philosophical science

publications

philosophical science

publications

Books

Knowledge and the Norm of Assertion
Epistemology: A Guide
Epistemic Norms: New Essays on Action, Belief, and Assertion

A collection of new essays on the norms of assertion, action, and belief.

Ad Infinitum: New Essays on Epistemological Infinitism

A collection of new essays on the role of infinity in forming reasonable beliefs.

Contemporary Debates in Epistemology

A collection of vigorous debates on some of the most controversial topics in recent theoretical epistemology.

Virtuous Thoughts: The Philosophy of Ernest Sosa

A critical overview of the central themes of Ernest Sosa’s philosophy.

Virtue Epistemology: Contemporary Readings

A collection of influential recent contributions to virtue epistemology.

Papers

tower of babel

Cross-linguistic disagreement

You can disagree with someone even if you don’t speak their language so good.

hole in a wall

Lying by omission

Evidence that assertion is essential to lying.

poison vial

Toxic intentions

Pick your poison … and intention.

apple

Knowledge and Justification

On the ordinary view, if you know, then you’re justified.

angel

Impossible Intentions

It’s possible to intend what you think is impossible.

gavel of truth

Truth, Fallibility, and Justification

More on the truth about how truth truly matters.

film negatives

A Peculiar and Perpetual Tendency

I did not just show that you can’t prove a negative.

pinocchio

Objective falsity is essential to lying

An objectively compelling case that falsity is truly essential to lying.

pinocchio

Lying, Fast and Slow

Some people can’t handle the untruth.

raffle ticket

Knowledge Attribution and Lotteries

Some ins and outs of lotteries.

clown

A non-puzzle

When you ain’t got nothing, you got nothing when you lose.

fox

Reasons and Basing in Commonsense Epistemology

Reasons are causes, inside your mind and out.

horseshoes

Knowledge and Truth

How is knowledge like horseshoes?

road sign - two ways

Deciding without Intending

Evidence that you can decide to do something without intending it.

a horse's mouth

Knowledge, Adequacy, and Approximate Truth

Straight from the horse’s mouth, a shocking truth, or thereabout.

disabled stormtrooper

Intellectual Inability and Obligation

Cognition doesn’t care either. Sorry.

korean dolls

Cross-cultural Excuse Validation

Americans and Koreans engage in excuse validation at similar rates.

the hulk

Experimental Epistemology and "Gettier" Cases

“Philosophy” is ancient Greek for “love of an embarrassing and unproductive mess.” No, wait …

using a megaphone

Revisiting Norms

Would it help if I said it louder?

Values and Credibility in Science

Some evidence on how values affect the perceived credibility of science.

baboons with baby

The Core Primate Knowledge Concept

The concept of knowledge is an ancient part of our primate heritage.

walt and jesse

Moderate Scientism in Philosophy

Yo, science! Philosophy needs your help. Badly.

a pair of figures

Virtue Epistemology and Abilism on Knowledge

One of these theories is demonstrably better, and it doesn’t begin with “V”.

storm trooper

The Non-factive Turn

You’re going the wrong way.

bi-location

Personal Identity and Persisting as Many

Two places. One time. No Problem.

inigo and vizzini

Epistemic Modals and Alternative Possibilities

Some words do not mean what philosophers think they mean.

two angels

Choosing and Refusing

It is conceptually possible to form beliefs at will.

korean child

Knowledge and Assertion in Korean

Knowledge is a central norm of assertion in Korean too.

monk

Exceptionalist Naturalism

Commonsense views humans as exceptional parts of the natural world, capable of resisting deterministic laws.

stop start sign

Compatibilism Can Be Natural

The best evidence to date for compatibilism in commonsense morality.

inside out

It's What's on the Inside That Counts?

Some initial evidence that the ordinary concept of modesty might be primarily behavioral.

life preserver

How "Ought" Exceeds but Implies "Can"

The “ought implies can” principle is false but reflects something true about moral language.

motivated angel

In the Thick of Moral Motivation

Multiple ordinary concepts of belief relate differently to moral motivation.

sleeping dog

Epistemic Contextualism

That dog won’t hunt.

a spider

Knowledge Attributions and Behavioral Predictions

When we predict what people will do, what they know matters more than what they think.

pinocchio

Lying, Uptake, Assertion, and Intent

Sometimes we judge that someone lied without judging that they intended to deceive.

charles darwin statue

Actionability Judgments Cause Knowledge Judgments

Judgments about how someone should act cause judgments about what they know.

uncle sam pointing at you

The Point of Assertion is to Transmit Knowledge

This experiment supports the hypothesis that transmitting knowledge is the point of assertion.

foundation

Knowledge from Falsehood

It’s possible to infer knowledge from a false premise.

box broken into pieces

Gettier Cases: A Taxonomy

Philosophers broke it. We fixed it.

handicap parking

Epistemic Situationism and Cognitive Ability

Enabling the unreliable masses to transcend their lack of virtue.

turn

Completing the Pragmatic Turn in Epistemology

Studies show that Locke was right, Descartes was wrong.

explosion

Knowledge Central

Judgments about what people know feature centrally in how we evaluate them.

referee

Sustaining Rules

A theory of rules for managing belief.

tools

Compatibilism and Incompatibilism in Social Cognition

Scientists observe hybridization of compatibilism and incompatibilism in commonsense morality.

snowflake

The Distinctive "Should" of Assertability

They said truth didn’t matter. It turns out they shouldn’t have.

a barn that you know is a barn

Knowledge Attributions in Iterated Fake Barn Cases

Proving philosophers wrong, one barn at a time.

sheep bleating

Experimental Work on the Norms of Assertion

A condensed review of the definitive case that knowledge is a central norm of assertion.

henna hands

Experimental, Cross-cultural, and Classical Indian Epistemology

Surprising similarities between contemporary commonsense and ancient Indian philosophy.

the king is down

A New Paradigm for Epistemology

There's a new king in town.

recycling program

Knowledge Judgments in “Gettier” Cases

Philosophers make a mess. Science cleans it up. You're welcome.

monkey whispers

Knowledge, Certainty, and Assertion

Assertion is more closely linked to knowledge than it is to certainty.

broken chair

Perceptions of Philosophical Inquiry

In case you were wondering what philosophers think about philosophy.

dr. house doesn't care

Knowledge and Assertion in “Gettier” Cases

You get bonus points if you act like you care.

lonely chair

Perceived Weaknesses of Philosophical Inquiry

Philosophy’s self-inflicted public relations problem: a report from the field.

marmot lookouts

Vision, Knowledge and Assertion

Even in a highly misleading environment, perception provides knowledge.

office worker

How to Do Better

Can someone please send philosophers another copy of this memo?

roots

The Radicalism of Truth-Insensitive Epistemology

Don't believe the hype: you should believe the truth.

wheelchair at ocean

Inability and Obligation in Moral Judgment

Morality doesn’t care. Get over it.

good duck/bad duck

The Problem of ESEE Knowledge

Don’t worry, it’s all good.

on the yellow brick road

Assertion and Assurance

Assertion, assurance, and speech. Oh my.

FDR in wheelchair

From Virtue Epistemology to Abilism

I blazed the trail, so you don’t have to.

a standing rule

Excuse Validation

How to break a rule without “breaking” it.

closed door in the open

An Open and Shut Case

Dear Closure Principle, don’t hit the door on your way out.

morpheus from the matrix

Skeptical Appeal

Psychological roots of skeptical doubt.

giraffes

Knowledge and Assertion: A Simple Test

Knowing increases assertability by 35000%.

sleeping newborn

Unreliable Knowledge

Unreliably produced knowledge is so possible that it happens all the time.

believing angel

Belief Through Thick and Thin

Multiple ordinary concepts of belief relate differently to knowledge.

selfless ape

Selfless Assertions

Sometimes when your examples are confusing, people fix it for you.

dice

Is Probabilistic Evidence a Source of Knowledge?

How some different forms of probability affect knowledge attributions.

lucky pigs

Knowledge and Luck

How some different forms of luck affect knowledge attributions.

figure standing on a cracker

Understanding and Explanation

Observational evidence that explanations should express understanding.

judge's gavel

Factive Norms of Belief and Decision

The best evidence yet of factive norms of belief and decision-making.

pinocchio in profile

The Truth About Lying

Evidence that saying something false is essential to lying.

batman is born

Linguistic Intuitions in Context

WAM! BAM! POW! A theory is born.

he's asontished

A Defense of Creationist Reasoning

Yeah, you heard me right.

crystal ball

Iffy Predictions

No way you’ll predict what we argued in this paper.

santa claus

You Gotta Believe

Observational evidence regarding belief and proper speech.

minions talking

Suberogatory Assertion

Is it always wrong to say a bad thing?

jillian michaels pointing at you

The Folk Epistemology of Lotteries

What, you didn’t know? You’re such a loser.

wolf howling

Reid on Natural Language

A natural basis for artificial language.

marshmallows

Non-psychological Weakness of Will

Based on new findings, we propose a new model of weakness of will as a failure of self-control.

sword fight

When Words Speak Louder than Actions

“You’re not my father!” Hmm.

trolley with bleach

For the Greater Goods?

Should you sacrifice one rug to save the many? Step aboard to find out.

gollum

Telling, Showing and Knowing

One thing to rule them all, and in our knowledge bind them.

two levels

Bi-level Virtue Epistemology

A summary of a leading epistemologist’s theories.

a sad clown

Doomed to Fail

Shed a tear for the ontological argument’s sad epistemological fate.

bridge to infinity

Infinitism, Finitude, and Normativity

The objections never end. Good thing the solutions don’t either.

red queen

That’s Outrageous

At present, I can’t think of a good reason to not get emotional.

happy philosopher

A Conspicuous Art

Philosophers love this finding.

child wincing

Irksome Assertions

You’re saying it wrong.

unlocked lock

Knowledge Guaranteed

An authoritative theory of guarantees.

statue of liberty

Liberal Thinking

Pushing academics to be way more liberal than they already are.

judge's gavel

The Test of Truth

Wherein the truth (should) be told.

awarded no points

Is Knowledge Justified True Belief?

A simple “wrong” would have done just fine.

falling hazard

Stumbling in Nozick’s Tracks

This theory is cool but probably false.

goal

Reasons, Answers, and Goals

Reasons might be answers and goals.

face palm

Preempting Paradox

Remember that time when you tried to say something but failed? Me neither.

brangelina

Pyrrhonian Skepticism Meets Speech-Act Theory

Among the most anticipated social events since a certain super-couple’s wedding. Or divorce. Or something.

puzzle chairs

A Puzzle About Withholding

An interesting puzzle that remains unsolved to this day.

read it
dead inside

In Gettier’s Wake

Don’t open this introduction to a fake problem that won’t die.

read it
poseidon

Mythology of the Factive

You just knew this had to be true.

read it
coffee beans

The Express Knowledge Account of Assertion

Assertions should express knowledge.

read it
a microwave

Manifest Failure

Solving the fake problem that set epistemology back decades. With a microwave.

read it
causal units

Believing For a Reason

A reason to believe in the cause.

read it
handyman frog

A New and Improved Argument

Because even necessary beings need a little help now and then.

read it
allegedly forbidden knowledge

Contingent A Priori Knowledge

Philosophers say you can’t have it. I say you can.

read it
he promised

Promises to Keep

I guarantee, it’s good to keep your promises.

read it
generally anonymous

On the General Argument Against Internalism

Sometimes you’re right for the wrong reason.

read it
hole

Refutation By Elimination

This argument will convince you, even if you don’t believe it.

read it
armwheelchair

Epistemic Invariantism and Speech Act Contextualism

Armchairs usually don’t get such good mileage.

read it
couple in relationship

The Relationship Between Two Kinds of Justification

A theory about the relationship between having justification for beliefs and forming justified beliefs.

read it
infinite spiral

Foundationalism for Modest Infinitists

Four responses to one view with approximately two proponents.

read it
man talking

Prompting Challenges

Some observational evidence on how we ask questions and challenge answers.

read it
baby looking

Does Perceiving Entail Knowing?

You’ll know it when you see it. Probably.

read it
infinite light

On the Regress Argument for Infinitism

It took forever to evaluate this argument.

read it
bunny keeps going

An Infinitist Account of Justification

This account keeps going, and going, and going, and …

read it
it's in your head

The Ontology of Epistemic Reasons

Relax, it’s all just in your head.

read it
It spells "god"

On Perceiving God

Look closely and you’ll see “God”!

read it
good enough shots

Knowledge as Achievement, More or Less

This paper is about right, which is good enough.

read it
police arrest

You Can’t Get Away with Murder That Easily

Violent crime in philosophy dropped 50% in the year after this paper was published.

read it

Encyclopedic

money frog

The Value of Knowledge

house of cards

Virtue Epistemology

thomas reid

Thomas Reid

bert and ernie

Assertion

spiral shell

Infinitism

infinity on water skis

Introduction to Infinitism

ernest sosa

Ernest Sosa

infinity

Infinitism

grass in the cracks

Virtue Epistemology

desert tree

Epistemology

a line in the sand

Satisficing

bears reading

Review of “Achieving Knowledge”

baby handshake

Introduction to Virtue Epistemology

a sheep reading

Review of “Knowledge and Skepticism”

apple in barbed tangles

Knowledge

value and knowledge

The Value of Knowledge

a bear reading

Review of “Intellectual Virtues”

carnation blossom

Epistemic Supervenience

a virtuous fern

Virtue Epistemology

statue of virtues

Virtue Epistemology