Research
Papers
French Phenomenology
The Little Way of My Self's Revelation
Munich Journal of Theology | forthcoming
In this essay, I advance toward a phenomenology of becoming little according to its spirituality's namesake, Saint Thérèse of Lisieux. The phenomenon of the little—the weak, the veiled, the lowly—is, by right, overlooked; its revelation passes unnoticed while the self remains inflated. The arrival of the little awaits its selfless reductor, not the inflating selflessness of an absolute alterity but a way of becoming little which occasions its fullest manifestation. So little, so needed, I build on the phenomenologies of Emmanuel Levinas and Jean-Luc Marion positing all three moments along the way: the return to childhood, the discovery, after the, of self-confidence, and an unburdened audacity. The upshot is that the significance of the little is big; littleness makes possible the immanent glimpse of unconditional revelation; a glimpse of beauty.
Read This Paper >Littleness and the Constitution of the Irreducible Person
In forthcoming volume with Vernon Press
In this chapter, I introduce the phenomenon of "littleness" to French phenomenology which opens a way toward preparing for the manifestation of the person, the actualized phenomenon par excellence. The phenomenological concept of littleness introduced here is advanced and developed in my dissertation.
Read This Paper >Foucault, Marion, and the Irreducibility of the Human Person
Quién. Revista de Filosofia Personalista 18: 73-95, 2023 | forthcoming
An exploration of the intersection between Foucault's work on subjectivity and Marion's phenomenology in understanding the irreducible nature of human personhood.
Read This Paper >Ethics
The Non-Thomistic Character of Aristotle's (and Thomas's) Ethics
Conatus Journal of Philosophy | forthcoming
An examination of the ethical frameworks of Aristotle and Thomas Aquinas, challenging common interpretations of their relationship and compatibility.
Read This Paper >Can We Defend Normative Error Theory?
European Journal of Analytic Philosophy 20 (1): 131-154, 2024
An examination of normative error theory and its philosophical defensibility in contemporary moral philosophy.
Read This Paper >Why Ought We Be Good?
International Philosophical Quarterly 63 (1): 71-89, 2023
An investigation into the fundamental question of moral obligation and the reasons for ethical behavior.
Read This Paper >Emotions and Moral Judgment: An Evaluation of Contemporary and Historical Emotion Theories
Proceedings of the American Catholic Philosophical Association 95: 79-90, 2021
A comprehensive evaluation of both contemporary and historical theories of emotions and their relationship to moral judgment, examining how emotional responses inform ethical decision-making.
Read This Paper >Book Reviews
Giorgio Pini (ed.): Interpreting Dun Scotus: Critical Essays (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press: 2022)
Metascience 34(1): 1-3, 2025
A critical review of recent scholarship on Duns Scotus and his philosophical contributions.
Read Review >Mark K. Spencer's "The Irreducibility of the Human Person: A Catholic Synthesis"
Nova et Vetera 22(4): 1443-1446, 2024
A synthesis of the broadly Catholic intellectual tradition on human personhood.
Read Review >Thomas Gricoski's "Being Unfolded"
American Catholic Philosophical Quarterly 96 (1): 153-155, 2022
A philosophical review examining contemporary approaches to ontology and existence.
Read Review >Dissertation
"Becoming Little: A Phenomenological Exfoliation of the Way of Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus and the Holy Face"
Ph.D. Dissertation, Saint Louis University, 2024
This dissertation develops a comprehensive phenomenology of "littleness" through an engagement with the spiritual writings of Saint Thérèse of Lisieux, showing how her "Little Way" offers profound insights into fundamental philosophical questions about selfhood, revelation, and moral transformation.
Prospective Work
I'm currently transforming my dissertation into a book manuscript. The book situates Thérèse of Lisieux's spiritual method between grand metaphysical systems (Maximus Confessor and Hegel in particular) and French philosophy's attention to sensuality and subjectivity (Marion, Levinas, Merleau-Ponty, Falque). Thérèse marries immediate and personal feeling (sensuality) with speculative idealism (Hegel) or with cosmic-synthesis (Maximus) as method for the self's deification.