William Bell is currently a graduate student at Washington University in St. Louis. His main research interests are in well-being and metaethics.
What excites you about philosophy?
Between completing my master’s and current PhD studies, I spent a couple of years working in a school and not doing much philosophy. I really missed it. To me, there’s hardly a better way to stave off boredom than doing philosophy. Why wouldn’t one be interested in questions about the nature of reality, and how we ought to live?
Recently, a plumber visited my house to make some repairs, and as he was doing his work, I thought to myself: this guy’s work is literally 100 times more important than what I do (which mainly involves sitting around and thinking about difficult and often very abstract philosophical questions). And in one sense— in a very practical sense — this is true. But I think this sells short the value of philosophy; to me, even apart from certain practical questions about how to live a good life, the questions and ideas philosophers raise and address are simply interesting and valuable in and of themselves. And while, of course, doing philosophy is not exciting in an “Oh wow, my favorite sports team just won the championship!” sort of way, it is extremely engaging work.
What are you working on right now?
I’m very interested in the well-being literature, but recently have been thinking more and more about the other side of that coin: ill-being. What makes a life go bad? Is ill-being just a lack of well-being? Etc. It’s a topic which has received surprisingly little attention.
What common philosophical dilemma do you think has a clear answer?
I think it’s generally much easier to say which theories one believes to be mistaken, than come down really strongly for what one thinks is the correct answer to a genuinely difficult philosophical question. That said, Newcomb’s Paradox: the correct answer is definitely one box.
What do you like to do outside of work?
I used to play a lot of basketball and tennis, but those activities are pretty rough on the knees. I really enjoy playing piano and composing music. I’m the accompanist for a local choir and it provides a pretty good outlet for mind-clearing.
What time of day are you most productive and creative?
I wish I were a morning person, but I am not. I’m much more productive at night. I’d rather adopt Descartes’ daily routine than Kant’s.
Who is your favorite philosopher?
The answer to this question is going to vary and often correlate to whichever philosopher I’ve recently read. I’m currently doing a deep-dive into Nozick’s work, and have been struck by how creative (the guy was a thought-experiment-generating-machine) and lucid and crisp and sometimes just plain funny his writing is.
Where would you go in a time machine?
Way into the future to see what sort of technological advances have been made.
What technology do you wish the human race could discover/create/invent right now?
I was going to say that we need some clean and reliable teleportation technology as soon as possible, but then I fall on the side that most types of teleportation result in death. Maybe a super-duper effective cognitive enhancer — that could come in handy when writing a dissertation (and in solving other, perhaps more important, problems).
This section of the APA Blog is designed to get to know our fellow philosophers a little better. We’re including profiles of APA members that spotlight what captures their interest not only inside the office, but also outside of it. We’d love for you to be a part of it, so please contact us via the interview nomination form here to nominate yourself or a friend.
Dr. Sabrina D. MisirHiralall is an editor at the Blog of the APA who currently teaches philosophy, religion, and education courses solely online for Montclair State University, Three Rivers Community College, and St. John’s University.
