadmap for navigating the shifting landscape of college instruction in the age of AI.

• Chair, Alumni Distinguished Teaching Award Selection Committee (2020-21)

• Co-Lead, “Infusing Diversity Curriculum Committee,” part of the Presidential “Eradicating Racism” Initiative (2020-21)

• Co-Chair: University Middle Steering Committee (2018-2020), together with Kate Schaffzin, Interim Dean of Law. By invitation of and reporting directly to the President, Dr. M. David Rudd. Charged with designing and implementing a comprehensive vision for a new laboratory middle school. This required working with Shelby County Schools Superintendent Chief Officer, and all level of staff, as well as University of Memphis Chiefs of Finance, Operations, Information, and Legal, to write and secure the MOU Agreement for operation of the school from the County. Major responsibilities included overseeing or assisting, and coordinating and reporting on: benchmark research; public opinion surveys (teachers, parents, students, administrators); curriculum design; budget planning; admissions and enrollment policy; recruitment of students; website and media design; hiring of School Director, faculty and staff; building and construction design and planning; public outreach and community partnership planning. In this role I also serve as the primary liaison between SCS and the University of Memphis, leading presentations to SCS Committees and the Superintendent’s Cabinet, as well as to the campus community, in particular to parents of students enrolled in Campus Elementary.

• University of Memphis Research Council (2018-). Representative At-Large, Selected by the Executive VP of Research and Innovation. Also on the subcommittee for strategic long-term planning.

• U of M Research Vision Committee (2015-8) & Subcommittee for the Redesign of the University Webpage for Research. By invitation of and reporting directly to the President, Dr. M. David Rudd. This endeavor involved research on and the  planning of a comprehensive set of recommendations to achieve the University’s longstanding ambition of Carnegie-1 classification. The committee executed a wide benchmark study and reported on everything from website and media strategies to culture to tenure guideline to government relations strategy. President Rudd ultimately implemented our largest set of guidelines around the creation of a single new research division to oversee what had hitherto been separate offices related to research develop and grants accounting, including the appointment of a new VP and establishment of a permanent university wide research council.

• Faculty Advisory Committee, Disability Resources for Students. (2018-)

• CAS Tenure & Promotion Committee (Fall 2016)

• Chair, “Let’s Talk” Committee (A Critical Conversation Initiative), 2016-18.

• Critical Conversations: Exec. Committee. By Provost’s invitation. (2015-18) Responsible for the planning of semester long colloquia series, round table discussions, and open house forums, on questions of diversity, race, gender, sexual orientation, sexual harassment and assault, immigration, toleration, etc.

• Search Committee for VP of Research. By invitation of and reporting directly to the President, Dr. M. David Rudd (Fall 2014). This committee ultimately recommended against the hire of any of the finalists. Instead, it recommended an interim research vision committee, with the partial goal of better identifying the University’s research strategy and needs, and, in turn, the criteria of a successful VP candidate. The President accepted and implemented this recommendation.

• Panelist for New Faculty Orientation on Research (2015, 2016, 2018)

• College of Arts and Sciences, Undergrad. Curriculum Committee (2012-Spring 2017)

• Faculty Research Grant, Review Committee (2009, 2010, 2018)

• Alumni Distinguished Teaching Award Selection Committee (2011-12)

• Faculty Judge, Student Research Fair (Spring 2010)

• Search Committee for the Director of the Humanities Center (2007)

• Humanities Center Faculty Reading Group, Invited Speaker, (Spring 2007). 

Department Service

• Chair of Philosophy, 2019-2024

• Editor, Southern Journal of Philosophy (Spring 2017-present; excepting AY 24-25 while on sabbatical)

• Director of Undergraduate Advising, Dept. of Philosophy 2008-Spring 2011; Summer 2013-Summer 2016 (relieved during sabbatical year 2014-15)

• Chair, Colloquium Programming Committee (2015-)

• Chair, Undergraduate Curriculum Assessment (to fulfill requirements mandated by TN Board of Regents) (2010-2012) (2017-2018)

• Chair, Practical Comprehensive Exam Committee (2007-2008; Fall 2011); Member (2009-2010)

• Bornblum Graduate Travel Award Committee (2011-present)

• Graduate Admissions Committee (2011-2012; 2018-2019)

• Member, Graduate Comprehensive Exam Revision Committee (2010)

• Director: Proseminar and Graduate Teaching Skills (2011-2012)

• Advisor to Philosophy Circle, Memphis Undergrad Philosophy Club (2008-9)

• Placement Coordinator (2006-Spr. 2008) 

To the Profession

• Editorial Board, Journal of Scottish Philosophy (2012-)

• Referee, External Review of Wesleyan Department of Philosophy (2023)

• Occasional Referee (Book Proposal and Manuscripts): Oxford University Press, Cambridge University Press, University of Chicago Press, Routledge

• Occasional Referee (Articles): Ethics, Philosopher’s Imprint, Philosophical Studies,European Journal of Philosophy, Journal of Ethics and Social Philosophy, Journal for the History of Philosophy, British Journal for the History of Philosophy, British Journal for the Philosophy of Science, Philosophical Quarterly, Hume Studies, Philosophical Psychology, Journal for Value Inquiry, Journal for Philosophical Research, The Southern Journal of Philosophy, Journal for Law and Society, Dialectica, Philosophia, Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews (Cognitive Science), among others

• Programming Committee for the 2017 Central Division meeting of the APA

• Secretary & Treasurer, International Adam Smith Society (2008-Spring 2014)

• Grant Referee: Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada

• Invited Session Chair: Central APA (2009 & 2010); APA Meeting of the International Adam Smith Society (2010, 2011, 2012); Southwestern Philosophical Society (2010); Hume Society (2009); Southern Society for Philosophy and Psychology, Atlanta (2007) & New Orleans (2008); Annual Madison Metaethics Workshop (2007) 

Teaching Related

• Director, 2010 Cognitive Science Seminar and Speaker Series on “Others’ Minds”@ the Institute for Intelligent Systems, University of Memphis.

• Learning Communities Professor: Values and the Modern World (Fall 2008)

• Honors Contracted Course (Fall 2007 & Spring 2008)

• Undergraduate Directed Study (Spring 2008, 2 in 2011)

• Undergraduate Honors Program Faculty Mentor (2006-7)

• Speaker, Undergraduate Philosophy Club (Fall 2006)

• Graduate Teaching Mentor: J. Nale, C. Yazici, K. Gissberg, N. Garrera, D. Larkin, C. Barnes, K. Ryan, J. Wurtz; A. Britton. 

Community Related

• Interview with Fox Evening News, “Bad Call” June 2010.

• Invited Host for Great Conversations, College of Arts and Science Community Outreach Dinner, upcoming April 19, 2007

• Interview with Fox Evening News, “The Honesty Test” February 27, 2007

• Interview with the Commercial Appeal “Defeatist Attitude? It may be OK, if star is the prize” January 13, 2007

• Interview with the Commercial Appeal “Does It Pay to be a Snitch” October 22, 2006

Fall (F) & Spring (S)

• Graduate Seminar on The Rise and Fall of Social Contract Theory: F25

• Graduate Seminar on Smith, Hegel, Marx: S23 (co-Taught with Mike Monahan)

• Graduate Seminar on Hume’s Treatise: F21

• Graduate Seminar on Emotions & Agency: F19

• Graduate Seminar on Respect: F16

• Graduate Seminar on Hume’s Treatise: S14 (co-Taught with John Tienson)

• Graduate Seminar on Ethics: F13

• Graduate Seminar on Empathy: S12

• Graduate Seminar on Sentimentalist Ethics: S10

• Graduate Seminar on Human Dignity: S08

• Intro to Philosophy: F06, S07, F07, S08, F08, S09, S11, F12, F13, F16, F17, S18, S23

• Honors Introduction to Philosophy: S13, F25

• Philosophy of Law: F07, F08, S10, S12, S17, S23

• Contemporary Moral Problems (Applied Ethics): F06; Summer 2010; Fall 2018.

• Ethical Theory: S07, S11, S13, S18, S2, S22

• Topics in Ethics (Grad/Undergrad): “16th and 17th Century Ethics” F10; “Egoism” F12

• Director, Cognitive Science Seminar (Psychology Department): F10

• Dissertation Committee Member: Suzanne Antley (Ph.D. 2007), Gabriella Beckles (PhD 2011), Nicolas Garerra, Michael Burroughs (PhD 2012), Matthew Lexow; Jennifer Roche (MA, Psychology, 2010), Sarah Vincent (2015), Chair Desiree Bushnell (PhD 2017), Co-Chair J. Torrey (2019), Reese Faust (2022)

• American Philosophical Association

• Secretary & Treasurer, International Adam Smith Society (2007-2014)

• Hume Society

• International Society for Research on Emotion (ISRE)

• Associate, Behavioral and Brain Sciences

• Affiliate, Institute for Intelligent Systems (University of Memphis)

• Affiliate, Manchester Centre for Emotions and Value (MANCEV)

• Society for Philosophy and Psychology

• Southern Society for Philosophy and Psychology

• Tennessee Philosophical Association