Modal Epistemology: Six Investigations is a collaborative research project devoted to understanding our capacity for knowledge of modal facts.
The research project is funded by a major Starting Grant awarded by the National Danish Research Council for Independent research, and is projected to run for four years, from 2011 to 2015.
The project spans three Danish Universities, with four project members based at Aarhus University, and one each at University of Copenhagen and University of Southern Denmark. The project also includes a number of distinguished associated researchers.
On these pages, you can find information about the research project and its activities. You can find detailed descriptions of the overall research project, as well as the individual sub-projects. You can find information about the project members and associated researchers. And most importantly, you can find a calender of events.
You are very welcome to contact us if you want to get involved in the project, or stay informed about events, such as workshops, research talks, and conferences.
Many of our activities are open to anyone interested (some require registration), and we welcome visiting researchers to the project.
Students based at Aarhus University can participate in regular seminars and reading groups devoted to modal epistemology.
You can find contact details here.
June 2012:
Doctoral student Asger Steffensen has been accepted as a Visiting Graduate Student at the MIT Philosophy program, for the Spring and Summer terms 2013.
May 2012:
Dr. Mikkel Gerken has co-edited the collection Knowledge Ascriptions, just released by Oxford University Press.
May 2012:
Dr. Jacob Busch (Aarhus) commences sub-project 'Inference to the best explanation in mathematics'.
April 2012:
Sara Kier Praëm and Asger Steffensen participates in the 10th British Postgraduate Philosophy Masterclass with Prof. Timothy Williamson (Oxford).
Feb. 2012:
PI Asbjørn Steglich-Petersen (Aarhus) is named DFF-Research Leader at the 2012 Eliteforsk conference in Copenhagen.
Feb. 2012:
The vacant Ph.d position has been filled! We are pleased to welcome Asger Steffensen (Aarhus), whose Ph.d project is entitied 'Modal knowledge and conceivability'.
Jan. 2012
Doctoral student Sara Kier Praëm has been invited to spend the Spring and Summer terms 2013 at the Oxford Faculty of Philosophy.
Nov. 2011:
Sara Kier Praëm (Aarhus) commences her Ph.d project 'The role of intuitions in philosophical methodology'.
Oct. 2011:
Dr. Mikkel Gerken (Copenhagen) commences sub-project 'Modal intuitions and knowledge ascriptions'.
Oct. 2011:
Modal Epistemology: Six Investigations has officially begun! Sub-projects to commence over the coming months.
September 24-26, 2014:
Conference! Main speakers: Timothy Williamson (Oxford), Otavio Bueno (Miami), Sonia Roca-Royes (Stirling), Hannes Leitgeb (München), Stephen Mumford (Nottingham), Daniel Nolan (ANU), Anand Vaidya. More information here.
September 12, 2013:
Workshop! "Modal Epistemology and the Philosophy of Science". Speakers: Rene van Woudenberg (Amsterdam), Darrell Rowbottom (Lingnan), Mikkel Gerken (KU/Edinburgh), Jacob Busch (AU), Asger Steffensen (AU). Location: University of Southern Denmark.
June 14-15, 2013:
Workshop! Speakers: Jane Friedman (Oxford), Anna-Sara Malmgren (Stanford), Mikkel Gerken (KU), Asbjørn Steglich-Petersen (AU), Jens Christian Bjerring (AU), Jacob Busch (AU), Sara Kier Praëm (AU). Location: University of Copenhagen
May 31, 2013:
Workshop! Speakers: Thomas Kroedl (Berlin): "Mental Causation by Difference-Making". JP Smit (Stellenbosch): "On an Overlooked Theory of Reference." Location: Aarhus University, 10:00-15:00, 1467/616.
April 5, 2013:
Research talk: Florian Steinberger (München): "Explosion and the normativity of logic". Location: Aarhus University, 12:30-14:30, 1467/616.
March 22, 2013:
Research talk: Nikolaj Nottelmann (SDU): "Metaphysical consequences of a credible ethics of belief". Location: Aarhus University, 12:30-14:30, 1467/616.
March 8, 2013:
Workshop! Speakers: Jessica Brown (St. Andrews), Mikkel Gerken (KU), Asbjørn Steglich-Petersen (AU), Lars Bo Gundersen (AU), Esben Nedenskov Petersen (SDU), Jens Christian Bjerring (AU). Location: Danish Philosophical Annual Meeting, University of Southern Denmark.
February 15, 2013:
Research talk: Nathan Wildman (Hamburg): "How to be a modalist about essence". Location: Aarhus University, 12:30-14:30, 1467/616.
February 8, 2013:
Research talk: Asbjørn Steglich-Petersen (AU) & Jens Christian Bjerring (AU): "Probability and Modal Distance". Location: Aarhus University, 12:30-14:30, 1467/616.
