The Language of Knowledge. Knowledge is central to our lives. The way we attribute knowledge to others governs whom we trust, how we reason, what we do, and whether we succeed. The significance of this project consists in a deeper understanding of our attributions of knowledge, situated within the context of questions. This project offers the benefits of quality foundational research in an interdisciplinary venue. It connects to a range of areas of National Research Priority including An Environ ....The Language of Knowledge. Knowledge is central to our lives. The way we attribute knowledge to others governs whom we trust, how we reason, what we do, and whether we succeed. The significance of this project consists in a deeper understanding of our attributions of knowledge, situated within the context of questions. This project offers the benefits of quality foundational research in an interdisciplinary venue. It connects to a range of areas of National Research Priority including An Environmentally Sustainable Australia, Promoting and Managing Good Health, and Frontier Technologies for Building and Transforming Australian Industries, insofar as all of these areas of National Research Priority are concerned with the acquisition and transfer of knowledge.Read moreRead less
Two-Dimensional Semantics and the Foundations of Philosophy. This project investigates fundamental philosophical questions concerning the relation between our minds and the world and the possibility of rational inquiry. The project represents a significant advance in the theoretical understanding of a broad range of central philosophical issues and it has important implications for the nature and methods of scientific inquiry. The project will contribute to the international research profile of ....Two-Dimensional Semantics and the Foundations of Philosophy. This project investigates fundamental philosophical questions concerning the relation between our minds and the world and the possibility of rational inquiry. The project represents a significant advance in the theoretical understanding of a broad range of central philosophical issues and it has important implications for the nature and methods of scientific inquiry. The project will contribute to the international research profile of Australia, consolidating its place as a leader in this domain. Read moreRead less
Fundamental Ways the World Could Be: Challenging Metaphysical Orthodoxy. This project strengthens Australia's fine reputation in metaphysics through disseminating cutting-edge research. It will build relationships with leading researchers and bring their knowledge to Australia, fostering an intellectual environment that strengthens Australia as a destination for tertiary study and international researchers. It will offer explicit training in research skills and provide wide-ranging knowledge for ....Fundamental Ways the World Could Be: Challenging Metaphysical Orthodoxy. This project strengthens Australia's fine reputation in metaphysics through disseminating cutting-edge research. It will build relationships with leading researchers and bring their knowledge to Australia, fostering an intellectual environment that strengthens Australia as a destination for tertiary study and international researchers. It will offer explicit training in research skills and provide wide-ranging knowledge for a postgraduate student. In clarifying and answering key fundamental metaphysical questions that have wide ramifications, it will provide a sound basis and the conceptual resources for both ethicists, philosophers of science and scientists to theorise about us as agents in the world, and about the nature of our world.Read moreRead less
The Objects of Probabilities. Probabilities impact almost every aspect of our lives. Actuaries calculate probabilities of property loss due to bushfires, while climatologists warn that such probabilities will increase alarmingly. Probabilities abound in engineering, medicine, the law, the sciences and social sciences, and much philosophy. Yet we lack a proper understanding of the kinds of things that receive probabilities: the objects of probabilities. This project will provide such understandin ....The Objects of Probabilities. Probabilities impact almost every aspect of our lives. Actuaries calculate probabilities of property loss due to bushfires, while climatologists warn that such probabilities will increase alarmingly. Probabilities abound in engineering, medicine, the law, the sciences and social sciences, and much philosophy. Yet we lack a proper understanding of the kinds of things that receive probabilities: the objects of probabilities. This project will provide such understanding. It will rethink the foundations of probability and decision theory, with potential ramifications for the philosophy, science, and public policy that are based on these theories. It thus aims to strengthen Australia's research profile and international standing in these areas.Read moreRead less
Epistemic Warrant: Transmission Failure, Basic Knowledge, and Entitlement. This Project will bring substantial intellectual, cultural, and economic benefits to the nation - not only by increasing research strength, contributing to research output and establishing an international research partnership, but also by deepening the relationship between the study of the mind and theory of knowledge as a traditional area within philosophy and thus helping to maintain the pivotal position of philosophy ....Epistemic Warrant: Transmission Failure, Basic Knowledge, and Entitlement. This Project will bring substantial intellectual, cultural, and economic benefits to the nation - not only by increasing research strength, contributing to research output and establishing an international research partnership, but also by deepening the relationship between the study of the mind and theory of knowledge as a traditional area within philosophy and thus helping to maintain the pivotal position of philosophy in our intellectual life. Students, early-career researchers and established philosophers will benefit from access to the intellectual and institutional resources of international partner universities and there will be substantial and quantifiable financial contributions by international universities and research agencies.Read moreRead less
Sceptical reasoning: its epistemological nature, limits, and worth. Philosophers usually take sceptical reasoning seriously — yet without agreeing on why this should be so — even when wishing not to be sceptics about people ever having knowledge. This project will uncover new problems in sceptical reasoning while offering new ideas as to how, even so, it could be epistemologically valuable.
Rationality and Resource Bounds in Logics for Intentional Attitudes. Formal philosophy is the discipline at the interface between traditional philosophy and modern mathematical logic. It has had a substantial impact in recent years and has benefited neighbouring disciplines, including computer science and artificial intelligence. It is a good example of how philosophical research can interact with more practical disciplines. This project will make substantial contributions to formal philosophy, ....Rationality and Resource Bounds in Logics for Intentional Attitudes. Formal philosophy is the discipline at the interface between traditional philosophy and modern mathematical logic. It has had a substantial impact in recent years and has benefited neighbouring disciplines, including computer science and artificial intelligence. It is a good example of how philosophical research can interact with more practical disciplines. This project will make substantial contributions to formal philosophy, which will in turn provide benefits in computer science and artificial intelligence, by providing a framework for logicians, computer scientists and researchers in artificial intelligence to discuss issues concerning knowledge, belief and rationality.Read moreRead less
Knowing the Nature of Knowledge. From Plato onwards, philosophers have tried to determine what it is to have knowledge. This project will uncover some factors that have impeded those philosophical efforts to understand knowledge's nature. The project will thus constitute a fundamental challenge to standard philosophical assumptions regarding how we could, if ever, know what knowledge is. A new conception of the nature of knowledge will be developed, by resurrecting an ancient but now-ignored con ....Knowing the Nature of Knowledge. From Plato onwards, philosophers have tried to determine what it is to have knowledge. This project will uncover some factors that have impeded those philosophical efforts to understand knowledge's nature. The project will thus constitute a fundamental challenge to standard philosophical assumptions regarding how we could, if ever, know what knowledge is. A new conception of the nature of knowledge will be developed, by resurrecting an ancient but now-ignored conception, and marrying it with contemporary technical sophistication. This new theory will be non-absolutist, admitting different grades of knowledge, even of a single fact. This will be a widely applicable theory.Read moreRead less
Ethics and Formal Theories of Decision. The benefits of this project will include improved methods for making ethically-informed decisions in various practical situations. Among the more important applications are legal decisions and conservation management. The theory developed in this project will also help shed light on both the statistical and ethical issues raised in much-debated areas such as racial profiling. The project will also serve to enhance Australia's reputation in technical philo ....Ethics and Formal Theories of Decision. The benefits of this project will include improved methods for making ethically-informed decisions in various practical situations. Among the more important applications are legal decisions and conservation management. The theory developed in this project will also help shed light on both the statistical and ethical issues raised in much-debated areas such as racial profiling. The project will also serve to enhance Australia's reputation in technical philosophy and decision theory.Read moreRead less
Logic, Abstraction and Construction. This is unashamedly a pure research project in logic. It aims to enhance our understanding of core issues in the nature of the world and how we can appropriately reason about it. Nevertheless, the techniques developed in logic inevitably find a home in applications in computer science, linguistics, mathematics and related fields. This project, in particular, will develop tools for realistically reasoning about the kinds of abstract or constructed objects on ....Logic, Abstraction and Construction. This is unashamedly a pure research project in logic. It aims to enhance our understanding of core issues in the nature of the world and how we can appropriately reason about it. Nevertheless, the techniques developed in logic inevitably find a home in applications in computer science, linguistics, mathematics and related fields. This project, in particular, will develop tools for realistically reasoning about the kinds of abstract or constructed objects one finds in mathematics, and with the vague or contradictory concepts we use in everyday discourse. In addition, the project will provide research training for postgraduate students, and it will strengthen an already internationally recognised research centre in philosophical logic.Read moreRead less