Cardiff School of English Communication and Philosophy

PhD Research

My thesis examines the limitations of ethical philosophy, and the need for literary ethics. It takes on key ethical positions in analytic (in its first third) and continental philosophy (in its second third), demonstrates how certain weaknesses in these positions stand in need of redress, before proposing (in its final third) a new brand of literary ethics which incorporates the strengths of ethical philosophy while remaining more or less capable of providing support whenever ethical philosophy stands in need of supplementation.

Interests:
Ethics – fictionalism, error theory, anti-theory, evolutionary ethics, emotivism
Aesthetics – postmodern aesthetics
Philosophy of science – anti-realism, philosophy of physics
Non-Western philosophy – Nagarjuna, Yogacara and Nichiren Buddhism, comparative philosophy
Literature – Henrik Ibsen, James Joyce, modernism, postcolonialism, LGBT, magic realism, literary theory
Law – Environmental law

Supervisor: Alessandra Tanesini, Peter Sedgwick

Academic Background

M.A. in Ibsen Studies – University of Oslo, 2010-2012 (Average Grade: A; Perfect Score)

B.A. in Literature in English – National University of Singapore, 2007-2010 (Average Grade: A+)
Awarded: Best in Literature in English; Dean’s List

National Service Probationary Inspector – Singapore Police Force, 2003-2005
Awarded: Sword of Merit; Best in Academic Studies; Commissioner of Police Essay Competition Runner-Up

Publications

‘'Is Ethics Nonsense? The Imagination, and the Spirit against the Limit,' in Philosophy and Literature (America: John Hopkins University Press 2013) (upcoming)
'The (Im)possibility of Filming Ibsen' in Proceedings for the XIIIth International Ibsen Conference (Oslo: Universitetsforlaget 2013) (upcoming)
'Ekphrases' (poetry about Rothko, Picasso, and Klimt), in Tipton Poetry Journal (America: Brick Street Poetry Inc. 2013) (upcoming)
‘The Birth, Death, and Afterlife of the God of the Philosophers’ in Filosofisk Supplement (Oslo: Universitetsforlaget 2010)
‘Watergates and Watersheds: Introducing Slettemark’, in The Kent Ridge Common (Singapore 2010)
‘Understanding Art – Reading Urinals Hermeneutically After Duchamp’ in The Kent Ridge Common (Singapore 2009)

Conferences, Symposia and Seminars

'Insect Writing,' in Writing Life Symposium (University of Malta) 2013
'The Fly in the Fly-Bottle,' Gregynog Conference (Cardiff University)2013
Organizing Committee Member & Poster Designer, Voice of the Humanities Conference (Cardiff University) 2013
‘The (Im)possibility of Filming Ibsen’, in The XXXth International Ibsen Conference (University of Tromsø) 2012 (presenter)
‘The Philosophy of Science of Gaston Bachelard and Thomas Kuhn’, PhD Reading Group (Cardiff University) 2012
‘The Philosophy of Nagarjuna’, Non-Western Philosophy Reading Group (Cardiff University) 2012

Teaching

Postgraduate Tutor at ENCAP (Cardiff University) 2013-2014 (upcoming)

Links

Artwork on Saatchi Online: http://www.saatchionline.com/Melvin
Filosofisk Supplement Publication: http://www.filosofisksupplement.no/arkiv/2010-2-gud
Kjartan Slettemark Publication: http://kentridgecommon.com/?p=6878#sthash.vWEhzsLV.dpbsMarcel Duchamp Publication: http://kentridgecommon.com/?p=3760#sthash.r3usXhPI.dpbs