Research
Most of my research to date has centered around the following questions:
What does it take to understand the world, and the people within it? Are artificial intelligence systems capable of these kinds of understanding?
What does it take to close inquiry correctly, and to open it up again?
How should we think about epistemic normativity?
Finally, an easy one: What is wisdom, and are AI systems capable of it?
Increasingly, I am also now writing and teaching about the thought of John Henry Newman, the great 19th Century British philosophy and theologian.
An interview about my work appeared in 3AM Magazine, and a recent talk is here.
For a general overview of my research, please see my Google Scholar page.
Selected Papers
"John Henry Newman, Dogmatism, and the Illative Sense." In Newman and Contemporary Philosophy. Eds. Frederick Aquino and Matthew Levering. New York: Routledge. Forthcoming.
"John Henry Newman on Assent and Inquiry." In A Companion to Newman's Grammar of Assent. Eds. Frederick Aquino and Matthew Levering. Stuebenville, OH: Emmaus Academic Press. Forthcoming.
“How Can We Tell Which Philosophical Ways of Life Are More Successful Than Others? An Evaluative Framework." In Philosophy as a Way of Life: New Research Directions. Ed. Matthew Sharpe. Leiden: Brill. Forthcoming.
"Jesuit Formation and Philosophy." Special issue, Philosophy as a Spiritual Exercise. Jesuit Sources: Institute for Advanced Jesuit Studies. Forthcoming.
“Understanding, Know-How, and Wisdom as Forms of Knowledge.” In Forms of Knowledge: Essays on the Heterogeneity of Knowledge and Understanding. Ed. Lucy Campbell. New York: Oxford University Press. Forthcoming.
“Humanistic Understanding vs. Scientific Understanding.” The Philosophy of Rene van Woudenberg. Utrecht: Eburon. Forthcoming.
“The Epistemic Goals of the Humanities.” Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society 98: 209–232 (2024).
“Understanding.” The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Summer 2021 Edition), Ed. Edward N. Zalta.
“What is Philosophy as a Way of Life? Why Philosophy as a Way of Life?” (with Caleb Cohoe). European Journal of Philosophy. (2021)
"What it Takes to Live Philosophically: Or, How to Progress in the Art of Living." (with Caleb Cohoe) Special Issue on "Philosophy as a Way of Life." Metaphilosophy 51: 391-410. (2020)
“Transmitting Understanding and Know-How.” In What the Ancients Offer to Contemporary Epistemology. Eds. Stephen Hetherington and Nicholas Smith. New York: Routledge. (2020)
“Varieties of Understanding.” In Varieties of Understanding: New Perspectives from Philosophy, Psychology, and Theology. Ed. Stephen R. Grimm. New York: Oxford University Press. (2019)
"Understanding as an Intellectual Virtue." In The Routledge Companion to Virtue Epistemology. Ed. Heather Battaly. New York: Routledge. (2019)
“The Ethics of Understanding.” In Making Sense of the World: New Essays on the Philosophy of Understanding. Ed. Stephen R. Grimm. New York: Oxford University Press. (2018)
“Introduction.” In Making Sense of the World: New Essays on the Philosophy of Understanding. Ed. Stephen R. Grimm. New York: Oxford University Press. (2018)
“Why Study History? On Its Epistemic Benefits and Its Relation to the Sciences.” Philosophy 92: 399-420. (2017)
“Wisdom in Theology.” In The Oxford Handbook of the Epistemology of Theology. Eds. William Abraham and Frederick Aquino. New York: Oxford University Press. (2017)
“How Understanding People Differs From Understanding the Natural World.” Philosophical Issues (Noûs supplement) 26: 209-225. (2016)
"Understanding and Transparency." In Explaining Understanding: New Essays in Epistemology and the Philosophy of Science. New York: Routledge. (2016)
“The Value of Reflection.” In Performance Epistemology. Ed. Miguel Angel Fernandez. New York: Oxford University Press. (2016)
“Knowledge, Practical Interests, and Rising Tides.” In Epistemic Evaluation: Purposeful Epistemology. Eds. John Greco and David Henderson. New York: Oxford University Press. (2015)
“Wisdom.” Australasian Journal of Philosophy 93: 139-154. (2015)
“The Logic of Mysticism.” European Journal for the Philosophy of Religion. (2015)
“Understanding as Knowledge of Causes.” In Virtue Epistemology Naturalized: Bridges Between Virtue Epistemology and Philosophy of Science (Synthese Library). Ed. Abrol Fairweather. New York: Springer. (2014)
“Getting it Right.” (with Kristoffer Ahlstrom-Vij) Philosophical Studies 166: 329-347 (2013).
“The Value of Understanding.” Philosophy Compass 7:2. (2012)
“On Intellectualism in Epistemology.” Mind 120:3. (2011)
"Understanding." In The Routledge Companion to Epistemology. Eds. Sven Bernecker and Duncan Pritchard. New York: Routledge. (2011)
"Epistemic Normativity." In Epistemic Value. Eds. Adrian Haddock, Alan Millar, and Duncan Pritchard. New York: Oxford University Press. (2009)
[Reprinted in Virtue Epistemology: MIT Readers in Contemporary Philosophy. Eds. John Greco and John Turri. Cambridge: MIT Press. (2012)]
"Epistemic Goals and Epistemic Values." Philosophy and Phenomenological Research 77:3. (2008)
"Explanatory Enquiry and the Need for Explanation." British Journal for the Philosophy of Science 59:3. (2008)
"Review Essay: Kvanvig’s The Value of Knowledge and the Pursuit of Understanding." (with Michael DePaul) Philosophy and Phenomenological Research 74:2. (2007)
"Is Understanding a Species of Knowledge?" British Journal for the Philosophy of Science 57:3. (2006)
"Kant’s Argument for Radical Evil." The European Journal of Philosophy 10:2. (2002)
Review of The Nature and Value of Knowledge: Three Investigations, by Duncan Pritchard, Alan Millar, and Adrian Haddock (Oxford University Press). Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews. (2011)
Finally, here is my 2005 dissertation from Notre Dame: Understanding as an Epistemic Goal.