Summary
I research paradox. This means that I study a specific class of puzzles that generate serious problems for our theories of reasoning and concepts. I focus primarily on semantic paradoxes (like the liar paradox: “this sentence is false”), though my interests extend also to mathematical and epistemic paradoxes. My research into semantic paradox also bleeds into nearby topics about truth, logic, and the philosophy of language. My overarching aim is to articulate the best principles for characterizing and reasoning with notions entangled in paradox.
Projects in Progress
A paper arguing that the semantic notion of truth should be reasoned with using defeasible rules of inference. I argue that this captures intuitions about how the paradoxes are exceptions to ordinary rules of inference and present a logic for how to continue reasoning with truth after settling the evaluation of a pathological sentence.
A paper about paradoxes as exceptions to logical inference rules. I demonstrate that semantic paradox may admit of resolution if we regard some semantic principles as exception-permitting. But, against some others, I argue that we should go no further, since our ordinary notion of validity is an important tool in deductive logic.
A paper about the success of contextualism about truth as a solution to semantic paradox. I argue that there are two dimensions to the successful resolution of paradox: descriptive and prescriptive. I then argue that the contextualist fails to succeed in either dimension.
A paper about Leibniz’ view on principles. Leibniz argues that the Principles of Contradiction and Sufficient Reason are the grounds for necessary and sufficient truths, but fails to account for the modal status of or the grounds for those principles. I emphasize the difficulties raised by accounting for the modal status of the principles and provide the beginnings of a resolution.
Presentations
- Defeating Truth, Society for Exact Philosophy Conference. University of Connecticut, May 2018.
- Leibniz, Principles, and Truth, Annual Meeting of the Ohio Philosophical Association. Ohio Northern University, April 2017.
- Dealing With Truth Ache: Semantics and Contextualism about Truth, Sixth Annual Philosophy and Linguistics Workshop “The Liar (and Other True Things)”. The Ohio State University, March 2017.
- Semantics and Contextualism about Truth, Graduate Student Workshop. The Ohio State University, December 2016.
- How we Should Think and Act: Some Ideas on Metaphilosophy, Graduate Student Workshop. The Ohio State University, March 2016.
- A Permutation Model for a Finite Anti-Foundation Axiom (Poster), British Conference of Undergraduate Research. University of Nottingham, April 2014.
