The photo at the top of the page is not me; I only wish I were so handsome. It is my rabbit, Stephen.
I am a philosopher specializing in ethics, especially animal treatment issues. I have been a Lecturer in the Department of Philosophy and Religion at Central Michigan University since 2005. The courses I teach most often are Business Ethics, Moral Problems, and Introduction to Philosophy. I also occasionally teach Introduction to Logic, and every other year teach a course of my own design on Animal Ethics.
I developed a strong interest in Kant as early as my undergraduate years at Earlham College, thanks to a fascinating Kant seminar that I took with my adviser, Peter Suber. What drew me to Kant initially was, in part, his solution to the free will problem. I went on to graduate school intending to mostly engage in historical Kant interpretation. This historical bent continues to influence my writing today.
When it came time to set out the boundaries of my dissertation, I realized that I finally had an opportunity to unite two major interests: Kant and animals. I had felt an affinity to animals from an early age, and that developed into a strong interest in animal treatment issues as I reached adolescence. I had not previously incorporated that interest into my philosophical career, partly out of a sense that it was not considered a “serious” thing for a philosopher to study. I also realized, however, that my high opinion of Kant’s ethics was in conflict with his dismissive view of animals. I decided it was time to grit my teeth and face this problem.
In my dissertation (Reconsidering the Status of Animals in Kant’s Ethics, directed by Frederick Rauscher), I suggested a replacement for Kant’s unsatisfactory account of the moral standing of animals, one built as much as possible on Kant’s existing framework. I drew largely from the notion of the Kingdom of Ends, suggesting that animals and other moral patients have a place in the Kingdom as non-legislating subjects. I defended this dissertation in 2004, and subsequently have refined and expanded the theory laid out in it.
In the process of developing my Kantian approach to animal ethics, I realized that I had shifted from being a historian to being an ethicist. Today, I would characterize myself as a Kantian animal ethicist. Both halves of that title, Kant and animal ethics, are significant interests.