“Practical Reason, Sympathy and Reactive Attitudes” – Noûs, 2017
“Immoral Realism” – Philosophical Studies 2019
“Utility Cascades” – Analysis, 2020
“Normative Authority” (with Caroline Arruda) – Philosophy Compass [invited, in progress]
“Doing Our ‘Best’?” – Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society [invited, in progress]
Research Overview
My philosophical instincts are naturalistic, pragmatist and sentimentalist. I am influenced by David Hume, Adam Smith, John Stuart Mill, Harriet Taylor Mill, William James, John Dewey, Friedrich Nietzsche, Bernard Williams, Simon Blackburn and Philip Kitcher.
In metaethics, I am a critic of realist and objectivist theories. We should not conditionalise our commitment to ethical life on the hope that morality is robustly objective.
In normative ethics I work on utilitarianism. I argue that we can rescue the core insight of utilitarianism, that morality exists to benefit us, whilst entirely rejecting act-utilitarianism.
In political philosophy, I argue that “Yes We Can!” beliefs – faith beyond our evidence that we can change the world – are rational, because they are collectively self-fulfilling.
In philosophy of mind, I advocate a reflexive imperativist theory of affective states like pleasure and pain. Pains are states which say “get rid of me!”; pleasures say “get more of me!”.
Extra-Curricular Research
I care a lot about food, and when I’m not writing philosophy or teaching, I am engaged in epic pursuit of the most delicious mapo tofu. I’ve come close on a couple of occasions (see below), but have yet to attain the ideal.
Max Khan Hayward 