Education 

PhD, University of Notre Dame, 1995
BA/BS, University of South Carolina, 1990

Interests 

philosophy of music, philosophy of psychiatry

For a couple of decades, I worked in philosophy of physics, especially quantum theory.  I still sometimes teach in this area, but no longer publish in it.  After a (too-long) stint as an administrator, I have returned to civilian life, and am developing new research expertise in philosophy of music and philosophy of psychiatry.  My interest in music grows out of a lengthy training as a classical pianist and French horn player, a brief career as a professional musician before becoming a philosopher, and a continued abiding and serious interest in both musicology and musical performance.  My most recent work is a long paper on musical notation, appearing recently in the journal Ergo.  I am also working on the idea that musical works are (in somewhat an 'ontological' sense of 'are') instructions.

I am also developing an interest in the philosophy of psychiatry, with a focus on symptoms associated with 'schizophrenia'.  I am currently working on a paper about the nature of hallucination, and I am in the early stages of a paper about the role that individuals' self-understanding can and ought to play in both research and treatment of 'schizophrenia'.

I also have teaching interests (and, rarely, research interests) in medieval philosophy and game theory, especially evolutionary signaling games.

Selected Recent Presentations

• “Musical Notation and Musical Instructions" (American Society for Aesthetics, Philadelphia)
• "Intellectual Humility" (Madpeople's Coping Mechanisms, Oxford, England)
• "Living with the 'Paradox of Delusion'" (Too Mad to be True III, Ghent, Belgium)
• "The Aesthetics of Musical Practice" (Southern Aesthetics Workshop, Auburn)

• "Hallucination as a Memory of the Present" (Southern Society for Psychology and Psychiatry)