research
My research focuses on the intersection of epistemology, ethics, and meta-normative theory. I have worked on the nature of justified belief, radical scepticism, and epistemic anti-realism. I am especially interested in fundamental questions about the similarities and differences between epistemology and other normative disciplines, such as ethics, or aesthetics. Most recently I've been exploring epistemic blame, testimonial injustice, and political ignorance (and the intersection of these topics).
*Email me for a draft of my book manuscript about epistemic blame, Forthcoming with Oxford University Press*
2023-2025: I am a member of the Epistemic Reparations Global Working Group, funded by a Buffett Global Catalyst Grant. The co-leads of the project are Jennifer Lackey and Ben Frommer.
2022-2025: I am the principle investigator on a three-year SSHRC Insight Development Grant titled "Norms of Epistemic Criticism". The project will examine degrees of epistemic criticizability, complicity and hypocrisy in the epistemic domain, and connections between epistemic blame and social power. More details about this new project here.
*Email me for a draft of my book manuscript about epistemic blame, Forthcoming with Oxford University Press*
2023-2025: I am a member of the Epistemic Reparations Global Working Group, funded by a Buffett Global Catalyst Grant. The co-leads of the project are Jennifer Lackey and Ben Frommer.
2022-2025: I am the principle investigator on a three-year SSHRC Insight Development Grant titled "Norms of Epistemic Criticism". The project will examine degrees of epistemic criticizability, complicity and hypocrisy in the epistemic domain, and connections between epistemic blame and social power. More details about this new project here.
publications
BOOKS
ARTICLES and CHAPTERS
- Epistemic Blame: The Nature and Norms of Epistemic Relationships. Forthcoming, Oxford University Press (April 2024)
ARTICLES and CHAPTERS
- "Epistemic Complicity", Episteme[PDF][link]
- "Epistemic Blame as Relationship Modification: Reply to Smartt", Philosophical Studies [PDF][link]
- "Degrees of Epistemic Criticizability", The Philosophical Quarterly [PDF][link]
- "Access to Collective Epistemic Reasons: Reply to Mitova, Asian Journal of Philosophy [PDF][link]
- "Epistemic Blame", Philosophy Compass [PDF][link]
- "Pragmatism, Truth, and Cognitive Agency", Inquiry [PDF]
- "Standing to Epistemically Blame", Synthese [PDF][link]
- "The Significance of Epistemic Blame", Erkenntnis [PDF][link]
- "There is a Distinctively Epistemic Kind of Blame", Philosophy and Phenomenological Research [PDF][link]
- "Epistemic Judgment and Motivation", The Philosophical Quarterly (with Sebastian Köhler)[PDF][link]
- "The Epistemic Responsibilities of Citizens in a Democracy", In The Routledge Handbook of Political Epistemology, Hannon, M. & DeRidder, J. (eds.), Routledge[PDF][link]
- "The (Virtue) Epistemology of Political Ignorance, American Philosophical Quarterly [PDF][link]
- "Excuses, Exemptions, and Derivative Norms", Ratio [link]
- "Moral Virtues With Epistemic Content", In Virtue Theoretic Epistemology: New Methods and Approaches, Greco, J. & Kelp, C. (eds.), Cambridge University Press (with Chris Kelp, Mona Simion, and Johanna Schnurr)[link]
- "Categorical Norms and Convention-Relativism About Epistemic Discourse", dialectica [PDF][link]
- "Hoops and Barns: a New Dilemma for Sosa", Synthese (with Chris Kelp, Fernando Broncano-Berrocal, Harmen Ghijsen, Paul Dimmock, and Mona Simion) [PDF][link]
- "An Explanatory Challenge for Epistemological Disjunctivism", Episteme [PDF][link]
- "Knowledge and Attributability", Pacific Philosophical Quarterly [PDF] [link]
- "Epistemic Normativity and the Justification-Excuse Distinction" Synthese [PDF] [link]
- "Excusing Prospective Agents", Logos & Episteme [link]
- "Epistemic Conditions on "Ought": E=K as a Case Study", Acta Analytica [link]
- "Sceptical Arguments and Epistemic Principles: Closure and Underdetermination”, Philosophia [link]
- "Wittgensteinian Anti-Scepticism and Epistemic Vertigo", Philosophia (with Duncan Pritchard) [link]
recent/upcoming talks
- 2024: TBA, Philosophy Senior Seminar, Glasgow University (May)
- 2024:"The Relational Foundations of Epistemic Normativity", Invited Symposium: The Epistemic and the Interpersonal, Central APA, New Orleans, LA
- 2023: "Epistemic Complicity", 18th Episteme Conference, Stone Town, Zanzibar
- 2023: Invited comments on "The Agent-Directed Account of Epistemic Blame", Colloquium Session Pacific APA, San Fransisco, CA
- 2022: "Epistemic Blame and Social Power", Epistemic Wrongs and Epistemic Reparations Workshop, African Centre for Epistemology and Philosophy of Science, University of Johannesburg
- 2022: "Degrees of Epistemic Criticizability", Western Canadian Philosophical Association, Winnipeg, MB
- 2022: "Degrees of Epistemic Criticizability", European Epistemology Network Meeting, University of Glasgow
- 2022: "The Puzzle of Epistemic Blame", Responsibility for Beliefs Workshop, University of Helsinki
- 2022: Invited comments on "The Quality of Thought", Colloquium Session Pacific APA, Vancouver, BC
- 2022: "Epistemic Criticism and Epistemic Risk", The Social and Political Dimensions of Epistemic Risk, University of Seville
- 2022: "Norms of Epistemic Criticism", Epistemic Blame: Theory and Practice Workshop, University of Johannesburg
- 2022: Invited comments on Eugene Chislenko's "Blame as Attention", Symposium Session, Central APA, Chicago, IL
- 2021: "The Puzzle of Epistemic Blame", Book Symposium on "The Puzzle of Epistemic Blame: On the Nature and Norms of Epistemic Relationships" (draft manuscript), COGITO Epistemology Research Centre, University of Glasgow
- 2021: "Democratic Participation and the Value of Epistemic Blame", MANCEPT Workshops in Political Philosophy - "Epistemic Responsibilities of Democratic Citizens", University of Manchester
- 2021: "A Relationship-Based Account of Epistemic Blame", Brown Bag Meetings, CONCEPT Cologne Center for Contemporary Epistemology and the Kantian Tradition, University of Cologne
- 2021: "A Relationship-Based Account of Epistemic Blame",Symposium presentation, Commentators: Tim Kwiatek (Columbia University) and Sara Ghaffari (Bowling Green State University), 2021 Eastern APA Meeting, New York, NY
- 2020: "Epistemic Blame and the Business Condition on Standing to Blame", Social (Distance) Epistemology: Weekly Virtual Events, Social Epistemology Network Online
- 2020: "A Relationship-Based Account of Epistemic Blame", COGITO Work in Progress Seminar (by Zoom), University of Glasgow
- 2020: "Epistemic Blame and the Business Condition on Standing to Blame", Philosophy Visiting Speaker Colloquium, University of Manitoba
- 2019: Invited comments on Michael Hannon's "Truth, Understanding, and Deliberative Democracy", and Leandro De Brasi's "Citizen Incompetence and the Epistemic Structure of Society", 2nd Social Epistemology Network Event, Yonsei University
- 2019: "Epistemic Normativity in Groups", Roundtable discussion at Canadian Philosophy Association Annual Congress, University of British Columbia
- 2018: "Epistemic Blame?", GOGITO New Directions in Social Epistemology Speaker Series, University of Glasgow
- 2018: "Epistemic Blame?", 55th Annual Meeting of the Western Canadian Philosophical Association, University of Calgary
- 2018: "The (Virtue) Epistemology of Political Ignorance", European Epistemology Network Meeting, Amsterdam
- 2018: "Epistemic Judgment and Motivation" (with Sebastian Köhler), The Future of Normativity, Kent University
- 2018: "The (Virtue) Epistemology of Political Ignorance", Social Epistemology and Epistemic Normativity: Themes from Sandy Goldberg, Cardiff University
- 2018: "The (Virtue) Epistemology of Political Ignorance", First Flemish Epistemology Workshop, KU Leuven
- 2018: "The (Virtue) Epistemology of Political Ignorance", Canadian Philosophy Association Annual Congress, Université du Québec à Montréal
- 2018: "Intellectually Responsible Democracy", Faculty of Arts Speaker Series, Brandon University
in progress
"The Relational Foundations of Epistemic Normativity" - provisionally forthcoming in Philosophical Issues [email for draft]
Epistemic Complicity and Epistemic Injustice
Norms of Epistemic Criticism
"Aesthetic Blame" (with Elise Woodard)- in progress (backburner)
- Explaining the grip of epistemic normativity in terms of our epistemic relations with one another.
Epistemic Complicity and Epistemic Injustice
- Deploying my account of epistemic complicity in an analysis of a range of epistemic harms and wrongs.
Norms of Epistemic Criticism
- A critical taxonomy of the normative issues around our practice of criticizing one another for epistemic failings.
"Aesthetic Blame" (with Elise Woodard)- in progress (backburner)
- Argues that there are important disanalogies between aesthetic blame versus moral and epistemic blame, while questioning the value of aesthetic blame.