James is a PhD candidate in the School of Philosophy at ANU, under the supervision of Prof. Gillian Russell. His research investigates the theoretical virtue of parsimony. He aims to clarify how parsimony shapes not only scientific theory choice but also fundamental questions in metaphysics.

He holds a B.A. (Hons) and a Master of Philosophy from the University of Adelaide, where he explored metaphysics of memory and temporal ontology, and he remains interested in those topics.