Extremism | Evidence | Social Epistemology Research Overview
Extremism. My current research is devoted to untangling what I call the "extremism web," a web of analytically interrelated concepts connected to extremism, including fanaticism, radicalization, and terrorism. These concepts are increasingly wielded in political discourse, often resulting in the oppression of religious and ethnic minorities. My project goals include improving and reshaping understanding of concepts in the extremism web.
Evidence. Much of my research has addressed the nature and normative significance of evidence, especially evidence concerning our fallibility, what epistemologists call "higher-order evidence." Although some of this work has been technical and abstract, the basic question at the heart of this research is: How should new information (especially information about how we think) change our current perspective on the world? I tend to think we are often overly and irrationally resistant to changing our minds. My research explores this thought.
Social Epistemology. Following many historical philosophers, I take the epistemic to be inextricably intertwined with the moral and the political. What people think and how they act affects what other people think and how they act. Consequently, we owe it to each other to think and act well. Anyone paying attention to the world, however, has plenty of reason to doubt that people are thinking well. People only listen to like-minded folks, disregarding the word of experts or those who see the world differently. They refuse to guard against their own biases. They doubt basic, verifiable facts. They polarize. Worse still, these intellectual limitations are exploited by bad actors and negligently ignored by those who should know better, like experts. My work in this area identifies and evaluates competing explanations of these worrisome intellectual behaviors. With compelling explanations in hand, I also identify (modest) strategies for improving things. Vice, echo chambers, post-truth, epistemic trespassing, epistemic injustice, gaslighting, advocacy, and self-licensing are some of the topics this research has addressed.
Please don't hesitate to email for copies of these papers if you can't access them!
Responsibility for Extremism without Extremists (with Molly O-Rourke-Friel). In Peels, R. N. Lloosterboer, & C. Ranalli (eds.) Understanding Responsibility for Extreme Belief and Behavior. (forthcoming)
Navigating Inquiry (with Jon Matheson). In Creller, A & J. Matheson (eds.) Inquiry: Philosophical Perspectives. (2026)
Upcoming & Recent Talks Unclaimed Domains: Expert Silence and the Encroachment of Lay Speech University of California Irvine, May 2024 University of College London, June 2024 From Aretaic Misperception to Cultures of Virtue University of Notre Dame, April 2024 Reason, Self-Trust, and the Ethical Costs of Deradicalization PPE Society, November 2023 Epistemic Trespassing Through the Looking Glass PPE Society, November 2023
Work in Progress I welcome feedback. Please email me for drafts or with comments. A book manuscript on self-licensing and democracy. A paper on social pressure and expert consensus. A paper on coping with misperceived virtue.