Research

My work is primarily in Philosophy of Mind, on the topic of Other Minds, and is historically influenced. What has come to be known as the ‘Problem of Other Minds’ in philosophy is usually understood in its epistemological formulation: roughly, ‘how do we know about others’ thoughts and feelings?’, or more radically, ‘how do we know others exist?’. I approach the problem in a not-standardly-epistemological way. The basic view I hold, following the phenomenological tradition, is that there is a sui generis act of consciousness (empathy) that makes other persons available to one as objects of cognition and thought. I also approach the problem of other minds with the conviction that the way philosophers picture human persons’ basic relation to others—even where that concerns knowledge and existence—has consequences in other domains. As Iris Murdoch once wrote: ‘Man is a creature who makes pictures of himself, and then comes to resemble the picture.’ (‘Metaphysics and Ethics’) Our picture of our most basic relation to others can be a blueprint for how we relate to others.