Are you a philosopher (with a minimum of a degree in philosophy)? If so, I need you to help with an international longitudinal well-being study that I am collaborating on. Even if you are not a philosopher, you can still contribute to the study (just not the philosophy cohort). Philosophers click here for more info and non-philosophers click here. Thanks for your help!
I am currently working as a research assistant for Dr Ramon Das, helping him to write a book on Ethics and International Affairs, working on a paper about the collective responsibility for climate change with Dr Ramon Das and Dr David Eng, preparing a presentation for the AAP in Melbourne, preparing lectures for next trimester, and thinking about my PhD (see below).
4 JUN '09: My review of The Pleasure Center: Trust Your Animal Instincts (2009) by Morten Kringelbach is now published in Metapsychology Online. See it here.
25 MAY '09: The last show of 'The Meaning of Life' radio show aired today. Thanks very much to Geoff for all the fun we had doing it.
22 MAY '09: I debated Adrian Currie today at the VUW Philosophy Student Seminar Series. The debate was imaginatively titled 'Hedonism: The Debate'. The debate was about the plausibility of Hedonism as a theory of well-being. The result was at least mildly in favour of Hedonism being plausible!
18 MAY '09: I am now officially a collaborator in an exciting international well-being study. My role is to try and encourage enough philosophers to join the study for there to be a statistically significant cohort of philosophers in the study. This might give some insight into differences between philosophers and non-philosophers, particularly regarding their well-being. Philosophers click here for more info and non-philosophers click here.
8 APR '09: My undergraduate teaching (for three different undergraduate courses) is finished for the trimester and I can get back to research projects! The powerpoint slides are available on the Teaching page.
21 MAR '09: I have received very positive feedback from my teaching again, which has prompted me to include links to my evaluations on the Teaching page.
12 MAR '09: My article: The Real Dirt on Happiness Studies: A Reply to 'The Unhappy thing about Happiness Economics' (which you can see here) is now published! Check out issue 49 (pp83-89) at Real-world Economics Review.
14 FEB '09: I was interviewed by Helen Harvey, reporter for The Daily News, earlier this week as part of her research for an article on the recession's likely effects on happiness. The article came out today. Click here to view the website version. Or here to see a PDF.
13 FEB '09: I've just updated this website by adding a 'Happiness' page. If you have an academic interested in happiness, then you'll find lots of useful links and resources here. Be sure to check back from time to time as I'll keep this page updated.
12 FEB '09: I've been asked to write a review of The Pleasure Center: Trust Your Animal Instincts (2009) by Morten Kringelbach. The review will appear in Metapsychology Online.
10 FEB '09: Work has begun on a series of short, philosophy related videos that I'm making with my happy-go-lucky buddy Richard Allardice. The videos are intended to make thought experiments more memorable and be used as lecture aids. You'll be able to access them through this website as and when they are finished.
9 FEB '09: I'm going to be co-hosting a radio show with a good friend of mine - Geoff Roberts. The show, called The Meaning of Life, will include philosophical discussions of contemporary and timeless issues, interviews with interesting people of all sorts, and some great local music (when we can't think of what to say). Please tune in and even call up and get invovled. The show airs on Mondays 7:00-8:30pm (starting 16th Feb) on Human FM. You can hear the show on 88.1FM in Wellington Click here for more details on the station (including how to contact).
JAN '09: I'm officially a PhD student now at Victoria University of Wellington. In my thesis, I will try to solve the problem of unfairness that The Greatest Happiness Principle is thought to suffer from. I will attempt to synthesise modern empirical and various theoretical sources to see if Bentham-style hedonistic utilitarianism has a chance on the societal level.
17 DEC '08: I heard today that I have been awarded a Doctoral Scholarship/Assistantship from Victoria University of Wellington (I start my PhD next year).
16 DEC '08: Locals can now check out a hard copy of my thesis (entitled Reviving Hedonism about Well-Being: Refuting the Argument from False Pleasures and Restricting the Relevance of Intuitive ‘Evidence’) in the philosophy depatment cabinet or the library. Or see the pdf here.
14 DEC '08: I was very happy to hear that my paper on happiness studies and public policy will be published at the start of 2009 in Real-world Economics Review. The journal is run by the Post-Autistic Economics Network who are valiantly doing all they can to try and keep economics as relevant as possible to real life. My paper is actually a direct reply to an earlier paper from the journal (which you can see here). My paper is entitled The Real Dirt on Happiness Studies: A Reply to 'The Unhappy thing about Happiness Economics' (which you can see here).
12 NOV '08: My book review of Happiness: A Revolution in Economics by Bruno Frey has been published in Metapsychology Online. Click here to view
25 OCT '08: I have been awarded a distinction for my MA thesis.
16 OCT '08: I was interviewed on Human FM today (on the programme Vivat Academia) about philosophy in general, my interests and how I got involved.
