Alexander (Sasha) Arridge

Background

I studied for a BA in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics at St Anne’s College, Oxford, before completing the BPhil in Philosophy at Mansfield College, Oxford. I am currently a second year DPhil student at St Anne’s, writing a thesis on meta-ethics under the supervision of Professor Roger Crisp.

Teaching

I teach a variety of Finals papers, including Ethics, Practical Ethics, and Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics. I also teach General Philosophy and Mill’s Utilitarianism for Prelims.

Research

My primary research interests lie at the intersection of practical rationality and the metaphysics of value and reasons. My DPhil thesis aims to offer an analysis of the distinction between evaluative normative facts (good, bad, etc.) and deontic normative facts (right, wrong, etc.). On my analysis, the evaluative/deontic distinction is a distinction within the domain of reasons; further, whereas some form of constructivism is true of the deontic realm, some form of substantive realism is true of the evaluative realm. Within meta-ethics I also work on thick concepts and the realism/anti-realism distinction.

I also conduct research into various areas of normative and practical ethics, for example the impact of moral luck on moral responsibility, and the justification of climate activists’ use of economic sabotage as an activist tool.

Lastly, I have a keen interest in Aristotle’s ethics, and am currently conducting research into his view of the relationship between external goods and eudaimonia, and his account of friendship.