I am an Assistant Professor of Philosophy at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.  Previously, I was a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Philosophy and the Weinberg Institute for Cognitive Science at the University of Michigan. My work lies at the intersections of the philosophy of cognitive science, epistemology, and the philosophy of language. My central research examines the relationship between language and cognitive control, with a special focus on the moral and functional dimensions of inner speech, that is, our ‘internal monologue’ that accompanies much of our thinking.  I offer an account of our responsibility (or lack thereof) for what we ‘say’ in our heads, and I analyze the various functions of inner speech, which explain why we ‘talk’ to ourselves. In related research, I explore how the language we use in moral and political engagement—and the cognitive control we exert in these domains—affects epistemic deliberation and increases our susceptibility to political misinformation and polarization.
recent updates
  1. “Misleading Higher-Order Evidence and Rationality: We Can’t Always Rationally Believe What We Have Evidence to Believe" Episteme (forthcoming)           
  2. “What’s So Special About Reasoning? Rationality, Belief Updating, and Internalism” Ergo (forthcoming) 
  3. “Echo Chambers, Polarization, and ‘Post-truth’: In Search of a Connection” Philosophical Psychology (2023). https://doi.org/10.1080/09515089.2023.2174426 
  4. “Semiotics in the Head: Thinking About and Thinking through Symbols” Philosophy and Phenomenological Research (2022). https://doi.org/10.1111/phpr.12923 
  5. “What it Takes to Make a Word (Token),” Synthese (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11229-022-03751-6 
  6. “Thinking Through Talking to Yourself: Inner Speech as a Vehicle of Conscious Reasoning,” Philosophical Psychology (2022). https://doi.org/10.1080/09515089.2022.2042505 
  7. “Evidentialism and Occurrent Belief: You Aren’t Justified in Believing Everything Your Evidence Clearly Supports,” Erkenntnis (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10670-021-00490-x 
  8. “Why Are You Talking to Yourself? The Epistemic Role of Inner Speech in Reasoning,” Noûs (2021). https://doi.org/10.1111/nous.12385