Department of Philosophy

University of Stirling

Stirling

FK9 4LA
Scotland

UK

I took my first degree at the University of Edinburgh and then received a Ph.D from the University of Cambridge. I have been in the Department at Stirling since 1971. I was appointed Professor in 1994. In 2005 I was elected to a Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh.

My main research interests are in philosophy of mind and the theory of knowledge. In Understanding People: Normativity and Rationalizing Explanation (Oxford University Press, 2004), I argue that normative considerations play an important role in predicting and explaining human thought and action. I argue that the concepts of belief and intention are normative concepts and that this has significant implications for our understanding of human thought and action. I am currently working on perceptual knowledge, the epistemology of testimony, and why knowledge matters. Currently, all of this is in the context of an AHRC funded project, The Value of Knowledge.

Autumn 2009

PHI911 Philosophy: What is It All About?; PHI9XB: Self-Deception; SASP Current issues

Click here for a list.

Member of the Editorial Board of The Philosophical Quarterly.