Student insight

Philosophy graduate student Eric Roark created a bit of a stir in the world of philosophy by winning an award previously won only by faculty members.

Roark earned the 2006 Jean Hampton Prize for the best paper by a philosopher in an early career. The Pacific Division of the American Philosophical Association conducts the competition in social and political philosophy, ethical theory, legal theory and many other areas of philosophy.

Previous winners of the writing award include some of the nation's most well-known faculty in philosophy. Professor Peter Vallentyne, Roark's mentor, calls the paper insightful and tightly argued. "I expect that it will be published in a leading journal," he says.

Roark’s paper "Is Michael Otsuka’s Conception of Robust Self-Ownership Too Robust for a Left-Libertarian?" argues that a left-libertarian must either be content with endorsing the formal libertarian right of self-ownership or give up on the left-libertarian reconciliation of self-ownership and equality altogether.

A fourth-year doctoral student, Roark is writing his dissertation on the use and appropriation of natural resources. The work explores such issues as global poverty, material equality, liberty and autonomy.

"The academic culture and climate at MU has played a significant role in helping me foster and build my ideas," he says.

Roark aspires to become a professor at an institution where he can conduct research and teach.

Links:

Eric Roark
Department of Philosophy

full text of paper (in Word)

American Philosophical Association
Jean Hampton Prize



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