I'm a Visiting Assistant Professor of philosophy at the University of San Diego, where I am also part of the Center for Ethics, Economics, and Public Policy. I work mainly in ethics, political and social philosophy, from the interdisciplinary perspective known as Philosophy, Politics, and Economics (PPE).

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During my first years studying philosophy in Mexico City, I became unsatisfied with mere idealizations. I traveled to Paris to see whether social sciences could satisfy my quest for practical solutions to philosophical quandaries. But it was until I went to the University of Arizona and discovered PPE that I finally found what I was looking for.

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Now, I teach this interdisciplinary approach to the new generations, who are eager to do the right thing not only in theory, but also in practice.

Journal Articles

Public Servants. Journal of Moral Philosophy (Online First, 2022). With Alexander Schaefer.

We defend an institutional reform called Service Responsibility, which requires increasing or decreasing the income of political leaders insofar as they succeed or fail at achieving democratically chosen goals.

Should We Resurrect Institutional Corruption? Public Affairs Quarterly (forthcoming).

The goal of this paper is to provide reasons against resurrecting the notion of institutional corruption in the realm of policy for three main reasons. First, it is baseless: there is no empirical evidence that the sole presence of money alters democratic results. Second, it is unnecessary: individual corruption can be used to condemn and sanction illegal actions that undermine democratic decision-making. And third, it is unclear whether policies against money in politics are beneficial or detrimental to electoral competition.

Exit & Isolation: Rousseau's State of Nature. Synthese 200, 252 (2022). With Alexander Schaefer.

We first construct a model that incorporates Rousseau’s criticisms by permitting an exit option and (partly) endogenizing human preferences and capacities. Second, we draw out the implications of Rousseau’s analysis for the question of political authority, which cannot be answered, as Hobbes believed, by invoking a hypothetical state of nature.

The Moral Incompetence of Anti-Corruption Experts. Res Publica 27 (2021): 537-557.

This paper studies the lessons of principled anti-corruption experts who dared to fulfill their duty of justice in highly corrupt societies. My thesis is that when principled anti-corruption experts are epistemic trespassers (when they fail to identify the limits of their skills), they show moral incompetence (the tendency of principled agents to bungle moral situations).

The Administrative State. Social Philosophy & Policy 38 (2021): 1-5.

With David Schmidtz.

There has always been a tension, in theory, between public accountability and the professional efficiency of the agencies of the administrative state. How has that tension been handled? What would it be like for it to be well handled?

Personal Corruption & Corrupting Laws: Montesquieu's Twofold Theory of Corruption. Business Ethics and Leadership 4 (2020): 76-83.

The main purpose of this paper is to recover Montesquieu’s view of corruption and show that there are at least two different kinds of corruption. The first kind tracks a problem with individuals. The second kind tracks a problem with the laws.

Political Philosophy as Reconciliation. Revista Estudios: Filosofía, Historia, Letras 114 (2015): 71-90 (original in Spanish).

I argue that one important—and generally forgotten—task of political philosophy is to reconcile us with our institutions and with our fellow citizens. In this paper, I put forward the benefits of reconciliation compared to critical theory.

The "Us" in Justice: Liberal Criteria for Exclusion and Inclusion. Perspectivas: Portuguese Journal of Political Science and International Relations 9 (2012): 31-52.

I put forward some guidelines to think about borders within the context of liberal theory, avoiding falling into nationalism and cosmopolitanism.

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Book Chapters

“A Pluralistic Approach to Corruption: Principal-Agent, Collective Action, and Hayek.” In Social Process & Social Problems, edited by Paul Dragos Aligica, Ginny Choi, Virgil Storr. London, UK: Rowman & Littlefield, 2021: 255-282.

Employing insights from mainline economists, this chapter presents a Hayekian approach to corruption, which emphasizes what people do over what the law says: it focuses on cultural practices. However, there is no one-size-fits-all map for the complex terrain of corruption since it appears in different forms: it may be a moral problem of public officials, but sometimes, it is a social problem resulting from undesirable norms; it can also be a cultural response to inadequate laws. 

The European Union Crisis as a Crisis of Equality. In A European Crisis: Perspectives on Refugees and Europe, edited by Timofey Agarin and Nevena Nancheva. Hannover, Germany: Ibidem-Verlag, 2018: 191-218.

I argue that the economic crisis in the European Union, as a crisis of redistribution and fiscal policy, cannot be solved without instituting political equality among European citizens.

Rawls as a Hegelian. In Hegel, Filosofía Analítica y Liberalismo, edited by José Antonio Pardo. Mexico City: Universidad Iberoamericana, 2016: 105-128 (original in Spanish).

Despite the salient Kantian influence on Rawls's thought, I show that, in his late work, Rawls integrates some Hegelian aspects to his thought, especially when thinking about the possibility of an overlapping consensus.

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The Resilient Society by Markus K. Brunnermeier. The Independent Review 27, 2002. 

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Book Reviews

Visiting Assistant Professor

PPE 101 - Morality, Markets, and Government

​PHIL 338: Environmental Ethics

PHIL 461: Philosophy of Law