By Appointment
Broadly, Vivian Feldblyum’s work lies at the intersection of moral psychology, metaethics, and ancient philosophy (especially Aristotle). She is also interested in the history of skepticism in the ancient world, especially the varieties of linguistic skepticism found in ancient India and China (early Buddhism and Daoism, respectively). Her current work is concerned specifically with the nature of pleasure and its relationship to value, perception, and motivation. Taking inspiration from Aristotle, she is developing an account of pleasure on which it is best understood as a non-intellectual form of evaluative cognition. Outside of philosophy she enjoys playing classical guitar, writing music, yelling angrily about ice hockey, and reading or watching good science fiction.