I am a PhD student in philosophy at MIT. I am interested in why we are required to abide by moral norms, and especially in relationship between morality and human nature. How does what we are bear on what we ought to do? My dissertation (advised by Kieran Setiya) aims to make some progress on this question. I argue that morality is grounded in our nature as rational agents of a certain kind. I call this view “pluralist” constitutivism. My aim is to carve a middle path between traditional forms of constitutivism, according to which moral norms must be grounded in the nature of rational agency as such, and Aristotelian naturalism, according to which moral norms are grounded in our specifically human nature.

Apart from the topics of my dissertation, I have research interests in Kant’s moral theory and the ethics of technology. On the Kant side, I am especially interested in the role of self-legislation in Kantian ethics. On the ethics of tech side, I’m interested in the ethics and aesthetics of AI-generated art. I am currently a SERC Scholar working in the project group on data ownership and artificial intelligence.

Before MIT, I received a BA in Philosophy from Northwestern University in 2020, where I was advised by Kyla Ebels-Duggan. Before Northwestern, I went to high school in Dallas, Texas.

Apart from philosophy, I like to run, watch movies, and coach/teach high school debate.