​Publications

Under Contract. An Introduction to Metaepistemology with Christos Kyriacou
Cambridge University Press​

2023. 'The Motivation Problem of Epistemic Expressivists' with Alexandre Duval
Ergo
  • Many philosophers have adopted epistemic expressivism in recent years. The core commitment of epistemic expressivism is that epistemic claims express conative states. This paper assesses the plausibility of this commitment. First, we raise a new type of problem for epistemic expressivism, the epistemic motivation problem. The problem arises because epistemic expressivists must provide an account of the motivational force of epistemic judgment (the mental state expressed by an epistemic claim), yet various features of our mental economy seem to show that they can’t do so. Second, we develop what we take to be the most promising response to that problem for expressivists. We end by noting that this response faces an important challenge pertaining to the psychology of epistemic criticism and praise. 

2021. 'Epistemic Consequentialism, Veritism, and Scoring Rules' with Marc-Kevin Daoust
Erkenntnis
  • There is a tension between two monistic claims that are the core of recent work in epistemic consequentialism. The first is a form of monism about epistemic value, commonly known as veritism: accuracy is the sole final objective to be promoted in the epistemic domain. The other is a form of monism about a class of epistemic scoring rules: that is, strictly proper scoring rules are the only legitimate measures of inaccuracy. These two monisms, we argue, are in tension with each other. If only accuracy has final epistemic value, then there are legitimate alternatives to strictly proper scoring rules. Our argument relies on the way scoring rules are used in contexts where accuracy is rewarded, such as education.

2019a. 'Two types of epistemic instrumentalism' (PDF)
Synthese
  • Epistemic instrumentalism (EI) views epistemic norms and epistemic normativity as essentially involving the instrumental relation between means and ends. It construes notions like epistemic normativity, norms, and rationality, as forms of instrumental or means-end normativity, norms, and rationality. I do two main things in this paper. In part 1, I argue that there is an under-appreciated distinction between two independent types of epistemic instrumentalism. These are instrumentalism about epistemic norms (norm-EI) and instrumentalism about epistemic normativity (source-EI). In part 2, I argue that this under-appreciated distinction matters for the debate surrounding the plausibility of EI. Specifically, whether we interpret EI as norm-EI or as source-EI matters (i) for the widely discussed universality or categoricity objection to EI, and (ii) for two important motivations for adopting EI, namely naturalism and the practical utility of epistemic norms. I will then conclude by drawing some lessons for epistemic instrumentalism going forward.
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2019b. ''Ought' implies 'can' against epistemic deontologism: beyond doxastic involuntarism.' 
Synthese. 196 (4): 1641–1656
  • According to epistemic deontologism, attributions of epistemic justification are deontic claims about what we ought to believe. One of the most prominent objections to this conception, due mainly to William P. Alston (1988), is that the principle that ‘ought’ implies ‘can’ (OIC) rules out deontologism because our beliefs are not under our voluntary control. In this paper, I offer a partial defense of Alston’s critique of deontologism. While Alston is right that OIC rules out epistemic deontologism, appealing to doxastic involuntarism is not necessary for generating that tension. Deontologists would still have a problem with OIC if doxastic voluntarism turned out to be true or if deontologism did not require voluntarism. This is because, in short, epistemic justification does not imply ‘can’. If, as deontologists maintain, epistemic justification implies ‘oughts’, then epistemic justification must also imply ‘can’ given OIC. But since epistemic justification does not imply ‘can’, OIC dictates that we reject deontologism. I end by exploring the possible consequences of this incompatibility between OIC and deontologism. My conclusion is that at least one of the following claims must be true. Either (i) ‘ought’ does not imply ‘can’, (ii) attributions of epistemic justification are not deontic claims, or (iii) epistemic claims lack categorical normative authority. 

2018. 'Knowledge, reasons, and errors about error theory.' with Clayton Littlejohn (PDF)
Metaepistemology: Realism and Anti-Realism. Eds. Christos Kyriacou & Robin McKenna. Palgrave Macmillan. 
  • According to moral error theorists, moral claims necessarily represent categorically or robustly normative facts. But since there are no such facts, moral thought and discourse are systematically mistaken. One widely discussed objection to the moral error theory is that it cannot be true because it leads to an epistemic error theory. We argue that this objection is mistaken. Objectors may be right that the epistemic error theory is untenable. We also agree with epistemic realists that our epistemological claims are not systematically in error. However, this is not because there are robustly normative facts, but rather because the truth of our epistemic claims doesn’t turn on whether there are such facts. Epistemic facts, we argue, are not robustly or categorically normative. Moral error theorists should therefore respond to the objection that their view does not commit them to the epistemic error theory
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​2017. 'Is epistemic normativity value-based?' (Published version) (PDF)
Dialogue  56 (3): 407-430 - Essay prize (CPA/ACP) 2017
  • ​What is the source of epistemic normativity? In virtue of what do epistemic norms have categorical normative authority? According to epistemic teleologism, epistemic normativity comes from value. Epistemic norms have categorical authority because conforming to them is necessarily good in some relevant sense. In this article, I argue that epistemic teleologism should be rejected. The problem, I argue, is that there is no relevant sense in which it is always good to believe in accordance with epistemic norms, including in cases where the matter at hand is completely trivial. Therefore, if epistemology is normative, its normativity won't come from value.

2017. 'Epistemological closed questions: A reply to Greco' (PDF)
Manuscrito 40 (4): 97-111
  • According to G.E. Moore’s famous ‘Open Question’ argument (OQA), moral facts cannot be reduced or analyzed in non-normative natural terms. Does the OQA apply equally in the epistemic domain? Does Moore’s argument have the same force against reductionist accounts of epistemic facts and concepts? In a recent article, Daniel Greco has argued that it does. According to Greco (2015), an epistemological version of the OQA is just as promising as its moral cousin, because the relevant questions in epistemology are just as ‘open’ as those in ethics. In this paper, I offer a two-part reply to Greco. First, I argue that his argument in favor of the openness of epistemology is not persuasive. Second, I offer a case against the openness of epistemology. Unlike claims linking natural and moral properties, claims linking natural and epistemological properties do give rise to closed questions. An epistemological OQA is therefore not as promising as its moral cousin. 
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2016. 'Can the aim of belief ground epistemic normativity?' (PDF)
Philosophical Studies 173 (12): 3181-3198.
  • For many epistemologists and normativity theorists, epistemic norms necessarily entail normative reasons. Why or in virtue of what do epistemic norms have this necessary normative authority? According to what I call epistemic constitutivism, it is ultimately because belief constitutively aims at truth. In this paper, I examine various versions of the aim of belief thesis and argue that none of them can plausibly ground the normative authority of epistemic norms. I conclude that epistemic constitutivism is not a promising strategy for grounding epistemic normativity.
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2015. 'Epistemic instrumentalism and the too few reasons objection.' (PDF)
International Journal of Philosophical Studies  23 (3): 337-355. 
  • According to epistemic instrumentalism (EI), epistemic normativity and reasons arise from and depend on facts about our ends. On that view, a consideration C is an epistemic reason for a subject S to Φ only if Φ-ing would promote an end that S has. However, according to the Too Few Epistemic Reasons objection, this cannot be correct since there are cases in which, intuitively, C is an epistemic reason for S to Φ even though Φ-ing would not promote any of S’s ends. After clarifying both EI and the Too Few Epistemic Reasons objection, I examine three major instrumentalist replies and argue that none of them is satisfactory. I end by briefly sketching a fourth possible response, which is, I suggest, more promising than the other three.


Online Encyclopedia articles

2019. "Normes épistémiques" l'encyclopédie philosophique (encyclo-philo.fr)
http://encyclo-philo.fr/normes-epistemiques-gp/

​Imaginez que votre meilleure amie vous demande si vous croyez qu’elle peut gagner un concours de karaoké. D’un côté, vous savez à quel point ce concours est important pour elle. Sa confiance est au plus bas depuis quelque temps, et ce que vous croyez aura une incidence directe sur sa performance et sa santé mentale. Elle détectera facilement si vous ne le croyez pas et cela la dévastera. De l’autre, vous l’avez souvent entendu chanter et vous savez qu’elle chante faux. Vous savez aussi qu’elle a choisi d’interpréter une chanson de Céline Dion, qui est à la fois difficile à interpréter et peu agréable à écouter. Étant donné cela, devriez-vous croire que votre amie a des chances de gagner le concours?

D’un point de vue pratique, cela semble être la chose à faire. Non seulement est-ce nécessaire à la santé mentale de votre amie, mais croire qu’elle a des chances ne fera pas de mal à personne. Néanmoins, il semble demeurer un sens dans lequel vous ne devriez pas croire qu’elle peut gagner. En effet, tout indique qu’elle ne remportera pas le concours. Étant donné ses capacités limitées et le morceau qu’elle compte chanter, ses chances sont pratiquement nulles. La croyance qu’elle peut gagner serait fausse, incohérente et contredite par les faits. Par conséquent, bien qu’il serait pratiquement ou même moralement approprié de croire qu’elle peut gagner, il reste un sens dans lequel vous ne devriez pas le croire, soit un sens ayant trait non pas aux bénéfices pratique ou à la valeur morale, mais bien à des standards dits « épistémiques » comme la vérité, la connaissance et la cohérence. Croire qu’elle peut gagner, autrement dit, contreviendrait à un type particulier de normes, soit à ce que les philosophes appellent des normes épistémiques.
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En quoi consistent les normes épistémiques? Qu’est-ce qui les distingue des autres normes? Que demandent-elles de nous? Cette entrée est une introduction aux principales approches contemporaines concernant la nature et le contenu des normes épistémiques.


Book reviews