Paul Sheldon Davies

Background

Paul’s research and teaching are multi-disciplinary. The goal is to answer core philosophical questions about human agency by developing theories informed by findings from evolutionary biology, cognitive and social psychology, affective and cognitive neuroscience. Recent work has focused mainly on our alleged capacities for moral and legal responsibility, and for love and friendship.

Paul is an Associate Editor for The Journal of Ethics, a member of the International Society for the History, Philosophy, and Social Studies of Biology (ISHPSSB), and the author of two books, Subjects of the World: Darwin's Rhetoric and the Study of Agency in Nature (University of Chicago Press 2009) and Norms of Nature: Naturalism and the Nature of Functions (MIT Press 2001). He lives with his wife and their daughter in Newport News, Virginia.