People | Current Graduate Students

Originally from North Carolina, Sarah graduated from Davidson College with a BA in Philosophy in 2010. She began her studies at the University of Indiana in the fall of 2011, and some of her philosophy interests include Philosophy of Language, Logic, and Metaphysics. She is particularly interested in the concepts of infinity and nothing, and how they might relate to numbers and time. She also enjoys reading Existentialism (although she probably doesn't understand much of it).

When not studying philosophy, Sarah likes to read, do jigsaw puzzles, play Scrabble with her roommates, go hiking, or teach belly dancing classes.

I have a BA in philosophy from the University of Kansas and an MA in philosophy from Northern Illinois University. I have interests in epistemology, the philosophy of language, and the philosophy of biology. Specifically, I’m interested in the epistemic normativity of assertion and the biological distinction between selection for and selection of.

My dissertation lies at the crossroads of epistemology and philosophy of language. (Here be dragons!) Specifically, I am investigating the implications of anti-individualism and belief-content externalism for epistemic theories of perception. Most interesting to me are questions about the goodness of reasons—what makes perception good grounds for belief? I argue that neither internalist nor externalist accounts of why perception is good grounds for belief can answer that question without relying on the person’s access to her own states (i.e., without rejecting access internalism). This result renders both internalist and externalist forms of foundationalism implausible.

I read classical Chinese, and have major research interests in Chinese philosophy, mainly in the Daoist tradition (both 道家and 道教) and in defending Mohism from the scurrilous attacks of the Ruists.

In my copious spare time, I enjoy collecting mushrooms, doing diagramless and cryptic crosswords, reading fiction of dubious literary merit, and training ineffectually for triathlons.

My research interests concern a nest of related issues in epistemology, philosophy of logic, philosophy of science, philosophy of mathematics, and the history of analytic philosophy (particularly Frege, Carnap, and Quine). Of primary interest in my current research is the issue of which principles of deductive inference we should accept. This is an epistemological question, but it is motivated in part by debates in the philosophy of logic and philosophy of mathematics concerning the (in)validity of various principles of deductive inference. Since these debates often involve sophisticated reasoning, an important, but oft-overlooked, issue is that of which principles of inference are employed by the parties to these debates. Careful consideration of this question is needed in order to assess charges of epistemic circularity, question-begging, and self-undermining argumentation. A central contribution of my dissertation is the development of a framework within which we can fruitfully consider these issues and their bearing on the epistemology of logic.

https://sites.google.com/site/matthewcarlsonphilosophy/

Principal areas of interest: ethics, philosophy of mind and action, epistemology, psychoanalysis. Figures of interest: Aristotle, Aquinas, Kant, Freud, Anscombe, McDowell.

I have a BA in philosophy from the University of Vermont and an MS in math from George Mason University. The following quote by Achille Varzi (given in a different context) aptly describes my research priorities: "Metaphysics comes first, as long as logic is already there."

I received my B.A. in philosophy from the University of Chicago in 2011. I am primarily interested in German Idealist philosophy, particularly the large epistemological projects of Kant and Hegel. In my work, I explore the connection between systems of truth and procedures of skepticism. I believe that the activity and results characteristic of German Idealist philosophy are relevant for a variety of contemporary areas of dispute, including philosophy of language, epistemology, and political philosophy.

I am primarily interested in Ancient Greek Philosophy--especially the Platonic corpus, and even more particularly Plato's ethical and political discussions. Imitating the inimitable Richard Sorabji, I enjoy examining how supposedly new innovations in philosophy stem from the Ancients.

I am unfortunately distracted by a variety of contemporary issues (the origins of which lay with the Greeks!), including skepticism, responses to skepticism, and the failure of these responses. I am also interested in logic, but this desire has mostly gone unsatisfied.

Josh Hieronymus received his undergraduate degree from Princeton University in 2007. His main areas of interest are metaphysics and logic, with a particular focus on the topics of material ontology, properties, and causation.

I was born in Haifa, Israel. That was a long time ago. Later I moved to Tel-Aviv where I worked as a programmer and studied philosophy, earning a B.A. and an M.A. from Tel-Aviv University. My philosophical interests are diverse and include Kant's ethics, Kant's aesthetics and Kant's philosophy of religion. Additionally I like ordinary language philosophy. Since I moved to Bloomington my hobbies were limited to reading political blogs and gadgets news, refined TV and Mario Kart Wii.

Hao received his BA in philosophy and economics, and MA in philosophy, from Peking University, Beijing, China. He began his studies at IU in the fall of 2010. Hao's philosophy interests include metaphysics (truthmakers, modality, fundamentality, properties, metametaphysics, etc.) and epistemology (the relation between warrant and truth, epistemic luck, testimony, disagreement, etc.). He also finds in himself an increasing interest in the history of analytic philosophy (Carnap, Quine, Davidson, etc.).

Outside of philosophy, Hao enjoys watching football, playing basketball, reading gossip, playing video games, and consuming steaks, espresso, and beer.

Derek earned a BA in Philosophy and Literature and a BFA in Creative Writing from the University of Evansville, as well as an MA in Philosophy from the University of Houston. He arrived at IU in 2008. His current interests include mental representation, situated/embodied cognition, collective intentionality and the metaphysics of groups. Derek also enjoys various issues in epistemology and their intersections with some of the above topics. In his spare time he ascribes intentional states to things and tries to be a good husband and father. The bearded model shown here is presently unavailable, but a non-bearded version is available upon request.

My research is in the philosophy and foundations of mathematics. My current project concerns the foundations of constructive mathematics, particularly questions about the relationship between mathematics and semantics, the epistemic status of axioms, and the history of mathematical intuitionism. In connection with these topics, I am interested in issues in the philosophy of language, philosophy of science, and history of analytic philosophy. In addition, I maintain active interests in existentialism (especially Kierkegaard) and in medieval philosophy.

Daniel got a BA in theology from Southern Nazarene University, and then a MA in the humanities from the University of Chicago. He likes Wittgenstein, Davidson, Germans, and McDowell.

Sharon began her studies at Indiana University in the fall of 2007 after earning a M.A. in Philosophy from Northern Illinois University. Her undergraduate degree is from Cedarville University where she double-majored in Philosophy and Communication Arts. Her main interests are in epistemology and the history of epistemology, particularly questions regarding justification, metaepistemology, and contextualism. She is also currently pursuing questions regarding the logic of self-deception and the relation between knowledge and action.

Sam received his undergraduate degree from the University of Chicago in 2006. He is interested in philosophy of language and epistemology, with a particular focus on ordinary language philosophy and J. L. Austin.

Kevin has an undergraduate degree in Philosophy from the University of Toronto and a Master's from the University of Western Ontario. He is primarily interested in questions about the foundations of ethics; however, often as means to that end, he is also interested in philosophy of mind, epistemology, metaphysics, philosophy of language, and logic.

Originally from Tennessee, Nick received his BA in Philosophy and Religion with a concentration in Classics from Roanoke College in 2009. In the fall 2010, Nick received an MA in Philosophy from Brandeis University, and began his studies at Bloomington in the fall 2011. His primary interests are in Metaphysics and Philosophy of Language, with particular emphasis on ontology, meta-ontology, vagueness and what, if any, the limits of expression for certain properties and propositions might be. He also enjoys (?) being very confused by many of the questions in the Philosophy of Religion.

Outside of the philosophy classroom, Nick enjoys comic books, television, puns, hats, table top games, hiking, inserting nonsense words into normal conversation, eating, and trying different sorts of beer.

Elizabeth Palmer, a Ph.D candidate in philosophy at IUB, is currently writing her dissertation in balmy Florida. Her area of specialization is epistemology, and she has an ever-growing interest in the philosophy of perception. Her dissertation project is to examine the role perceptual experiences play in justifying our empirical beliefs: specifically whether and how they can constitute agents' reasons for beliefs.

Outside of philosophy, Elizabeth enjoys reading and watching anything noir, gardening, cooking, and tutoring at the PACE Center for girls in Alachua County.

Tim began his studies at IU in the Fall of 2010, after receiving a BA in philosophy from Calvin College the same year. His primary research interest is epistemology (evidence, probability, the problem of induction, epistemic evaluation, etc.). He has secondary research interests in philosophy of religion (skeptical theism, epistemology of religious experience), ethics (consequentialism, virtue & vice theory), and metaphysics (ontology, modality). In the history of philosophy, he studies the early modern period and the history of analytic philosophy.

Luke's dissertation explores the notion of a rivalry between the aesthetic and the moral and how it develops from Kant and Schiller through Kierkegaard and Nietzsche. His three areas of specialization are the history of philosophy, specifically 18th and 19th century continental (mostly German) philosophy, ethics, and aesthetics. He has a special interest in applied ethics and a strong commitment to coaching the highly successful IU National Ethics Bowl team, which he has done for three years. His languages are German, French, and now, thanks to the University of Chicago's intensive summer Latin program, Latin. Born in New York City, Luke enjoys acting, karaoke, watching old movies and coining new words.

After receiving his B.A. in philosophy from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Mike Rings embarked on a series of misadventures involving (but not limited to) marriage, fatherhood, employment as a federal agent, and a sojourn in the Los Angeles music scene. He happily returned to graduate school in 2003, acquiring his M.A. in philosophy from California State University, Long Beach, and writing his thesis on the ontology of musical works. He arrived at IU in the fall of 2005.

Mike's interests lie in the area of aesthetics primarily, and value theory generally. He is lately interested in theories of artistic genres, and issues that lie at the intersection of aesthetics and ethics.

Krista Rodkey graduated summa cum laude from Westmont College in 2007 and started her graduate studies at IU in the fall of that year. In 2009-10 she did an MSt program in ancient philosophy at the University of Oxford. She is now continuing her studies at IU where she finds herself perpetually intrigued by the following: ancient philosophy (especially Plato), Hume and Berkeley, early analytic philosophy (especially Carnap and dear old Frege), and issues of imagination and conceptualization whenever and wherever they arise.

Taylor is originally from Chapel Hill, North Carolina, a born and bred Tarheel. She graduated from Oberlin College with a BA in Philosophy and Third-World Studies. Her philosophical interests include the intersection of aesthetics and ethics, eastern religious thought, and applied ethics. She is particularly curious about the way in which aesthetic and religious experiences shape and inform one another. She is also impassioned by issues relating to environmental ethics and animal ethics.

When not studying philosophy, Taylor likes to write and play music, practice yoga, jump rope, hike, or quietly observe trees. She is always aiming to inform her philosophical work by direct engagement with the aesthetic in daily activity. She is also a UNC basketball fanatic.