I'm an Assistant Professor of Philosophy at the University of Virginia. My current research focuses on topics in the philosophy of sexuality, emotion, and methodologies in social metaphysics. I regularly teach courses on topics in social philosophy at both the undergraduate and graduate level. I earned my PhD from Rutgers University (New Brunswick) in May 2021 and my dissertation was on the metaphysics of social construction.
Email: dpayton[at]virginia[dot]edu
Academic CV
Email: dpayton[at]virginia[dot]edu
Academic CV
RESEARCH OVERVIEW
I work in three general areas: (i) philosophical methodology in social metaphysics, (ii) philosophy of sex/sexuality, and (iii) philosophy of emotion. You'll find short descriptions of each general research project in the drop-down menu below, and below that you'll find short descriptions of each of my papers. Papers currently under review are marked with an asterisk.*
Please email me if you're interested in reading a draft.
I work in three general areas: (i) philosophical methodology in social metaphysics, (ii) philosophy of sex/sexuality, and (iii) philosophy of emotion. You'll find short descriptions of each general research project in the drop-down menu below, and below that you'll find short descriptions of each of my papers. Papers currently under review are marked with an asterisk.*
Please email me if you're interested in reading a draft.
PhilosoPhiCaL Methodology in social metaphysics
What's characteristic of the social world? In my view, the answer to this question has to do with the unique relationships that hold between language, metaphysics, and value in the social domain. Moreover, we can distinguish different philosophical approaches to theorizing social reality in part by how each views characterizes these relationships.
To date, social philosophers have spent a lot of time thinking about the unique relationships that hold between language and metaphysics within the social domain. My research focuses primarily on the third item on this list: value. I argue that value plays a fundamental and authoritative role in social ontology and feminist metaphysics, and that there are better/worse ways to characterize the role of value within our projects. But regardless of the role that we carve out for value in our metaphysics, at least two things are clear: (i) projects in social philosophy will always proceed from value commitments (whether we choose to acknowledge this or not), and (ii) those background value commitments have significant consequences for first-order views in social philosophy about the nature of gender, race, sexuality, disability, and the like.
To date, social philosophers have spent a lot of time thinking about the unique relationships that hold between language and metaphysics within the social domain. My research focuses primarily on the third item on this list: value. I argue that value plays a fundamental and authoritative role in social ontology and feminist metaphysics, and that there are better/worse ways to characterize the role of value within our projects. But regardless of the role that we carve out for value in our metaphysics, at least two things are clear: (i) projects in social philosophy will always proceed from value commitments (whether we choose to acknowledge this or not), and (ii) those background value commitments have significant consequences for first-order views in social philosophy about the nature of gender, race, sexuality, disability, and the like.
Philosophy of Sex & Sexuality
My work in the philosophy of sex and sexuality is focused largely on questions about the nature & ethics of kink and BDSM. Specifically, my research explores the roles of agency and identity within BDSM, especially in power exchange dynamics.
Philosophy of Emotion
My research interests in this area span a wide range, but they can be roughly summarized as an interest in the nature and value of difficult experiences, and particularly those difficult experiences that we put ourselves through on purpose.
Existing research in these areas places a lot of emphasis on why people do this. But I’m more interested in questions about what we’re doing, when we put ourselves through these ordeals. My current research focuses on the nature of these activities and the emotions that accompany them, and I’m also interested to address questions about the ethics, epistemology, and aesthetic value of these experiences.
In this vein, I'm currently working on papers about horror and disgust: I'm interested in the ways that we intentionally and unintentionally manufacture horrific and disgusting experiences for ourselves, and the ethical significance of this activity.
Existing research in these areas places a lot of emphasis on why people do this. But I’m more interested in questions about what we’re doing, when we put ourselves through these ordeals. My current research focuses on the nature of these activities and the emotions that accompany them, and I’m also interested to address questions about the ethics, epistemology, and aesthetic value of these experiences.
In this vein, I'm currently working on papers about horror and disgust: I'm interested in the ways that we intentionally and unintentionally manufacture horrific and disgusting experiences for ourselves, and the ethical significance of this activity.
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ACADEMIC PUBLICATIONS
SOCIAL METAPHYSICS & PHILOSOPHICAL METHODOLOGY Normative Social Ontology (Journal of Social Ontology, forthcoming). This is a paper about the role of value in projects in social ontology. PDF Emancipatory Methodology [with Elizabeth Barnes] (Ethics, 2025). This is a paper about the role of political commitments in descriptive projects in social ontology. PhilPapers Social Properties (The Routledge Handbook of Properties, 2024). This paper is a survey of the existing literature on the social construction of properties. PhilPapers Searching for Social Properties (Philosophy & Phenomenological Research, 2022). This is a paper about what it takes for a property to be social. PhilPapers PHILOSOPHY OF SEXUALITY & EMOTION Scenes as Games: Agency, Autonomy, and Value in BDSM (Hypatia, 2025). This is a paper about the metaphysics & ethics of BDSM scenes, analyzed as games. PhilPapers |
WORKS-IN-PROGRESS
SOCIAL METAPHYSICS & PHILOSOPHICAL METHODOLOGY Easy Ontology, Hard Ethics (In Progress). I argue that the normative commitments characteristic of projects in critical social ontology are incompatible with NeoCarnapian deflationary metaphysics.* System Caging (In Progress). This is a paper about the material nature and harms of systemic marginalization.* Critical Explanation (In Progress). In this paper I distinguish between material explanations and representational explanations in social metaphysics. I argue that each sort of explanation offers different explanatory goods, and then I argue that, sometimes, we have reasons to prefer material explanations over representational ones. PHILOSOPHY OF SEXUALITY & EMOTION Sexual Compromises (In Progress). This is a paper about the ethics of persuading someone to compromise on sex.* Natural Horror (In Progress). Many projects in the philosophy of horror focus on the questions & problems of horror fiction. This paper is about the horror we feel in response to non-fictional reality.* Agency, Identity, and Power Exchange in BDSM. (APA Studies in Feminist Philosophy, book symposium on Quill Kukla's Sex Beyond Yes). Sometimes, roles like "Dominant" and "submissive" are taken up as identities in BDSM communities. I argue that this presents certain challenges for traditional ways of thinking about the ethics of BDSM. What's Sexual Orientation Got to Do with Sex? (Canadian Journal of Philosophy book symposium on Matt Andler's Sexual Orientation & Sexual Identity and Kevin Richardson's The End of Binaries). I argue that sexual orientation is fundamentally about the sort(s) of sexual interactions we want to have. Among other things, this view implies that sexual orientation is only derivatively about who we’re attracted to, insofar as the answer to what sort of sexual interactions someone wants to have will often (although not always!) involve specifying gender- and/or sex-specific qualities. Sex & Disgust (In Progress). I argue that our aesthetic & moral judgments about sex are related in politically important ways. Abstract |