Ph.D. Candidate
He researches 17th and 18th century metaphysics, philosophy of mind, and ethics. His research focuses on the development of metaphysics and psychology in the Leibniz-Wolffian tradition. He is primarily interested in understanding how the Leibniz-Wolffian tradition conceptualized the nature of the mind in their doctrines of empirical psychology and rational psychology. He is also interested in Kant’s arguments for why Leibniz-Wolffian empirical psychology should not be included as a branch of metaphysics.
Outside of these research interests, Jacob often thinks about the limits of Enlightenment politics and ethics. He is interested in ways to move beyond the Enlightenment project without falling into ancient or medieval nostalgia. No resolution is immediately forthcoming, but it seems that a genuine post-Enlightenment way of thinking depends on us first grasping the truth of this fundamental doctrine:
“The highest objects of knowledge are secrets from us; only occasionally does the truth shine on us, so that we suppose it is day; but it is at once withdrawn again from our view because of matter and our matter-bound life. We live in a deep dark night, only occasionally illumined by flashes of light”