Jimmy Licon

Jimmy Alfonso Licon is an Assistant Teaching Professor of Philosophy in the School of Historical, Philosophical, and Religious Studies at Arizona State University.

Originally from Sacramento, California, he did his undergraduate studies in Davis and earned his graduate degrees (in philosophy) in San Francisco and near Washington, D.C. Before joining ASU, he was an Emergent Ventures Fellow (postdoc) at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University and taught philosophy at Georgetown University, the University of Maryland, and Towson University.

His research examines ethical and epistemic questions involving signaling, cooperation, AI, and ignorance. He is the author of Better Not to Know: Why Knowing Less Is Sometimes Best (forthcoming, Peter Lang) which draws on philosophy, economics, and moral psychology to explore how ignorance can be beneficial in personal, economic, moral, and political life.

Licon’s current research focuses on the ethics and political economy of knowledge, especially in domains where incentives, signaling, and institutional design shape what people believe and say. Other projects include how politics will increase the moral hazards of AI, why the value of MMA derives from self-defense rights, why we should hope that God exists, even if we cannot bring ourselves to believe, the benefits of political irrationality, and why economic productivity is a civic virtue. He has been published in journals like Episteme, Philosophical Psychology, Ratio, Social Epistemology, and The Independent Review.

In addition to his research, Licon writes for public audiences on philosophy, teaching, politics, and culture. His essays have appeared in venues like the American Institute for Economic Research, The Pamphlet, Mises Wire, Marion West, Free Inquiry, and Faculty Focus, where he explores themes in ethics, epistemology, and political economy in an accessible style. He also develops innovative approaches to teaching philosophy using AI tools.

Outside of academia, Licon hosts Uncommon Wisdom, a Substack, podcast, and YouTube channel that shares philosophical, ethical, and economic insights for a broader audience. In his spare time, he enjoys country music and classic rock, stand-up comedy, and combat sports. He lives with his wife, a prosecutor, in Apache Junction at the foot of the Superstition Mountains. He also abides.