About

I am an Assistant Professor of Philosophy at the University of Michigan. Before coming to Michigan, I completed my PhD at the University of Southern California, and my BA at UNC Chapel Hill. 

​I work mainly on issues in metaphysics and philosophical logic, particularly those that concern radically permissive ontologies. Many of my recent projects explore material plenitude: the view that there is a multitude of coincident objects wherever there is any material object. I also have interests in epistemology, philosophy of language, and aesthetics.

Research

For full abstracts and works in progress, check out my Research page.
  • Varieties of Plenitude, Philosophy Compass, 15 (3), 2020. doi: 10.1111/phc3.12654
  • The Barest Flutter of the Smallest Leaf: Understanding Material Plenitude, The Philosophical Review, 128 (2):143-178, 2019. doi: 10.1215/00318108-7374932 (selected for the Philosopher's Annual)
  • Against Conservatism in Metaphysics (with John Hawthorne), Royal Institute of Philosophy Supplement, 82: 45-75, 2018. doi: 10.1017/s1358246118000103
  • A Paradox of Matter and Form. Thought, 6:33-42,  2017. doi: 10.1002/tht3.230

Contact

mmfair@umich.edu
PhilPeople

435 South State Street
2215 Angell Hall
Ann Arbor MI 48109

Teaching

See my Teaching page for information about courses I'm teaching, as well as my UM Student Resources page, where I've compiled information about student support resources available at the University of Michigan.
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Current Courses
  • ​Intro Philosophy (PHIL101)
  • Honors Intro Logic (PHIL296)
Past Courses​
  • ​Intro Philosophy
  • Seminar on "Revisionary Ontology"