Bryan Frances, Head Researcher Institute of Philosophy & Semiotics University of Tartu
Synopsis
Over the centuries philosophers have discovered apparently intractable problems with our most fundamental concepts: time, space, parthood, meaning, truth, goodness, color, etc. These problems are so fundamental as to throw the legitimacy of those concepts into doubt. Recent advances in logic and science have done little or nothing to erase the disputes. Given these centuries-old controversies, it is doubtful that many of us can have knowledge concerning these disputed concepts since even the best experts are locked in sustained disagreement.
On the other hand, there seems to be great progress in philosophy over the last century, especially with the philosophical use of logic and science. But how can there be all this progress if the intractable expert disagreement robs us of knowledge?
Our project investigates these issues regarding expert disagreement and progress. The primary goal is to understand the epistemology of expertise and controversy, in philosophy and science.
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Researchers & Speakers Include:
Torfinn Huvanes is a lecturer in philosophy at Umeå University. His areas of interest include disagreement, language, epistemology, philosophy of mind, metaethics, metaphysics, and philosophy of science.
Jaako Hirvelä is a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Helsinki. His areas include meta-ethics, philosophy of mind, metaphysics and metametaphysics.
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Publications
The Significance of Economics for the Epistemology of Disagreement
Cocchiaro, Mariangela Zoe and Bryan Frances (forthcoming). “The Significance of Economics for the Epistemology of Disagreement“, in a special issue of TOPOI on “Epistemic dimensions of disagreement: Perspectives from Argumentation Theory and Philosophy”.
The Philosopher’s Doom: Unreliable at Truth or Unreliable at Logic
Frances, Bryan (forthcoming) “The Philosopher’s Doom: Unreliable at Truth or Unreliable at Logic“, in a collection of new papers on skepticism edited by Ted Poston and Kevin McCain and published by Brill.
Philosophical Expertise
Frances, Bryan (forthcoming). “Philosophical Expertise”, in Chase and Cody (eds.) The Routledge Handbook of Applied Epistemology, Routledge.
The Epistemology of Real-World Religious Disagreement Without Peers
Frances, Bryan (forthcoming). “The Epistemology of Real-World Religious Disagreement Without Peers“, in a special issue of Philosophia Christi.
Religious Disagreement
Frances, Bryan (forthcoming). “Religious Disagreement”, in Stewart Goetz and Charles Taliaferro (eds.) Encyclopedia of Philosophy of Religion, Wiley-Blackwell.
This research is supported by the programme Mobilitas Pluss project MOBTT45 and the Centre of Excellence in Estonian Studies (European Regional Development Fund) and is related to research project IUT20-5 (Estonian Ministry of Education and Research).”