as primary instructor​

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• Shaping our Moral Boundaries (Graduate Seminar)​​

Moral rights are boundaries. They constrain what others may do with and to our body and property. But sometimes we may want others to interact with our body or property in ways our rights generally prohibit: we may want to be intimate with another, or to have someone into our home for dinner, or to let a friend borrow our copy of Reasons and Persons. In such cases we may consent to those interactions, and in so doing suspend or “waive” the rights that otherwise prohibit those interactions. In this way we exercise a form of control over our moral boundaries and make possible relationships that would otherwise be unavailable. But we can also act in ways that suspend rights despite having no desire or intention to suspend our rights. If Al batters Bob without justification, Bob may defend himself — with physical force if necessary. By harming Al in self-defense, Bob does not violate Al’s rights. This is because, although Al’s rights normally protect him from physical harm and although he does not consent to harm, Al “forfeits” some of those rights by his act of aggression. This seminar explores the nature of moral rights and of these ways of modifying our own moral boundaries, and what this means for a handful of applied issues (defensive harm, punishment, sex, medicine). (Spring 2025, University of Arizona)​​

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• Philosophy of Law (Undergraduate)​​

This course critically explores a number of philosophical questions concerning the law.
Our focus this semester will be on three main subjects: (1) legal determination and adjudica-
tion, (2) legal evidence, and (3) responsibility. Questions covered under these umbrellas will
include: What is law? What determines the content of a law? Is it a product of the meaning
of a statutory text? Of legislative intent? Of something else? How should judges apply the
content of a law to a case? What is evidence? What sorts of evidence should be admissible
at trial? How best to understand the law’s standards of evidence (such as “proof beyond a
reasonable doubt”)? Where should the evidential bar be set? What is the responsibility that
makes it appropriate to hold someone accountable? What are its grounds and what is its
scope? What are the legal implications of our best accounts of human freedom and responsibility? (Fall 2026, Spring 2026 University of Arizona)

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• Law & Morality (Undergraduate)​​

Morality and law are distinct, but deeply interconnected, normative systems. This course
explores their relationship. Among the questions we will investigate: What is the law? What is morality? Is there a duty to obey the law? Should the law enforce morality? What moral grounds does the state have for punishing someone? What limits does morality set on what may be criminalized ? What makes the difference between valid and invalid consent? What is the relationship between contracts and the morality of promising? Should there be legal limits on freedom of contract? What is the moral foundation of the law of torts? How should we understand and measure harm? What is the relationship between causation and the duty to compensate? (Fall 2026, Fall 2025 University of Arizona)

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• Moral Thinking (Undergraduate)​​

This course is an introduction to moral philosophy and moral theory. We will critically survey answers to the following two questions: What makes for a good life? And what makes an action right or wrong? We will also engage with theories of morality in the context of answering questions about specific moral issues: Is there anything wrong with participating in the practice of killing animals for food? Is it morally permissible to have or administer an abortion? What justifies the state in instituting a system of criminal punishment, and what limits does morality impose on such a system? What is the moral importance of consent, and what does it take to give one's consent? (Fall 2025, Fall 2024, University of Arizona)

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• The Philosophy of Markets, Money, and Property (Undergraduate)

This course is a tour through various conceptual and ethical issues concerning markets, money, and property. The course explores such questions as: What is money and how should we handle it? What are cryptocurrencies and what are their benefits and risks? What markets systems are morally best? What parts of an economy should be left to private individuals, and what should be left to public policy? What economic obligations do nations have to one another and to the citizens of other nations? What is ownership, and what sorts of ownership regimes are best? (Summer 2023 & Summer 2022, USC)

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• Ethics in the 21st Century (Undergraduate)

This course explores some of the most prominent ethical issues of the 21st century (so far). For example: corporate responsibility, democracy, voting rights, political polarization, punishment, reparations, war, immigration, privacy, abortion, artificial intelligence, environmental conservation, and our duties towards future generations. (Summer 2019, USC, w. Andrew Stewart)

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as discussion instructor/teaching assistant

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• Philosophy of Law (Spring 2021, USC, w. Scott Soames)​

Subjects covered: nature of law, legal legitimacy, the nature of rights, legal interpretation, and philosophical issues in American Constitutional and Administrative law. 

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• Ethical Theory & Practice (Fall 2020, USC, w. Robin Jeshion)​

Subjects covered: normative ethical theories, animal ethics, pandemic ethics, justice, mass incarceration, reparations, misogyny, affirmative action, free speech/hate speech/cancel culture, "faith in humanity". 

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• Philosophy of Law (Spring 2020, USC, w. Scott Soames)​

As in 2021 section (above).

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• Moral Issues in the Legal Domain (Spring 2019, USC, w. John Hawthorne)

Subjects covered: nature of law, rights, consequentialism, punishment, insanity defense, self-defense, rules of evidence, product liability, privacy, free speech, death penalty, right to bear arms, citizenship, civil disobedience, drug laws. ​

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• Freedom, Equality, and Justice (Fall 2018, USC, w. Jonathan Quong)​​​

Subjects covered: nature of legitimate authority and political obligation, justice, Rawls, libertarianism, freedom and taxes/money/property, socialism, crime and punishment, justice and gender/the family, religion and politics, global justice, immigration, justice and past generation, justice and future generations. 

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• Epistemology (Spring 2017, Northern Illinois, w. Geoff Pynn)

Subjects covered: skepticism, rationalism, empiricism, analysis of knoweldge, internalism v. externalism, testimony, evidentialism, pragmatism, perception, inference, experts, gossip, rumor, conspiracy theories, epistemology and the media. 

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• Introduction to Philosophy (Fall 2016, Northern Illinois, w. Mylan Engel)

Subjects covered: logic, epistemology, normative ethics, applied ethics, freedom and determinism, philosophy of religion. 

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• Contemporary Moral Issues (Spring 2016, Northern Illinois, w. Nicoleta Apostol)

Subjects covered: normative ethical theories, relativism, metaethical theories, drug legalization, gun control, judicial review, freedom of speech, euthanasia, marriage, affirmative action, in-vitro fertilization, cloning, animal ethics. 

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• Logic (Fall 2015, Northern Illinois, w. John Beaudoin)

Subjects covered: deductive arguments, non-deductive arguments, possible worlds, forms of proof, fallacies, probability, causal reasoning, appeals to the best explanation, propositional logic, categorical logic. 

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