Michael Kirley
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Biography:
- PhD, Philosophy (University of Toronto)
- MA, Philosophy (University of Toronto)
- BA, University of Toronto
- BSc, University of Toronto
My primary research interests lie at the intersection of the philosophy of mind, philosophy of action, and ethics. I am particularly interested in the relationship between cognition and intentional action, and in how inquiry into this relationship can inform moral psychology. My recent work is concerned with developing a conception of the will as a distinctive cognitive capacity in its own right, such that to act intentionally is to instantiate a distinctively practical form of cognitive success. I think that this cognitivist approach can help us make better sense of pathological exercises of agency like weak-willed action and obsessive-compulsive behaviour.
I am also interested in normative ethics (broadly construed, but with special interests in Kantian ethics and virtue ethics) and in ancient Greek philosophy (especially Aristotle).