
I am Leverhulme Early Career Fellow at the University of Edinburgh. I got my PhD from the University of Cambridge in 2019.
My research examines what role emotions should play in ethical thinking and decision-making. I use evidence from psychology, literature studies, and other disciplines to build descriptive models of how emotions shape our ethical judgments. I then apply concepts from epistemology to reach normative conclusions about ethical judgments based on emotion. I'm most interested in (i) articulating the conditions in which emotion-based judgments can amount to ethical knowledge, and (ii) improving our moral methodology by showing how to make better use of emotions in ethical inquiry.
Besides this, I have research interests in the history of philosophy. I've published articles on Kant's epistemology, with a focus on causal reasoning, epistemic norms, and mental representation. I'm currently working on a mini-project on Kant's criticisms of Moral Sense ethics, focusing on the work of Francis Hutcheson (1694-1746).
For up to date info on my publications etc., see my PhilPeople page: philpeople.org/profiles/james-hutton-1
Email: james.hutton [at] ed.ac.uk
Twitter: @jameshuttonphil