Graduate Students
Tim went to Texas A&M where he received a bachelors and masters in philosophy. He is writing his dissertation on Kant's concept of freedom. His other areas of competence are ancient philosophy, ethics, and political philosophy.
Tim Aylsworth'sWeb site-
Joel Ballivian
Area of Interest: Epistemology, Confirmation Theory, Practical Ethics, and Philosophy of Religion
e-mail: ballivian@wisc.edu
Office: 5172 Helen C. White
Joel received both his B.A. and M.A. in philosophy from Western Michigan University. These are some of the questions he likes to think about: is evidence necessary for justified belief? How do we rationally adjudicate between competing hypotheses? How much sacrifice does morality require of us? Are there any good reasons to believe in God? When he’s not doing philosophy, Joel enjoys blogging, playing drums, playing guitar, eating cereal, dancing wildly at weddings, the Office, and Bob Loblaw.
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Emily Barrett
e-mail: ebarrett3@wisc.edu
Emily received a B.A. in philosophy from Colby College and an M.A. in philosophy from Cal State Long Beach. In her master's thesis she defended the view that delusions are beliefs, and her research sparked an interest in philosophy of psychiatry. She also has interests in epistemology, philosophy of mind, philosophy of psychology, and philosophy of cognitive science.
Martin Barrett
e-mail: mbrrtt@pobox.com
Elizabeth Bell
Area of Interest: Formal Epistemology, Logic, Philosophy of Science, Ancient Philosophy
e-mail: ebell3@wisc.edu
Office: 5112 Helen C. White
Before coming to Madison, Elizabeth earned her B.A. in philosophy and B.S. in psychology from Boise State University. She also earned her M.A. In philosophy from the University of Wyoming. In her master’s thesis, Elizabeth began modifying the AGM model of belief revision so that it could accommodate multiple entrenchment orderings. The main questions currently plaguing her include: “What are the ways in which a belief becomes important to an agent?”, “If there are different ways, are some better (or more rational) than others?”, “What is the connection between evidence, explanation, and understanding?” In her search for answers, she is currently focused on Bayesian approaches to belief maintenance. When she isn’t actively pursuing her philosophical interests, she enjoys Backpacking, cooking, and a good fantasy novel.
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Frank received his BA in Philosophy (and Spanish) from Muhlenberg College in Allentown, PA. His primary interests are in philosophy of science, in particular the nature of Inference to the Best Explanation and its relationship to Bayesianism. He is also interested in methodological issues in historical linguistics, in particular the recent adoption of phylogenetic methods from biology in order to infer language trees.
Clinton is interested in epistemology (including formal), ethics, and applied ethics (especially information ethics).
Clinton Castro'sWeb site
Hadley Cooney
Area of Interest: Early Modern Philosophy
Phone: 608-273-3700
e-mail: hcooney@wisc.edu
Office: 5174 Helen C. White
Hadley’s research is focused primarily on early modern philosophy and feminist history of philosophy. She is currently finishing a dissertation exploring Spinoza’s “free man”.
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Patrick Cronin
Areas of Interest: Formal Epistemology, Philosophy of Science, Metaphysics, Metaethics
e-mail: pmcronin@wisc.edu
Office: 5191 Helen C. White
Patrick got his B.A. in history and philosophy from the University of Iowa, and received his M.A. in philosophy from Western Michigan University. His main interests stand at the intersection of epistemology, skepticism, confirmation theory, explanatory reasoning, metaphysics, and metaethics. He is also interested in empiricism and general philosophical method. His most recent work has been on the realist/anti-realist debate about causal or ‘nomic’ realism. He has argued that Humeanism about laws of nature and causality is a hypothesis which is strongly and continually disconfirmed by observation, and that such an argument can be mounted while preserving the central commitments of empiricism.
Andrew Cuda
Areas of Interest: philosophy of science
Phone: 608-263-3700
e-mail: accuda@wisc.edu
Office: 5168 Helen C. White
Andrew is primarily interested in the philosophy of science. He is currently working on problems concerning laws of nature.
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Katie Deaven
Areas of Interest: Logic, Metaphysics
e-mail: kdeaven@wisc.edu
Office: 5160 Helen C. White
Katie received her B.A. in Philosophy and B.S. in Mathematics from New Mexico State University. She is interested in logic, metaphysics, and philosophy of mathematics.
Stewart Eskew
Areas of Interest: Metaethics, Philosophy of Science, Philosophy of Education, Epistemology
Phone: 608-263-3700
e-mail: eskew@wisc.edu
Office: 5168 H.C. White
Stewart is primarily interested in issues in moral epistemology. Recently, his work has focused on various issues surrounding moral perception. However, he is also interested in the nature and epistemic status of moral intuition, the possibility of a priori moral knowledge, peer disagreement, and non-naturalist moral realism. He also has teaching and research interests in the philosophy of science, the philosophy of education, and applied ethics.
Stewart Eskew'sWeb site
He is currently working on a dissertation on how agents come to have justified verdictive moral judgments and justified beliefs in general moral principles.
Matthew Faline
Areas of Interest: Philosophy of Language, Metaphysics and Logic
e-mail: faline@wisc.edu
Office: 5164 Helen C. White
I moved to Madison from Delaware where I completed my BA in Philosophy at the University of Delaware. As an undergrad, I initially became interested in metaphysics after our discussions about identity through time, and then about the philosophy of time in general. I grew to really enjoy talking about time travel and now love talking about how time travel movies don't work. Eventually I became interested in the philosophy of language after discussing truth in fiction and began to wonder how reference to non-existent objects works. More specifically, how can we have true statements about non-existent objects. This lead to a general interest in the overlap of metaphysics and the philosophy of language. Currently I am interested in counterfactual statements and the associated logic involved in interpreting their truth values. When I'm not "doing" philosophy, I enjoy watching movies and traveling.
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Liz received her B.A. in Philosophy (and Music) from Illinois State University in Normal, Illinois. Her current philosophical interests lie within the sub-field of bioethics, and she has questions surrounding justice, responsibility, and the treatment of individuals with serious mental illness within a criminal justice system. Apart from philosophy, Liz spends her time video gaming, tying knots, and enjoying metal music while wandering the countryside.
Camila Flowerman
Areas of Interest: Ethics, Social/Political philosophy
e-mail: flowerman@wisc.edu
Office: 5170 Helen C. White
Camila graduated from Carleton College in 2015 with a BA in philosophy. She is primarily interested in ethics and social/political philosophy, especially climate ethics and the intersection of philosophy and public policy.
Megan Fritts
Areas of Interest: Metaethics, Philosophy of Religion, Kierkegaard, Philosophy of Action
e-mail: mfritts@wisc.edu
Office: 5170 Helen C. White
Megan got her B.A. at University of Missouri-Kansas City. Her main interests are in metaethics, philosophy of religion, philosophy of action, and Kierkegaard. She is especially interested in the metaethical assumptions present in religious frameworks. Aside from philosophy, she spends her time running, writing stories, lounging with her cat, and enjoying the outdoors.
Andrea Guardo
Areas of Interest: History of philosophy, Metaphysics, Philosophy of Language, Metaethics
e-mail: guardo@wisc.edu
Office: 5191 Helen C. White
Before coming to Madison, Andrea studied at the Università degli Studi di Milano. Most of his work is in the history of philosophy, metaphysics, the philosophy of language and metaethics, but he also has research interests in epistemology and the philosophy of biology. You can find some stuff he wrote at http://philpapers.org/profile/2351.
Stephanie Hoffmann
Areas of Interest: Philosophy of Science, Philosophy of Psychology, and Philosophy of Biology
Phone: 608-263-3700
e-mail: slhoffmann@wisc.edu
Office: 5168 Helen C. White
Stephanie received her BA and MA from Colorado State University. She is primarily interested in questions regarding the nature of explanation in psychology and biology.
Paul Kelly
Areas of Interest: Philosophy of Science, Philosophy of Cognitive Science, Metaethics, Philosophy of Biology
e-mail: pjkelly3@wisc.edu
Office: 5142 Helen C. White
Paul received a BS in Philosophy at Towson University in 2009, and an MA in Philosophy at Tufts University in 2013. Immediately prior to arriving in Madison, Paul was pursuing a joint-PhD in History & Philosophy of Science and Cognitive Science at Indiana University, Bloomington. When he’s not doing philosophy, Paul spends most of my time traveling, watching movies with friends, playing guitar, and running.
Jason Leardi
Areas of Interest: Philosophy of Mind, Philosophy of Psychology and Neuroscience, Epistemology
Phone: 608-263-3700
e-mail: leardi@wisc.edu
Office: 5160 Helen C. White
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Sean Leibowitz
Areas of Interest: Formal Epistemology, Decision Theory
Phone: 608-263-3700
e-mail: sleibowitz@wisc.edu
Office: 5146 Helen C. White
Sean went to Carnegie Mellon where he received a B.S. in Mathematical Sciences with an additional major in Philosophy. Sean is primarily focused on problems in formal epistemology and logic, specifically utilizing logic as a formalism to represent different problems in formal epistemology and decision theory. When not doing philosophy Sean enjoys rooting for his fantasy football teams, listening to podcasts, and playing video games.
- Zi Lin's WebsiteWeb site
Zi Lin (Lindsay)
Normative Ethics, Metaethics, Animal Ethics, Constructivism, Political Philosophy
Phone: 608-263-3700
e-mail: zlin29@wisc.edu
Office: 5112 Helen C. White
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Hubert Marciniec
Areas of Interest: philosophy of mind, ethics, ancient philosophy, logic, and political philosophy
e-mail: marciniec@wisc.edu
Office: 5174 Helen C. White
Hubert received his BA in philosophy, with a minor in literature, at Elmhurst College, where his primary interest was philosophy of mind. His work explored the functionalist notion of computationalism and how qualia might fit into such a picture. Beyond the armchair, he enjoys playing and listening to music (especially live), literature, film, and small vodka shots paired with good bread.
David's philosophical interests lie in philosophy of law, ethics, and political philosophy. He is particularly interested in tax policy. David also holds a J.D. from the University of Wisconsin Law School. In his spare time, he enjoys gardening, baking sourdough bread, and trying obscure beers.
Augusta Moore
Areas of interest: Metaethics, Normative Ethics, Moral Reasoning, Moral Epistemology, and Moral Psychology
e-mail: aamoore@wisc.edu
Josh Mund
Areas of interest: Animal Ethics
Phone: 608-263-3700
e-mail: jmund@wisc.edu
Office: 5170 Helen C. White
Josh studies animal ethics, especially the ethics of animal experimentation.
Derrick Murphy
Areas of Interest: Metaphysics, Philosophy of Mind
Phone: 608-263-3700
e-mail: dsmurphy3@wisc.edu
Office: 5164 Helen C. White
Derrick’s work is focused mainly in Metaphysics and Philosophy of Mind, especially where the two intersect. He is specifically interested in issues having to do with ontology, modality and causation as well as ontology of mind, the hard problem of consciousness and mental causation. Outside of philosophy, Derrick spends his time watching TV shows of the critically-acclaimed-underperforming-in-the-ratings variety and listening to music from decades before he was born.
Gregory Nirshberg
Areas of Interest: Philosophy of Mind, Philosophy of Psychology, Moral Psychology, Metaethics
e-mail: nirshberg@wisc.edu
Office: 5174 Helen C. White
Greg's main philosophical interests are in a set of interrelated questions focused on accounts of our cognitive capacities, and the way in which those accounts affect our conception of agency. This includes questions regarding how accounts of cognitive capacities and mental representation constrain each other, as well as questions surrounding how these capacities affect moral decision making and what it means to be a morally good person.
Shannon Nolen
Areas of Interest: Philosophy of Science
Phone: 608-273-3700
e-mail: snolen@wisc.edu
Office: 5112 Helen C. White
Shannon earned a BA in philosophy and a BS in psychology from the University of Alabama at Birmingham, and then an MA in philosophy from Georgia State before making her way to Madison. She is particularly interested in philosophical issues regarding the explanatory status of mathematical models in science, particularly dynamical systems models; the reliability and validity of experimental methodology in the sciences; and issues in philosophy of science related to causation and causal models. Outside of philosophy, she enjoys ballet, poker, a good Irish whiskey, and attending symphonies, operas, and ballets.
David works in moral and political philosophy. He is primarily interested in questions about the aggregation of the good. Goods can come to different people, at different times, with different probabilities; how do such facts determine which outcomes are better and worse than others? In his dissertation, David defends telic egalitarianism--the view according to which it is noninstrumentally bad for some goods to be distributed unequally among persons.
Emi Okayasu
Areas of Interest: Philosophy of Science, Philosophy of Biology
Phone: 608-263-3700
e-mail: okayasu@wisc.edu
Office: 5142 Helen C. White
Emi is interested in philosophy of biology and philosophy of science. She is particularly interested in philosophical methodology and pedagogy, and how they relate to the study of science.
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Katie Petrik
Areas of Interest: Philosophy of Science, Philosophy of Education
e-mail: kpetrik@wisc.edu
Office: 5142 Helen C. White
Katie double majored in Arabic and the Program of Liberal Studies at the University of Notre Dame. She taught preschool and earned a Masters in Education through Teach For America-Las Vegas before pursuing a Masters in Philosophy at Texas A&M. She is interested in applying questions about theory validation and fallibility to education policy and pedagogy. In her free time she enjoys feverishly relocating her car to elude parking tickets while imagining what she would do with additional free time.
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Marcos received a BA in philosophy from Rutgers University and an MA in political philosophy from Pompeu Fabra University in Spain. He is primarily interested in moral and political philosophy and has previously worked on topics concerning future generations. When not doing philosophy he is most likely riding his bike or watching pro cycling.
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Before coming to Madison, Emma received a BA in philosophy from Millikin University in Decatur, IL. Her primary interests include metanormativity, ethical theory, and political philosophy.
Michael Schon
e-mail: mschon@wisc.edu
Michael completed his B.A. and M.A. in philosophy at the University of Cincinnati, and he was a Peace Corps Volunteer in the Dominican Republic working on potable water aqueducts before beginning his studies here at UW-Madison. He is primarily interested in philosophy of mind, philosophy of science—particularly the mind sciences—and philosophical methodology. Outside of philosophy, he enjoys making beer, doing carpentry, playing cards and sports, and traveling.
Ben’s interests fluctuate between metaethics, philosophy of action, decision theory, and self-knowledge. He’s especially interested in the way in which agents’ abilities constrain their obligations. Before coming to Madison, Ben earned a BA in philosophy and history from the College of Wooster. He spent the next four years living in Washington, DC, working for a member of the US House of Representatives. Beyond philosophy, Ben enjoys the outdoors, Cleveland sports, and music.
Ben Schwan's Web site-
Lindsey Schwartz
Areas of Interest: Political Philosophy, Applied Ethics, Philosophy of Law, Philosophy of Mind
e-mail: lschwartz4@wisc.edu
Lindsey completed her BA in philosophy at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. She is currently interested in issues related to crime and punishment, alternatives to incarceration, and criminal justice more broadly. In her spare time, she enjoys hanging out with friends, watching bad TV and good sci-fi horror movies, and playing the occasional video game.
Stephanie Sheintul
Areas of Interest: Social/Political Philosophy, Ethics
e-mail: sheintul@wisc.edu
Office: 5170 Helen C. White
Stephanie is most interested in social/political philosophy and normative ethics. She has a particular interest in the moral permissibility of paternalism as it pertains to Nussbaum's Capabilities Approach. She also likes to think about the concept of dignity and the demands it places on different actors. Outside of philosophy, Stephanie enjoys exercising and cooking. One of her favorite activities is looking at menus- she can look at them for hours! She also enjoys running and hiking.
Shanna went to Boston University for her B.A. and Georgia State for her M.A. (both in philosophy). Her main areas of interest are metaethics and political philosophy. She likes thinking about metanormativity and philosophical methodology, and is beginning a dissertation on moral epistemology.
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Lindley Slipetz
Areas of Interest: Philosophy of Science, Philosophy of Biology, Philosophy of Perception
e-mail: slipetz@wisc.edu
Office: 5160 Helen C. White
Before coming to Madison, Lindley earned her BA in Philosophy from University of Illinois-Chicago. She continued her studies, earning an MA in Philosophy from Virginia Tech. Finally, she received an MA in Philosophy and an MA in Social Science (concentration Mathematical Behavioral Science) in the Logic and Philosophy of Science department at University of California-Irvine. Her interests are in biological theories, models, laws, how these relate to the world, and how they figure into scientific explanations.
Nicholas Vallone
Areas of Interest: Early Modern Philosophy, Moral Epistemology, Metaethics, and Metacognition
e-mail: nvallone@wisc.edu
Office: 5146 Helen C. White
Nicholas received a B.A. in philosophy from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. His main interests are in early modern philosophy (focusing on Kant, Descartes and Malebranche), moral epistemology (the role emotions play in moral cognition), the philosophy of emotions, and metacognition (the role of noetic feelings in cognition). Outside of philosophy, Nicholas enjoys learning languages, hanging out with friends, and hiking.
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Jonathon VandenHombergh
Areas of Interest: Philosophy of Mind (especially consciousness), Formal Logic (especially modal), Cognitive Science
e-mail: vandenhomber@wisc.edu
I'm mostly interested in the philosophy of mind (especially explanations of consciousness), logic (modal, two-dimensional), metaphysics (the nature of modal properties, reductionism, and the question of "why there is something rather than nothing"), and recently some epistemology (foundationalism/infinitism about justification). I received my MA at the University of Houston, and a BS in philosophy and psychology at Aquinas College. You can find more info here: https://wisc.academia.edu/JonathonVandenHombergh.
Yang Zhong
Areas of Interest: Ancient Philosophy, Ethics, Philosophy of Action
e-mail: yzhong38@wisc.edu
Office: 5162 Helen C. White
Yang often finds himself gravitated towards ethical, epistemological and metaphysical problems in Plato’s and Aristotle’s works. Other than that, he is also interested in the history of ethics and contemporary discussions in the domain of philosophy of action. In the future, he’d like to know more about virtue theory and its application in practical problems.
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Aaron Yarmel
e-mail: yarmel@wisc.edu
Aaron has interests in philosophy of science, philosophy of music, philosophy of education, and applied ethics. Before moving to Wisconsin, he earned an MSc from the London School of Economics and a BM from the Eastman School of Music. When not philosophizing, Aaron can be found playing the violin, taking pictures, spending time with his adorable pit bull terrier, and doing animal rights advocacy. He is the founder and Chief Executive Officer of Effective Altruism, UW. For more information, see www.aaronyarmel.com.