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Epistemology @ Edinburgh

Description

Portrait of a female scholar Epistemology is one of the central areas of philosophy and also one of the most exciting in terms of the contemporary philosophical landscape. The University of Edinburgh has a unique wealth of research talent in this area and as a result epistemology forms part of one of its four research 'clusters' which represent its research strengths. In particular, it has faculty members which are interested in such epistemological issues as scepticism (including its history), epistemic value, contextualism, social epistemology, epistemic responsibility, perceptual knowledge, rationality, the nature of cognitive of processes, and virtue epistemology.The epistemology research cluster at Edinburgh regularly hosts research events in this area (including international conferences, workshops, and reading groups) as well as visiting scholars (see below). It also has substantial research links with the other research clusters in Philosophy at the University of Edinburgh: ancient philosophy, ethics, and mind and cognition.

This page:

Research questions
Epistemology research group
Reading groups
Upcoming Conferences, Workshops, and Lectures
Past research events
People
Research affiliations
Postgraduates and placement

Research questions

Here are some research issues that are of particular interest to those working in epistemology at the University of Edinburgh:

Why, if at all, are epistemic standings valuable?
What constitutes a cognitive process?
How should one best understand, and respond to, the problem of scepticism?
How should one understand the notion of an epistemic virtue and what role, if any, does it play in a theory of knowledge?
What, if anything, ought I to believe?

Epistemology research group

The Epistemology Research Group meets regularly for research presentations on issues in contemporary epistemology, from internal and external speakers.

Upcoming Epistemology Research Group events

Reading groups

The epistemology research cluster organises two on-going reading groups in epistemology:

Upcoming Conferences, Workshops, and Lectures

People

The core members of faculty who work in epistemology are:

Dr Matthew Chrisman joined the department in 2006 after finishing his PhD at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. In conjunction with his work in ethics, he is interested in the nature of epistemic normativity and the semantics of knowledge attributions. His publications in epistemology include 'From Epistemic Contextualism to Epistemic Expressivism' (Philosophical Studies, 2007), 'Ought to Believe' (Journal of Philosophy, 2008), and 'The Normative Evaluation of Beliefs and the Aspectual Classification of Belief and Knowledge Attributions' (Journal of Philosophy, forthcoming).
Dr Jesper Kallestrup joined the department in 2005 and is also an associate fellow of Arche at the university of St. Andrews. In epistemology he has worked extensively on epistemological contextualism, scepticism, and various epistemic paradoxes. His publications in epistemology include 'Knowledge-Wh and the Problem of Convergent Knowledge' (Philosophy and Phenomenological Research, 2009). Dr Kallestrup recently published a monograph entitled Semantic Externalism (Routeldge, 2011).
Dr Allan Hazlett joined the department in 2010, having taught previously at Fordham and Texas Tech Universities. His current work in epistemology centers on epistemic value, the source of the normative force of epistemic reasons, and social epistemology. His recent publications include 'Knowledge and Conversation' (Philosophy and Phenomenological Research, 2009), 'The Myth of Factive Verbs' (Philosophy and Phenomenological Research, 2010), for which he won the Rutgers Young Epistemologist Prize, and 'Higher-Order Epistemic Attitudes and Intellectual Humility' (Episteme, forthcoming).
Professor Duncan Pritchard joined the department in 2007. He has worked extensively in epistemology, covering all the main topics in this area, including: the problem of scepticism, the epistemic externalism/internalism distinction; the rationality of religious belief; testimony; the relationship between epistemic and content externalism; virtue epistemology; epistemic value; modal epistemology; the history of scepticism; and epistemological contextualism. His publications include Epistemic Luck (Oxford UP, 2005), What Is This Thing Called Knowledge? (Routledge, 2006), and The Nature and Value of Knowledge: Three Investigations (with A. Haddock & A. Millar, Oxford UP, 2010). He is the editor-in-chief of Oxford Bibliographies Online: Philosophy and (with Diego Machuca) International Journal for the Study of Skepticism, and he is the series editor (with V. F. Hendricks) of the New Waves in Philosophy book series.
Dr Nick Treanor, who joins the department in 2012 as a Chancellor's Fellow, specializes in epistemology and the philosophy of mind. His research centers on the nature of belief and of mental representation in general, and on the question of what it is to have greater "contact" with reality. His papers include "The Cogito and the Metaphysics of Mind" (Philosophcial Studies, 2006) and "The Measure of Knowledge" (Noûs, forthcoming).

Other members of faculty interested in epistemology include: Dr Campbell Brown (epistemic value), Dr Matthew Nudds (perceptual knowledge), Dr Alasdair Richmond (early modern epistemology), Prof Mike Ridge (epistemic value), and Prof Dory Scaltsas (ancient epistemology).

Research affiliations

Professor Pritchard is one of the project leaders (with Crispin Wright) of the AHRC Basic Knowledge Project, which was previously based at the Arché research centre and is now based at the Northern Institute of Philosophy. He is an Associate Fellow of Arché, the Northern Institute of Philosophy and the University of Copenhagen's Social Epistemology Research Group. He is one of the leaders (with Rene van Woudenberg and Igor Douven) of the Knowledge, Belief and Normativity Project, he is on the steering committee (with Pascal Engel, Igor Douven, Rene van Woudenberg, Klemens Kappell and Erik Olsson) of the new European Epistemology Network. He was previously one of the project leaders of the Knowledge, Mind and Value Project.

Dr Kallestrup is an Associate Fellow of Arché, the Northern Institute of Philosophy and the University of Copenhagen's Social Epistemology Research Group. He was previously a fellow on the NAMICONA Project.

Postgraduates and placement

Current PhD students

There are a number of PhD students working on epistemology-related topics at Edinburgh, including:
Cameron Boult (PhD) Tony Bolos (PhD) John Bray (PhD) Jamie Collin (PhD) Hasse Hamalainen (PhD) Eric Kerr (PhD) Scott Kerzmann (PhD) Timothy Kunke (PhD)	Joseph Kuntz (PhD) Robin McKenna (PhD) Carl Messenger (PhD) Orestis Palermos (PhD) Rachel Phillips (PhD) Joanna Pollock (PhD) Christopher Ranalli (PhD) Shane Ryan (PhD)	Selina Sadat (PhD) Claudio Salvatore (PhD) Kyle Scott (PhD) Diana Stewart (PhD) Lani Watson (PhD) Eusebio Waweru (PhD) Lee Whittington (PhD) Sam Wilkinson (PhD)

Visiting research students

At any one time, there are also several visiting postgraduate researchers working on epistemology-related topics (the current list of visiting postgraduate students who meet this description can be found above). If you are interested in doing research in epistemology at the University of Edinburgh then contact Duncan Pritchard who will be pleased to help.

Recently completed PhD students and graduate placement

PhD students from this research cluster who have completed their degrees, and their academic positions:

Evan Butts, completed 2011, examined by Prof Sanford Goldberg (Northwestern), currently a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Geneva.
Joseph Kuntz, completed 2011, examined by Prof Markus Lammarenta (Helsinki), currently a visiting Researcher at the University of Christchurch.
Adam Carter, completed 2009, examined by Prof Ernest Sosa (Rutgers), currently a Lecturer in Philosophy at Queen’s University, Belfast.
Conor McHugh, completed 2008, examined by Prof Quassim Cassam (Warwick), currently a postdoctoral research fellow at Institut Jean Nicod.

We are committed to graduate placement in this area, as part of our general placement strategy for postgraduates in philosophy.

Upcoming Events