Vanessa Carbonell
Assistant Professor | Ethics, Moral Psychology
Philosophy - Tenure-Track Faculty
513-556-6324
vanessa.carbonell@uc.edu
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Education
Ph.D, University of Michigan, 2009 (Philosophy).
B.A., Wesleyan University, 2003 (Philosophy).
Professional Summary
Vanessa Carbonell received her Ph.D in Philosophy from the University of Michigan in 2009. Her doctoral dissertation, "Moral Saints Reconsidered," explored puzzles in moral theory and moral psychology that arise when we look at the behavior of extraordinary moral agents. Her related article "What Moral Saints Look Like" is forthcoming in the Canadian Journal of Philosophy, 2009. While at the University of Michigan, Carbonell's research was funded by a Charlotte Newcombe Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship, awarded in national competition through the Woodrow Wilson Foundation.
Prof. Carbonell's research focuses on problems in normative ethics, metaethics, and moral psychology. She is particularly interested in questions about moral obligation, moral sainthood, and moral "character traits." Recent projects include "The Ratcheting-Up Effect," in which she argues that the behavior of real-life moral saints serves to ratchet-up the level of moral obligation faced by ordinary people, and "Moral Imposters and Moral Fetishism," in which she explores what it means to be motivated by morality in the wrong way.
Carbonell also has interests in the history of ethics, especially Hume and Aristotle. And she looks forward to expanding her research into applied ethics (especially questions about punishment) and bioethics (especially questions about the obligations of doctors).
In Autumn Quarter 2009 Prof. Carbonell will be teaching Introduction to Philosophy: Ethics (Phil 106) and Metaethics (Phil 306). In Winter 2010 she will be teaching Contemporary Moral Problems and Ethics and the Family.
More information about Carbonell's research and teaching can be found at
her website.
