The Department of Philosophy congratulates Jacob MacDavid, who successfully defended his dissertation in April and will soon receive his Ph.D. in Philosophy from The Ohio State University.

Jacob MacDavid has defended his dissertation, "Reasons and Resonance." His advisor was Tristram McPherson.

The most familiar question addressed by this dissertation is "Why be moral?" More broadly, though, this work addresses the question "What explains our reasons for action (moral or otherwise)?" I argue that, ultimately, our reasons for action depend fundamentally upon our cares: a person has a reason to perform an action if and only if, and because, it connects in the right way with what that person happens to care about.

The department celebrates Jacob's achievement and looks forward to the next steps in his academic journey.