Philosophy

Josh Schechter received his Ph.D. from New York University in 2006. He has taught at Brown since 2005. His research ranges from epistemology, to metaethics, to the philosophy of logic, to technical issues in logic itself.

Much of his work concerns the epistemology of logic and inferential reasoning—including the development of accounts of the justification of our logical beliefs and basic inferential practices and an explanation of our reliability about these matters. Additional work concerns the epistemology of other a priori domains, notably moral belief; the rationality of mental states other than beliefs such as emotions and desires; and the nature of logic and validity. He also works on general issues in epistemology—for instance, on the theoretical significance of the a priori/a posteriori distinction and on the question of which epistemological statuses (e.g., knowledge, justification, or rational credence) are primary.

Schechter was the recipient of a George A. and Eliza Gardner Howard Foundation Fellowship in 2019, an External Faculty Fellowship at the University of Connecticut Humanities Institute in 2015-16, an NEH Summer Stipend in 2009, and a Visiting Fellowship at New College, Oxford University, in Spring 2009.

Recent seminar topics have included the nature of logic, the metaphysics and epistemology of modality, inquiry, skepticism, non-causal explanation, moral epistemology, the epistemological significance of etiology, and the a priori.