I am a philosopher specializing in philosophy of science and epistemology.
I am professor of philosophy at the University of Iceland, and I also have a part-time position (professor II) at the Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences (Høgskolen i Innlandet) and as a researcher (professor II) in the project Science and Democracy at the University of Oslo. I did my Ph.D. at UNC Chapel Hill and have been a postdoc at University College Dublin.
Most of my research concerns issues at the intersection of philosophy of science and epistemology. I've written on scientific progress, understanding in science, inference to the best explanation, scientific realism, scientific disagreement and the social epistemology of science.
Please visit my research page for more information, and my papers page for links and detailed descriptions.
In 2023-2025, James Norton and I are joint PIs for the project Understanding Philosophical Progress, funded by the Icelandic Research Fund. Together we run the Philosophical Progress Lab.
During 2020-2022, I was PI for a joint project with Insa Lawler (Co-I), Understanding Progress, in Science and Beyond, funded by the Icelandic Research Fund.
I have been fortunate to receive the following prizes in recent years:
In September 2018, I received the biennial Lauener Prize for Up-and-Coming Philosophers.
In June 2019, I was awarded the Nils Klim Prize for young Nordic scholars in the humanities, social science, law, and theology.
In November 2019, I received the Motivation Award for Young Researchers from the Science and Technology Council of Iceland.
Some recent and forthcoming publications:
Abductive Reasoning in Science (Cambridge University Press, 2024)
Review in Metascience
What is Philosophical Progress? -- with T. Firing, I. Lawler and J. Norton (Philosophy and Phenomenological Research, 2024)
Consensus versus Unanimity: Which Carries More Weight? (The British Journal for the Philosophy of Science, forthcoming)
An Epistemic Advantage of Accommodation over Prediction (Philosophers' Imprint, forthcoming)
Excessive Testimony: When Less Is More (Philosophy and Phenomenological Research, 2023)
Would Disagreement Undermine Progress? -- with I. Lawler and J. Norton (The Journal of Philosophy, 2023)
Thinking about Progress: From Science to Philosophy -- with I. Lawler and J. Norton (Noûs, 2022)