Earlier this month on December 11, 2025, Philosophy Graduate Student Aaron Barker successfully defended his dissertation titled: "Schopenhauer on Character, Cognition, and Moral Responsibility". He was overseen by a committee consisting of Ellwood Wiggins, Chair of German Studies. Along with fellow Philosophy faculty members Colin Marshall, Paul Franco and Shawn Wang.
His dissertation addresses some of the central features of Arthur Schopenhauer's theory of action. It does so through three papers that deal in Schopenhauer's conceptions of moral character, cognition, and moral responsibility. The first paper identifies a puzzle that emerges in Schopenhauer's discussion of the structure of moral character and its relation to actions. The second paper clarifies several underexplored features of Schopenhauer's Primary Doctrine, theory of cognition, and conception of rational deliberation. This paper presents a novel reading of Schopenhauer's theory of action involving a feedback loop of motivation. The third paper contextualizes Schopenhauer's theory of moral responsibility as a significant departure from the Modern European philosophical tradition, shows that Schopenhauer developed an early conception of cognitive bias, and argues that Schopenhauer's account of moral responsibility implies that agents are morally responsible for their cognitions and biases which reflect their unique, individual character.
We are all proud of Dr. Barker and are excited to see all his future accomplishments.
Congrats Aaron!