Research

'Rodin and the art of ancient Greece',
British Museum, 2018
Areas of Specialisation: Ancient Greek and Roman Philosophy, Comparative Philosophy, Philosophy of Healthcare
As is reflected in my published work to date, I am something of a jack of three philosophical trades: ancient Graeco-Roman philosophy; comparative philosophy; philosophy of healthcare. For instance, in ancient Greek philosophy, I have published on the pre-Socratics, Plato and Aristotle, dealing with metaphysical, ethical and epistemological issues questions, such as causation, epistemic progress in old age and how we talk to those whose commitments seem radically different from our own. As I describe in more detail below, at the moment, I'm writing about old age in the ancient Graeco-Roman tradition. I am writing a comparative philosophy paper in which I compare some anonymous South Indian paradoxes with Zeno's and I have previously written about philosophical issues that arise from apparent clashes between the European and non-European in the work of Garcia de Orta, a sixteenth century figure, whose work has received virtually no philosophical attention. My work in philosophy of healthcare has dealt with adaptive preferences, denial and the overtreatment of epilepsy, the nature and value of disease and the choiceworthiness of immortality.
Current Work: The Nature and Value of Old Age
I'm currently primarily focused on a project that deals with old age in Greek and Roman philosophy. I am trying to work out what, if any, value old age has - for the elderly individual and for any collectives she may be part of. Whether or not old age has any value and, if so, what it is is a difficult question to answer. Firstly, it seems to hang in part on what old age itself is and what makes somebody elderly. But this is far from obvious. For example, is old age a disease or just some kind of deterioration? Is it relative to culture, society, gender or race? Secondly, it is difficult to establish what might make old age choiceworthy or desirable for the individual or those around them. After all, there are apparent disadvantages for both the elderly individual and the social and political groups she is part of, such as old-age-related changes that prevent her from fulfilling her desires and sacrifices that others must make in order for her to be cared for. On the other hand, there are apparent features of old age that might make it seem valuable. For instance, if there is such a thing as old-age wisdom, it might benefit both the elderly person who has it and those around her. Perhaps there is a specific kind of ethical development that comes from caring for an older adult. Yet, it is difficult to pin down exactly what old-age wisdom could be, where it comes from or how it would benefit others. And we might think that ethical development that requires sacrifice is problematic – or that this ethical development could be obtained in other ways more easily.
In my research, I look at a range of Greek and Roman texts, primarily by Plato, Aristotle, Cicero and Seneca, aiming to 1) Give an account of what old age is and establish criteria for being an elderly person; 2) Establish the value of old age for the individual; 3) Establish the value of old age for others; 4) Explore the consequences for the way that we live our lives, in relation to ourselves and others.

Elderly woman,
Roman, 3rd-2nd century

'Alcibiades Being Taught By Socrates'
Marcello Bacciarelli
1776-1777
Publications

'Bodhisattva Padmapani'
Ajanta Cave 1

'Aspasia surrounded by Greek philosophers'
Michel Corneille the Younger
Forthcoming (2025): 'This Life Terminates Here: Plato’s Phaedo on the Right Time to Die and Some Lessons for Contemporary Healthcare’ in Healing Classics, ed. Brian Hurwitz (Peter Lang)
Forthcoming (2025): 'Some Reflections About Old Age on Rereading the Republic' in eds. Mary Margaret McCabe and Simon Trépanier Rereading the Republic (Edinburgh, Edinburgh University Press)
Forthcoming: 'Mixing Up the Medicine: Some Problems With Eurocentric Philosophy in Garcia de Orta'
Forthcoming: 'Monism'' in eds. Jenny Bryan, Lea Cantor and Shaul Tor The Routledge Companion to Pre-Socratic Philosophy (Routledge)
'Everything in Its Right Place: Plato on Zeno’s Paradox of Place’, Organon 56 (2024) (as part of the Eleatic Ontology: Origin and Reception Project): read here.
'That’s What Makes the World Go Round: Causation in the Myth in the Statesman’ (co-authored with Daniel Vázquez) in eds. Daniel Vázquez and Alberto Ross Cause and Explanation in Ancient Philosophy (New York, Routledge, 2024)
‘Regress? I’ve Had a Few? Infinite Regress, Similarity and Dissimilarity in the Parmenides’, Rhizomata 10(2): 238–260 (2022) - read here.
'Teleology and Sophistic Endeavour in the Euthydemus', Australasian Philosophical Review, 2:3 (2021) (co-authored with Daniel Vázquez, Autonomous University of Barcelona) - read here.
'Too Much of a Good Thing: Overtreatment in Epilepsy', Journal of Evaluation in Clinical Practice (2018) - read here.