CV

Areas of Specialization: Mathematical Logic (esp. set theory), Philosophy of Mathematics, Formal Epistemology (esp. philosophy of probability and decision theory)
Areas of Competence: Philosophy of Language, Philosophy of Science, Philosophy of Logic

Employment
Academic Coordinator, Canada/USA Mathcamp, July-August 2010
Assistant Professor, University of Southern California, Mudd School of Philosophy, January 2009-present
Post-Doctoral Research Fellow, Australian National University, Research School of Social Sciences, Department of Philosophy, June-Dec 2008, July-Dec 2009

Education
PhD, UC Berkeley, Group in Logic and the Methodology of Science, May 2008
Visiting Student, ANU RSSS Philosophy, July-Aug 2005, June 2006, June 2007
BA, Philosophy and Music, Stanford University, May 2002
BS, Mathematics, Stanford University, May 2002
Study Abroad, Budapest Semesters in Mathematics, Fall 2000

Dissertation
Title: The Foundations of Conditional Probability
Committee: Branden Fitelson (chair), John MacFarlane, Paolo Mancosu, Sherrilyn Roush, Tom Griffiths (outside member, psychology)
Abstract: I investigate the Bayesian notion of probability as a measure of degree of belief, and argue that the correct mathematical formalism for conditional probability in this setting is neither P(A&B)/P(B), as traditionally assumed, nor a Popperian account that takes conditional probability as more basic than unconditional probability, but rather an account that is more standard in the mathematics of measure theory. On this account the conditional probability for an agent of an event A given an event B depends additionally on what set of alternatives to B is relevant.


Publications

See Research page

Presentations

Refereed or Invited Presentations
  • "Accuracy, Coherence, and Evidence" (with Branden Fitelson) - Seminar on Revising Logic, NYU and CUNY (Dec. 2011)
  • "Testimony and Autonomy in Mathematics" - Cal State LA Philosophy Colloquium (Nov. 2011); UCLA Philosophy Colloquium (Dec. 2011); Seminar in Formal Epistemology, Rutgers University (Dec. 2011)
  • "Problems of Probabilistic Evidence" - USC Physics Colloquium (Oct. 2011)
  • "Full Belief, Partial Belief, and the Accuracy Paradigm" - UC Irvine Behavioral Dynamics Seminar (Feb. 2011)
  • "The Tarski-Gödel Thesis" - UCLA Logic Colloquium (Jan. 2011)
  • "Regularity and Infinitesimal Credences" - UC Irvine Department of Logic and Philosophy of Science Colloquium (Apr. 2010), MIT Philosophy Department Colloquium (Oct. 2010)
  • "Partial Belief, Full Belief, and Accuracy-Dominance" (with Branden Fitelson) - Workshop on Full and Partial Beliefs, University of Stirling (May 2010)
  • "Conglomerability Minimizes Expected Epistemic Inaccuracy" - University of Konstanz (Mar. 2010), USC Math Department Probability Seminar (Apr. 2010)
  • “Dominance-Based Decision Theory” - Formal Epistemology Festival, University of Michigan (May 2009)
  • Symposium on Foundations of Conditional Probability - APA Pacific Division (April 2009)
  • “Infinitesimal Probabilities” - ANU Probability Conference, (July 2008); Philosophy Department Colloquium, University of Sydney (Oct. 2008); Society for Exact Philosophy, University of Alberta (May 2009)
  • “Probabilistic Proofs and Transferability” - Philosophy Department Colloquium, University of Nevada, Las Vegas (Oct. 2007); job talks at University of Leeds (Jan. 2008), UT Austin (Jan. 2008), UW Madison (Jan. 2008), University of Southern California (Jan. 2008), NYU (Feb. 2008), University of St. Andrew’s (Feb. 2008), University of Pittsburgh (Apr. 2008); “Epistemology Meets Logic, Informally” at Stanford University (May. 2008)
  • “Probabilistic Proofs” - Midwest Philosophy of Mathematics Workshop, Notre Dame (Nov. 2006)
  • “Dominance and Decisions” - Texas Decision Theory Workshop, UT Austin (Oct. 2006)
  • “The Role of Axioms in Mathematics” - Workshop, “Towards a New Epistemology of Mathematics”, Gesellschaft für analytische Philosophie, Freie Universität Berlin (Sept. 2006)
  • “The Uniformity of Knowledge Attributions” - UT Austin Graduate Conference (April 2006)
  • “Blogging as a Tool for Philosophical Discourse” - APA Pacific Division, panel discussion with Jonathan
    Kvanvig, Gillian Russell, and Brian Weatherson (March 2006)
  • “The Role of Axioms in Mathematics” - USC/UCLA Graduate Conference (Feb. 2006)
  • “What Conditional Probability Must (Almost) Be” - Formal Epistemology Workshop, UT Austin (May 2005)
Other Presentations
  • “The Tarski-Gödel Thesis” - Australasian Association of Philosophy (July 2009); Philosophy department seminar, RSSS, Australian National University (Sep. 2009)
  • “Chance and Conditional Probability” - Australasian Association of Philosophy (July 2008)
  • Gödel’s Theorems” - Many Cheerful Facts (Sept. 2007)
  • “The Relativity of Subjective Conditional Probability” - ANU-Sydney-Kyoto Probability Workshop (June 2007); Berkeley-Stanford logic meeting (May 2007)
  • “Probabilistic Proofs” - Berkeley Student Logic Colloquium (Oct. 2006)
  • “Dominance and Decisions” - Australasian Association of Philosophy (July 2006); Philsoc, Australian
    National University (June 2006); Berkeley-Stanford logic meeting (May 2006)
  • “Falsifying Choice” - Many Cheerful Facts (April 2006)
  • “How Many Reals Are There?” - Many Cheerful Facts (Nov. 2005)
  • “The Role of Axioms in Mathematics” - Melbourne University Logic Seminar (Aug. 2005)
  • “An Ontological Equivalence Thesis” - Philsoc, Australian National University (Aug. 2005)
  • “What Conditional Probability Must (Almost) Be” - University of Queensland (July 2005); Australasian Association of Philosophy (July 2005)
  • “Does Mathematics Need Old Axioms?” - Panel discussion with Adam Booth and Grigor Sargsyan: “Does Mathematics Need New Axioms?”, Berkeley Student Logic Colloquium (April 2005)
  • “Determinacy and Choice” - Many Cheerful Facts (Berkeley Math Graduate Student Association) (Nov. 2004)
  • “What is Conditional Probability Anyway?” - Berkeley Student Logic Colloquium (Sept. 2004)
Comments Delivered
  • Lara Buchak, "Risk and Representation" - Carolina Metaphysics Workshop (June 2011)
  • Gregory Wheeler and Richard Scheines, "Causation, Association, and Confirmation" - APA Pacific Division (April 2011)
  • Lionel Shapiro, “Revenge and Expression” - APA Pacific Division (March 2008)
  • John Mumma, “Proofs, Pictures, and Euclid” - Formal Epistemology Workshop (May 2007)
  • Charles Hermes, “Dispositions and Counterfactuals” - APA Pacific Division (April 2007)
  • Katie Steele, “What Can We Rationally Value?” - Formal Epistemology Workshop (May 2006)
  • Christoph Kelp, “Antirealism, the Intuitionistic Solution to Fitch’s Paradox, and Epistemic Externalism” - Berkeley-Stanford-Davis Graduate Conference (April 2006)
  • Otávio Bueno, “How Structuralism Can Solve the Access Problem” - APA Pacific Division (March 2006)
  • John-Michael Kuczynski, “A Defense of Determinacy” - Berkeley-Stanford-Davis Graduate Conference (April 2005)
  • Brian Weatherson, “Uncertainty, Probability, and Non-Classical Logic” - Formal Epistemology Workshop (May 2004)

Honors and Awards

Other Professional Activities
Committees
  • Qualifying exams:
    • Julia Staffel, May 2, 2011
    • Johannes Schmidt, May 28, 2010
    • Janet Anderson (linguistics), April 29, 2009
  • Third year area exams:
    • Brian Blackwell: Philosophy of Language, April 15, 2011
    • Indrek Reiland: Philosophy of Language, April 15, 2011
    • Julia Staffel: Epistemology, March 11, 2010
    • Johannes Schmidt: Philosophical Logic, May 12, 2009
  • Graduate admissions committee, USC Department of Philosophy, Spring 2009, Spring 2011
Refereeing
(Since August 2008) Synthese, Erkenntnis, Philosophy of Mathematics: Sociological Aspects and Mathematical Practice, Pacific Philosophical Quarterly, Logic Journal of Tilburg Center for Logic and Philosophy of Science, Computability in Europe, Mind, Canadian Journal of Philosophy, The Philosophical Quarterly, Philosophy of Science, Mind and Machines