Rylan Garwood

About Me

If you're reading this, then you're probably alive. And if you're alive, then you probably have a life. And if you have a life, then I suspect that you want it to go well. But what makes a life go well? This is the question that I primarily study! 

Here are some related questions:

• What is a life, and what sort of things have lives?

• Can something benefit you without you experiencing it?

• Is death bad for you? If so, why?

• Can you be harmed after you die?

• Does benefiting others benefit you? 

• Are non-human lives as valuable as human lives? 

• Are the things that benefit you different from the things that benefit others?

• Is the value of your life determined by the value of its parts?

If you're interested in these questions, please find a short list of good starting points below. 

In addition to well-being, I also work in normative ethics, metaethics, virtue theory, and animal ethics. My secondary interests include disability ethics, philosophy of education, and pragmatism. 

While not studying, I am usually practicing jazz piano, watching movies with my wife, or spending far too much time staring at a screen.