I am particularly interested in practical philosophy—that area of philosophy which explores the relationship between moral, social, and legal theory on the metaphysical level and its application in practice under empirical conditions. More specifically, I am interested in what some of the greatest minds in the western tradition have thought about the condition of man, the justification for a state, the ends the state is designed to achieve, the proper structure and laws of the state to achieve those ends, the concept of justice in relation to the structure and laws of the state, the application of the law through legal reason, and the pursuit of the common good as the universal objective of the laws.
Correspondingly, I am interested in how moral, political, and legal philosophers on the metaphysical level and judges on the empirical level struggle to define and clarify the roles of practical reason, moral values like equality and freedom, and pragmatic considerations in interpreting and implementing the law to achieve individual and social justice. And I am interested in the concept of a constitution and the role of the structural and normative constitution in relation to the state and the law in general and in theories of constitutional interpretation in the United States and their actualization in landmark Supreme Court cases that have shaped and continue to shape our national identity.
I am similarly interested in the role of the humanities in education. I see humanistic studies as developing the substantive knowledge and thinking and writing skills necessary to citizens and leaders in a flourishing constitutional republic like our own. I also support complementing humanistic studies with social and hard sciences like economics, statistics, and calculus for future leaders in law, government policy, business, finance, academia, and beyond. And I believe students should be offered internships and other practical experiences to help them determine where their talents and interests lie and how they may be developed so that they may best contribute to society in the future.