Bio
I am a PhD student in the philosophy department at the University of California, Davis, working on topics in value theory, moral psychology, ethics, philosophy of emotion, and philosophy of well-being.
Within moral psychology, my research project aims at the epistemology of emotions with respect to our moral intuition and knowledge of qualitative properties, among other things. My interest in emotions intersects with other topics in philosophy, especially those of free will, rational agency, and the nature of reasons. I have also recently developed an interest in phenomenological conservatism, especially as they relate to intuitions and emotions.
I am co-founder and main organizer of the DREGSS (Disability, Race, Ethnicity, Gender, and Sexuality Studies) reading group, created in the winter of 2026. I have also been a member of the UC Davis AI Ethics Lab since the fall of 2025, led by PI Qiannan Li.
Works in Progress
I have multiple works in progress, each at different levels of completeness. If you’d like a copy of a manuscript or just find one of them interesting, please feel free to reach out and ask.
- “Beyond Comfort: Interesting Experiences and the Measurement of Well-Being in AI Care Companions” (Authors: Jack Jacobs, Alex Lau, Hanxuan Zhang, Daezhon Gilbarg)
- “From Familiarity to Transformation: Rethinking Griefbots in the Grieving Process” (Authors: Jack Jacobs, Alex Lau, Amani El-Sheikh, Alexis Woods, Qiannan Li)
- “Perspectivism About Well-Being” (Co-Authors: Baoyu Dai, Qiannan Li)
- “Compatibilist Free-Will and The Moral Responsibility of Emotions ”
- “Collective-Action and The Problem of Meager Help”
- “The Phenomenological Conception of Emotional Justification”