A Unified Theory of 'If's. This project aims to develop a unified theory of ‘if’s. Our understanding of an uncertain and risky world requires hypothetical reasoning involving ‘if’s. They are significant theoretically: in science, history, politics, economics, psychology, computer science, linguistics, and philosophy. They are significant practically: in our planning, decision-making, policy priorities, legal judgments, environmental and medical interventions. Yet we lack a comprehensive, readily ....A Unified Theory of 'If's. This project aims to develop a unified theory of ‘if’s. Our understanding of an uncertain and risky world requires hypothetical reasoning involving ‘if’s. They are significant theoretically: in science, history, politics, economics, psychology, computer science, linguistics, and philosophy. They are significant practically: in our planning, decision-making, policy priorities, legal judgments, environmental and medical interventions. Yet we lack a comprehensive, readily implementable theory of ‘if’s. The project expects to provide such a theory, based on probability, improving on approaches from philosophy and linguistics, and benefitting both these fields. It also promises significant benefits for artificial intelligence/machine learning.
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Constructing social hierarchy. This project aims to generate new philosophical tools for understanding the persistence of social injustice. It will integrate anti-individualist approaches to mind, language, and action explanation in order to better understand the ways in which social hierarchies are created and maintained, often as the unintended outcome of the actions of multiple agents. The project will enrich the public discussion of hate speech, Indigenous/Non-Indigenous relations, and gende ....Constructing social hierarchy. This project aims to generate new philosophical tools for understanding the persistence of social injustice. It will integrate anti-individualist approaches to mind, language, and action explanation in order to better understand the ways in which social hierarchies are created and maintained, often as the unintended outcome of the actions of multiple agents. The project will enrich the public discussion of hate speech, Indigenous/Non-Indigenous relations, and gender equality.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE210100115
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$328,092.00
Summary
Living to tell, telling to live: Experience, narrative, and the self. A robust sense of self is crucial for our mental wellbeing. This sense of self, philosophical research shows, is constituted by our experiences and the socio-culturally shaped stories we tell about us. However, the fundamental role of these self-narratives remains poorly understood: are they merely retrospective accounts of our experiences, or can they influence them? By analysing the biological underpinnings of the human mind ....Living to tell, telling to live: Experience, narrative, and the self. A robust sense of self is crucial for our mental wellbeing. This sense of self, philosophical research shows, is constituted by our experiences and the socio-culturally shaped stories we tell about us. However, the fundamental role of these self-narratives remains poorly understood: are they merely retrospective accounts of our experiences, or can they influence them? By analysing the biological underpinnings of the human mind and defining the core features of self-narratives, this project will lead to a novel theory about the sense of self. This theory will enhance our understanding of the power of self-narratives and has the potential to provide theoretical foundations for future applied research on the self and its disturbances.Read moreRead less
Formal approaches to legal reasoning. This project aims to use formal epistemology to improve understanding of existing legal practices and to propose recommendations for improving the consistency and accuracy of legal proceedings. Since judges and juries rarely know all the relevant facts, they must make the best decision possible in the face of uncertainty. Formal epistemology employs probabilistic reasoning to advance understanding of how to form beliefs and make decisions in response to unce ....Formal approaches to legal reasoning. This project aims to use formal epistemology to improve understanding of existing legal practices and to propose recommendations for improving the consistency and accuracy of legal proceedings. Since judges and juries rarely know all the relevant facts, they must make the best decision possible in the face of uncertainty. Formal epistemology employs probabilistic reasoning to advance understanding of how to form beliefs and make decisions in response to uncertain evidence. The project has potential to influence the relevant policy and will result in improved legal reasoning and risk reduction in legal decision making.Read moreRead less
A Buddhist Debate and Its Contemporary Relevance. The aim of this project is to engage with one of the central debates in Tibetan philosophy concerning truth, realism and epistemic justification. It plans to explore the implications of this debate for subsequent Tibetan thought and for contemporary Western analytic philosophy. The project plans to analyse previously unstudied texts and demonstrate the fecundity of a traditional method of collaborative cross-cultural philosophy today in which Tib ....A Buddhist Debate and Its Contemporary Relevance. The aim of this project is to engage with one of the central debates in Tibetan philosophy concerning truth, realism and epistemic justification. It plans to explore the implications of this debate for subsequent Tibetan thought and for contemporary Western analytic philosophy. The project plans to analyse previously unstudied texts and demonstrate the fecundity of a traditional method of collaborative cross-cultural philosophy today in which Tibetan and Western scholars work together to develop joint analyses. It may also demonstrate that the metaphysical and epistemological ideas and arguments developed in these debates can contribute to Western philosophy.Read moreRead less
Conferring dignity in law and health care. This project aims to develop a new and more inclusive philosophical conception of dignity. It expects to generate an alternative to the exclusionary view that dignity is inherent since not all human beings possess the relevant inherent traits. The project will develop a conception of dignity as something conferred, and expects to show that such dignity can and should be conferred on all human beings. The expected outcome is a new understanding of the im ....Conferring dignity in law and health care. This project aims to develop a new and more inclusive philosophical conception of dignity. It expects to generate an alternative to the exclusionary view that dignity is inherent since not all human beings possess the relevant inherent traits. The project will develop a conception of dignity as something conferred, and expects to show that such dignity can and should be conferred on all human beings. The expected outcome is a new understanding of the importance of dignity in human rights law and in health care services. The intended benefits are better appreciation of the role of dignity in human rights, and guidance for health and aged care services on how they can promote the dignity of all of their clients.Read moreRead less
Significances of 'childhood' in postcolonial Australia. This project aims to investigate the rhetorical and political use of the figure of the Aboriginal child as a site of mediation in efforts to reconcile cultural tensions in Australia, particularly between Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities. Utilising an interdisciplinary critical analysis of concepts of childhood, the expected outcomes of the project include enhanced understanding of the specific character of injury inflicted upon Abo ....Significances of 'childhood' in postcolonial Australia. This project aims to investigate the rhetorical and political use of the figure of the Aboriginal child as a site of mediation in efforts to reconcile cultural tensions in Australia, particularly between Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities. Utilising an interdisciplinary critical analysis of concepts of childhood, the expected outcomes of the project include enhanced understanding of the specific character of injury inflicted upon Aboriginal communities through interventions targeting their children, such as their removal into out of home care. This should provide significant benefits to the contemporary social project of reconciliation, through increasing critical attention to the part of cultural misunderstanding in perpetuating Aboriginal disadvantage.Read moreRead less
Substructural logics for limited resources. This project aims to develop logical tools for managing reasoning and computation under conditions of bounded resources: fixed limits on the amount of time, memory, or other resources that can be allocated to a particular course of reasoning or computation. By drawing on both philosophical and computational approaches to logic, the project will develop new logical systems aimed at capturing these limitations. The expected outcome is new logical methods ....Substructural logics for limited resources. This project aims to develop logical tools for managing reasoning and computation under conditions of bounded resources: fixed limits on the amount of time, memory, or other resources that can be allocated to a particular course of reasoning or computation. By drawing on both philosophical and computational approaches to logic, the project will develop new logical systems aimed at capturing these limitations. The expected outcome is new logical methods for managing limited resources, as well as boosting interdisciplinary capacity. Anticipated benefits include developing a new programming language that will enable programmers to issue strong guarantees about the resources their programs will use.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE230101136
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$428,416.00
Summary
Understanding Philosophical Progress. This project aims to develop the first unified account of progress in science and philosophy, by extending the noetic account of scientific progress into an account of philosophical progress. According to this account, progress consists in increased understanding, i.e., in grasping how something depends on, or fails to depend on, something else. Developing a unified account will shed light on the nature of intellectual progress quite generally, as well subst ....Understanding Philosophical Progress. This project aims to develop the first unified account of progress in science and philosophy, by extending the noetic account of scientific progress into an account of philosophical progress. According to this account, progress consists in increased understanding, i.e., in grasping how something depends on, or fails to depend on, something else. Developing a unified account will shed light on the nature of intellectual progress quite generally, as well substantially advancing meta-philosophical debates about (i) the prevalence of philosophical progress; (ii) whether, and the ways in which, expert disagreement would undermine progress; and (iii) which philosophical methodologies promote progress.Read moreRead less
A life in time. This project aims to explore the connection between theories of time and timelessness in metaphysics and physics, and our lived experience as agents. The story of our lives is one that unfolds through time; ever changing and updating as we add to the store of memories through which we understand our past selves, and our store of intentions, through which we shape our future selves. Yet there is disagreement about the nature of time: about what time is and whether, in fact, it rea ....A life in time. This project aims to explore the connection between theories of time and timelessness in metaphysics and physics, and our lived experience as agents. The story of our lives is one that unfolds through time; ever changing and updating as we add to the store of memories through which we understand our past selves, and our store of intentions, through which we shape our future selves. Yet there is disagreement about the nature of time: about what time is and whether, in fact, it really exists at all. The project will look to determine what structure the temporal dimension must have if it is to support agents like us, and whether, if there is no temporal dimension, as some physicists suggest, we can make any sense of our lived experience.Read moreRead less