Research

(Scientific) Social Epistemology: I am currently working on the nature and implications of various distributions of opinions within scientific communities. In particular, I am becoming increasingly obsessed with the issue of how non-scientists should form beliefs about scientific matters based on scientists' professed opinions (which often conflict). Relatedly, I recently served as a guest editor (with Maria Baghramian) of a special issue of Synthese on the topic of disagreement in science. Relevant published work includes: 


Scientific Progress and Understanding: I am also working on an account of scientific (and philosophical) progress in terms of understanding, building on an account of what scientific understanding amounts to. In 2019, Insa Lawler and I received a generous grant from the Icelandic Research Fund for a closely related project called "Understanding Progress, in Science and Beyond". Relevant published work includes:


Scientific Reasoning and Scientific Realism: For a while now, I have been developing a comprehensive account of IBE as a heuristic for Bayesian or probabilistic reasoning. Relatedly, I am interested in applying this account to debates about scientific realism, i.e. to what extent we should believe that current theories are correct. Relevant previous work includes:


Metaphilosophy (Philosophical Progress and Philosophical Methodology): Recently I have taken an interest in question in metaphilosophy, i.e. the philosophy of philosophy. In particular, I am interested in the nature of philosophical progress and how to achieve it, which in turn has lead to some projects about philosophical methodology. Published work includes:


Miscellaneous Other Topics: I also have various other interests in other areas of philosophy that I work on when the opportunity arises. For example, I am very interested in biases and objectivity in science, the relationship between mainstream and formal epistemology, the nature of epistemic and practical normativity, and in the history of philosophy. Relevant work includes:


Philosophy in Icelandic

Finally, I have taken pains to do at least part of my research in my native language, Icelandic. This work is normally, though not exclusively, intended for a slightly wider audience than professional philosophers. So it is one way for me to "reach out" a little (although see also this). I have also contributed to Icelandic philosophy by serving as editor-in-chief of the (only) Icelandic philosophy journal, Hugur, for the past two years (the 2018 & 2019 issues). Relevant work in Icelandic includes: