About
My main interests are in philosophy of mind, and language, where I tend to defend broadly empiricist views. I’m also well disposed towards philosophical logic and epistemology.
Biography
I joined the Department in 2000, after completing a doctoral degree at Oxford.
Teaching
Undergraduate
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Yr 1: Logic B (Semester 2)
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Yr 2: Thought and Language (Semester 2)
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Yr 2: Independent Study (Several seminars in semester 2)
Postgraduate
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Epistemology - 5 seminars on contemporary issues in epistemology (Semester 2)
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Supervising 2 MPhil students (Imogen Smith on conventions in language, and Chris Devereux on holism and conceptual role semantics) and half of 1 PhD (Andrew Wright, on pain).
Postgraduate supervision
I’m happy to supervise PG students in many areas of philosophy of mind and language, epistemology and metaphysics, and I’d like to have more PG students. More specifically, I’d be especially delighted to supervise on the following areas:
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Reference
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Consciousness (especially semantic and epistemic issues)
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First-person knowledge
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A priori knowledge
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Epistemic contextualism
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Objectivity, realism and anti-realism
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Rule-following and the ‘normativity of meaning’
Research
I recently completed two long-standing projects – both of these are now under submission:
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‘The Candour of Sense’ - an epic paper on Fregean externalism and cognitive perspective.
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‘Phenomenal Senses’ – another lengthy paper, this one bringing Fregean externalism to bear on the current debate over phenomenal concepts.
Work in Progress
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I’m also thinking about reference, a priori knowledge, the normativity of meaning, and a (yet another) new interpretation of Kripkenstein’s sceptical solution.
Publications
Books
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(co-edited, with Max Kölbel)
Arguing About Language, Routledge, Dec., 2009
A c. 600 page anthology of classic and contemporary readings on the philosophy of language, with extensive editorial commentary.
Papers
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'Compositionality and the Manifestation Challenge', Synthese, 144: 101-36 (2005). read abstract
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'The "Compositional Rigidity" of Recognitional Concepts', Philosophical Papers, vol. 33(2), (2004) pp. 147-69. read abstract
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'Gardiner on Anti-realism: A Defence of Dummett', Dialogue, XLIII (2004), pp. 3-24. read abstract
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'Horwich's Semantic Deflationism', International Journal of Philosophical Studies, vol. 8(3) (2001), pp. 371-91. read abstract
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'Liberalising Verificationism: Peircean and Dummettean Possibilities', in Weingartner, P., Schurz, G., & Dorn, G. (eds.) Contributions of the Austrian Ludwig Wittgenstein Society, Vienna, 1997.
Commissioned encyclopaedia entries, critical notices etc.
Book reviews
Unpublished papers / Research in progress
Awards and grants
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2004 (spring semester): Research Leave Award from UK Arts and Humanities Board.