Jeremiah Tillman

I am a Ph.D. candidate in philosophy at the University of Maryland, College Park. My research focuses on ethics and the moral psychology of emotions. I take a humanistic approach to these topics, drawing on literature and other arts to defend philosophical conclusions embedded in ordinary understanding. I tend to work in a pluralistic framework, at the intersections of historical and contemporary philosophy, as well as the continental and analytic traditions.

My dissertation is on love and related emotions over time. Three phases shape most long-term romantic relationships: courtship, partnership, and bereavement. I explore the normative problems with which each phase is fraught. The European Journal of Philosophy has published the first article from this project, "Love and Evaluative Conflict." I am preparing for publication papers on the pleasures of being seduced and the duration of grief. Other works in progress include a paper on the rationality of passion, a paper on emotions across time in Marcel Proust's In Search of Lost Time, and a paper on the philosophical novel as a literary genre.

Prior to Maryland, I studied philosophy at Bard College and The New School for Social Research. At Maryland, I have taught courses on negative emotions, love and sex, existentialism, ethical theory, and contemporary moral issues.  I have assisted courses on introduction to philosophy, ancient philosophy, and philosophy of religion. I advise philosophy majors as an undergraduate advisor. I also co-founded the department's Minorities and Philosophy chapter (MAPterps@umd.edu).

You can email me at tillmanj@umd.edu. I was recently interviewed by the APA and the UMD Center for Humanities Research. Here is my CV.