Andrew Allison is a PhD Candidate in the Department of Philosophy at the University of Calgary. His research interests are in finance ethics, political philosophy, and the philosophy of money.
What excites you about philosophy?
Recently, a historian I know told me the following: “I want to say that it happened, and it was good. But I can’t, I can only say it happened; I want to be a real historian.” I chose philosophy because the good is well within the purview of serious philosophy. A “real philosopher” can—and is expected to—deal in ‘shoulds’ and ‘oughts.’ Other fields can only gesture at the good; we can discuss it openly.
What are you working on right now?
I’m working on my dissertation, which is about justice and central banking. Central banks are odd creatures. They are monopoly producers of legal tender, an extremely important good in our lives, and are regulators of financial industry, an increasingly influential part of modern economies. Yet, they are explicitly kept at arm’s length from the democratic process. This is unlike healthcare, agriculture, media, and almost any other industry where the production or regulation of these goods is thought to be properly within the scope of democratic control. There is good reason to keep central banks structured this way, so say monetary economists; better economic outcomes! Less inflation, higher price stability, and lower chance of financial collapse. We value these things very highly. But, we also value democratic control of our political institutions. My dissertation looks at the normative tension between better economic outcomes that independent central banks can achieve and democratic control of central banks.
Who do you think is the most underrated philosopher?
My pick for most underrated philosopher is the fourteenth-century French polymath, Nicole Oresme. I became interested in Oresme because of his writing on finance ethics. His De Moneta gives an account of how money should be minted and the moral limits of the Prince’s power over the mint. But, his philosophical work goes well beyond this small niche in which I am particularly interested. Perhaps most notable are his translations of a number of Aristotle’s works into the vernacular French including the Politics, which he produced at the request of Charles V.
However, his contribution to astronomy is particularly underappreciated in my view. Oresme’s Quaestiones de Sphaera predates Copernicus by over a century. In this treatise, Oresme incorrectly accepts that the heavens move around the earth, and that the earth does not itself rotate, but nonetheless provides a model of the earth and stars in which the earth rotates that matches our visual perceptions of the stars. Given that the earth does rotate, this is more or less an accurate model of how the world really is. What a rip-off that everyone knows Copernicus and Galileo but so few have heard of poor Oresme!
If you could have a one-hour conversation with any philosopher or historical figure from any time, who would you pick and what topic would you choose?
I would ask Louis Riel about courage.
What’s your top tip or advice for APA members reading this?
I am very weary of giving advice. I’ve received lots of advice from people who are in enviable professional positions. I have been told to ɸ and not-ɸ on a number of occasions with each advisor having no characteristic which makes me think that their advice is any less worth heeding than the other. Maybe my advice is that others should be similarly weary about giving advice. Then again, I’m sure some equally qualified person will tell their fellow APA members to be more haphazard with their advice.
What would you like your last meal to be?
My mother’s lasagna.
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.
Smrutipriya Pattnaik
Smrutipriya Pattnaik, Ph.D. in Social and Political Philosophy from IIT Indore, India serves as the Teaching Beat and Work/Life Balance editor for the APA Blog. Her research delves into utopia, social imagination, and politics, with a focus on the aftermath of socialist experiments on Liberal-Capitalist-Democratic societies. Currently authoring "Politics, Utopia, and Social Imagination."
