CV
CV
(for copies of any of the papers below, email me. you can also view my PhilPeople page here)
Associate Professor of Philosophy, Hamilton College
315.723.3650
aplakias@hamilton.edu
ACADEMIC APPOINTMENTS
2020- Present: Associate Professor of Philosophy, Hamilton College
2014- 2020: Assistant Professor of Philosophy, Hamilton College
2012- 2014: Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Northern Institute of Philosophy, Relativism & Rational Tolerance Project
EDUCATION
Ph.D, April 2011. University of Michigan, Dept of Philosophy. Dissertation: The Good and the Gross: Essays in Metaethics and Moral Psychology. Elizabeth Anderson, Chair.
M.A., May 2004. University of California, Santa Cruz, Dept of Philosophy. Thesis: Who’s Afraid of Moral Disagreement? John Doris, Supervisor.
B.A., May 2002. Hamilton College, Clinton NY. Summa cum Laude, with Departmental Honors in Philosophy.
RESEARCH INTERESTS:
Moral psychology, philosophy of food, social epistemology, metaethics, normative ethics
MONOGRAPHS
Awkwardness: A Theory. 2024. Oxford University Press
Thinking Through Food: A Philosophical Introduction. 2019. Broadview Press.
JOURNAL ARTICLES
The Pleasures of Knowing: Comments on Sarah Worth’s Taste (invited book symposium). 2023. Contemporary Aesthetics.
Publishing, Belief, and Self-Trust. 2023. Episteme 20(3), 632-646.
Disagreement, Doubt, and Darwinian Debunking. 2022. Ethical Theory and Moral Practice.
Food Aesthetics. 2021. Philosophy Compass 16(1).
Some Probably-Not-Very-Good Thoughts on Underconfidence. 2020. Ethical Theory and Moral Practice 23: 861-69.
Publishing Without Belief. 2019. Analysis. 79(4), 638–646.
The Response Model of Moral Disgust. 2018. Synthese 195(12): 5453–5472.
The Good and the Gross. 2013. Ethical Theory and Moral Practice 16(2): 261-278.
BOOK CHAPTERS
Relativism: The Most Ecumenical View? 2020. in Social Epistemology and Epistemic Relativism, Ashton, McKenna & Kusch, eds. Routledge.
Moral Relativism and Moral Disagreement. 2019. In The Routledge Handbook of Philosophy of Relativism. Martin Kusch, ed. Routledge.
Putting Our Morals Where Our Mouths Are. 2018. The Moral Psychology of Disgust, N. Strohminger and V. Kumar, eds. Rowman and Littlefield.
Beetles, Bicycles, and Breath Mints: How ‘omni’ are omnivores? 2016. Stirring the Pot, Bramble & Fischer, eds., Oxford University Press.
Metaethics: Traditional and Empirical Approaches. 2016. The Blackwell Companion to Experimental Philosophy. Blackwell.
Well-Being. 2010. with Valerie Tiberius. The Handbook of Moral Psychology, John Doris, ed. Oxford University Press.
How to Argue About Disagreement. 2008. with John Doris. Moral Psychology, Vol. 2: The Cognitive Science of Morality. Walter Sinnott-Armstrong, ed. MIT Press.
How to Find a Moral Disagreement. 2008. with John Doris. Moral Psychology, Vol. 2: The Cognitive Science of Morality. Walter Sinnott-Armstrong, ed. MIT Press.
ENCYCLOPEDIA ARTICLES & BOOK REVIEWS
Experimental Philosophy. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Co-authored with Mark Alfano & Don Loeb.
Review of Christian Miller’s ‘The Character Gap’. 2019. Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews.
Disgust. 2018. The Sage Encyclopedia of Human Lifespan Development. Marc Bornstein, ed. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications. pp. 643–45.
Experimental Philosophy. 2015. Oxford Online Handbooks of Philosophy. DOI 10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199935314.013.17
Review of ‘Morality and the Emotions.’ 2014. The Journal of Moral Philosophy. 11(6): 765-768.
SELECTED TALKS
‘Cultivating Knowledge: Technology, Food, and Epistemic (in)Justice’
GoJust/MEATigation Seminars, October 2024 (invited talk)
‘Discomfort Foods: The Perils & Pleasures of Knowing What We Eat’
Centre College, Sept 2023 (invited talk)
‘This is Awkward’
University of Kentucky, Sept 2023 (invited talk)
Aesthetics and Political Epistemology, University of Liverpool, June 2023 (refereed)
‘Fake Bran Country: Food, Ignorance, and Epistemic Injustice’
Assoc. for the Study of Food and Society/Agriculture and Human Values, March 2022
Culinary Mind Center for the Philosophy of Food, March 2021
Hamilton College Food JAM, Sept 2019
‘What’s Wrong with Moral Disgust? Lessons from Disagreement’
Evolution and Ethics conference, Boston University April 2019 (invited talk)
Utica College Applied Ethics Institute, April 2019 (invited talk)
Pacific APA, April 2019 (invited panel)
‘Relativism: The Most Ecumenical Metaethics?’
Relativisms Re-Evaluated Conference, University of Vienna, September 2017 (invited talk)
‘Putting Our Morals Where Our Mouths Are: Disgust and Food Ethics’
University of Vermont Food Ethics Conference, May 2017 (invited talk)
PUBLIC PHILOSOPHY AND MEDIA
Awkwardness has been featured on:
Some public-facing pieces I've written:
'Beyond Disgust: How to get eaters to try insects or cultured meat' Washington Post, October 28 2024
‘Make it Awkward: Why we should take awkwardness less personally and more seriously’ Aeon magazine, Sept 2024
‘Awkward? We’d Better Own It’ OUP Press blog
Let People Change Their Minds.’ OUP Press blog
Other media appearances:
'How the 'boneless wing' became a tasty culinary lie' Associated Press
‘The Absurd Logic of Internet Recipe Hacks,’ Amanda Mull, The Atlantic 2.5.21
‘Bugging Out: Insects and the Future of Food.’ Panel, Brooklyn Grange Farm, May 2018.
SELECTED SERVICE
Mentor, Philosophy of Science Association’s Underrepresented Philosophy of Science Scholars Program
Chair, Hamilton College Faculty Committee on Admissions and Financial Aid
Director of Sustainability Programs, Arthur Levitt Center for Social Innovation.
Public Policy Program Committee
Selected Refereeing: The Philosophical Quarterly; Society for Psychology and Philosophy; Metaphilosophy; Canadian Journal of Philosophy; Ergo; Analysis