Graduate Student, Philosophy
Lecturer at University College (1 yr)
Student at Balliol College
Thesis Title: No title as yet. The topic is the a priori.
Prof Williamson
Prof Hawthorne
About
I recently changed my DPhil topic. The topic was once a criticism of the Ramsey-Lewis approach as used by Jackson and Chalmers. The new topic is to consider different accounts of the a priori, particularly when it comes to justifying deduction. The link is that the Ramsey-Lewis people offer something like an analytic account of the a priori. I have some sympathy with an analytic justification of deduction along the lines of Boghossian 2001, although I don't think it will provide a general account of the a priori. Changing topic will mean I can't submit as soon as I'd have liked but it will hopefully mean my work makes a better contribution (and will make it a lot more enjoyable).
I have a couple of other projects. I'm writing about whether names in natural languages are predicates, as Burge, Hawthorne and Elbourne think they are. I think they aren't and I have some linguistic evidence to show why. (I'd appreciate anyone with linguistics knowledge who'd like to look at my work on this. I don't have a linguistics background and would benefit from comments.)
I'm also writing something on applying of the notion of rigidity to predicates and kind terms. I fear my conclusions might be rather uninspiring: on the lines of "don't bother trying". So this might not make it into something publishable.
As of October, I'm teaching a course at Reading University in phil of lang and teaching as a lecturer at Univ college. I actually find both the academic and the welfare side of teaching rather rewarding. I regard myself as having chosen a career that combines public service and the intellectual stimulation of research. I do not regard the teaching merely as a way to pay for the research time.
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