I was born in northern Ontario but spent my childhood moving across Canada and the USA. I was home-schooled, completed my BBA at the Schulich School of Business (2014), and pursued a brief career in finance. Methodological concerns led me to reject my religious worldview at the time and turn to philosophy for more coherent, rigorous answers about what morality requires of us.
I completed my MA in philosophy at York University (2016) and my PhD in philosophy at the University of Arizona (2023). I initially specialised in metaethics but methodological concerns again led me to change course and pursue a doctoral minor in neuroscience. I was surprised to find that normative kinds like function, rationality, success, and error play central roles in neuroscientific explanation, task design, and data analysis. I also noticed that the pervasive assumption that these normative kinds must be naturalised (defined in non-normative terms) was stifling their ability to play these roles. Inspired by metaethics, my research now aims to show that taking these norms to be objectively and irreducibly normative would have a liberating effect across the complexity sciences.
I’ve spent many of my formative years and most of my adult life in India, Pakistan, and primarily their diasporas in the West. Finding a respectful, anti-racist, anti-colonial way for me to continue participating in these heterogeneous communities has been a defining and difficult theme throughout my life. I am passionate about promoting the infrastructure for philosophy in South Asia and I offer free, intensive mentorship to students who are applying from South Asia to philosophy graduate programs abroad (please contact me if you’re interested).
I try to live a fulfilling life outside of philosophy through socialising, hosting, making a lot of vegan food, travelling, hiking, reading science fiction, and occasionally, hitting the EDM scene.