Daniel Star

Daniel Star is an Associate Professor of Philosophy and Director of Graduate Studies at Boston University's Department of Philosophy within the College of Arts & Sciences. He holds a B.Phil. and D.Phil. from the University of Oxford. His research focuses on ethics, epistemology, and aesthetics, with notable works including Knowing Better: Virtue, Deliberation, and Normative Ethics (OUP, 2015) and editorships of volumes like The Oxford Handbook of Reasons and Normativity. He also explores the ethics of photography and aesthetic appreciation through co-authored papers with Joel Van Fossen.

Star’s academic service includes roles on the American Philosophical Association’s Program Committee and Boston University’s Center for the Humanities Executive Committee. He has received awards such as the Senior Research Fellowship (2022) and the Junior Faculty Fellowship (2010). His teaching spans undergraduate and graduate courses in ethics, epistemology, and aesthetics, including specialized topics like the philosophy of photography.

Star’s photography work, featured on book covers such as his own Knowing Better and Michael Blome-Tillmann’s The Semantics of Knowledge Attributions, reflects his philosophical engagement with visual representation and artistic ethics. His research also extends to Confucian ethics and the history of moral metaphysics.