Brennan McDavid

Brennan McDavid is an assistant professor of philosophy at Chapman University and a member of its Smith Institute for Political Economy and Philosophy. In January 2027, she will join the University of Florida’s Hamilton School for Classical and Civic Education as an assistant professor of humanities.

McDavid’s research focuses on ancient Greek and Roman philosophy, particularly ethics, epistemology, and political economy. Her work centers on Plato and Aristotle and explores connections between classical thought and the early modern tradition, including the work of Adam Smith. She also studies trust and human interactions with artificial intelligence.

McDavid is the author of “Nature and Nurture in Plato’s Noble Lie,” forthcoming from Cambridge University Press. Her current book project, “Producing the Good: Plato’s Political Economy,” examines the role of economic ideas in Plato’s political theory. In 2026, she was a summer fellow at Harvard University’s Center for Hellenic Studies. She is also lead principal investigator, with economist Erik Kimbrough, of “The Habits of Discourse,” a project on civil discourse in private higher education supported by the Arthur Vining Davis Foundations.

Before joining Chapman, McDavid was the Seymour Reader in Ancient History and Philosophy at Ormond College, University of Melbourne, and held fellowships with the university’s School of Historical and Philosophical Studies and Centre for Ethical Leadership.

McDavid earned a Ph.D. in philosophy from Princeton University, a master’s in classical philology from the University of Arizona, and a bachelor’s in philosophy and political science from Vanderbilt University.