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Dr Merrick Anderson
Dr. Merrick Anderson's primary area of research is Platonic ethics, although he is also very interested in the sophists and has done a range of work on the moral landscape of the 5th century. He did his PhD under the supervision of Hendrik Lorenz, Alexander Nehemas and Melissa Lane at Princeton University. His thesis was on an ancient debate about justice and the role it plays in the happy human life.
As the Keeling Research Fellow, Dr. Merrick Anderson is working on the metaphysical nature and structures of the virtues in the Republic. He also hopes to work on a book on ancient theories of justice. Perhaps more than in any other time period, theoretical reflection on the nature of justice in ancient times tended to occur against the backdrop of earlier philosophical discussions and operated through criticisms of other authors and their views. Dr. Anderson's book will trace the history of theorising about justice from the sophists to the Hellenistic philosophers and, by situating these figures in a rich and integrated tradition of debating the value of justice, reveal interesting and novel features of each of their theories.
This year, Dr. Merrick Anderson will teach PHIL001 Introduction to Ancient Philosophy. Next year, he will teach a new course of his own design.
Website: www.merrickanderson.com
'Thrasymachus' Sophistic Account of Justice in Republic I' Ancient Philosophy 36.1:151-72 (2016)
Review of Dixsaut, Plato-Nietzsche: Philosophy the Other Way, Bryn Mawr Classical Review (2018)
'Immorality or Immortality: An Argument for Virtue', Rhetorica 37.2:97-119 (2019)
'Legein to What End?', Australasian Philosophical Review (forthcoming 2020)
'What are the Wages of Justice? Rethinking Plato's Division of Goods', Phronesis (forthcoming 2020)
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