Richard Pettigrew's homepage

Research

Teaching

 CV Other

Welcome to my homepage! I am a British Academy Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Philosophy at the University of Bristol.

In my research, I am interested in the foundations of mathematics and its philosophy, the epistemology of uncertain beliefs, the history of philosophy (in particular, scepticism), and the status and meaning of modal statements. See Research link above.

I lecture and lead seminars in the philosophy department on everything from metaphysics and epistemology to logic and the philosophy of language. For lecture slides, handouts, exercises, and solutions, see Teaching link above.

My office hours are Monday 1-2pm and Tuesday 3-4pm. Any student from any of my courses is welcome to drop by to discuss any worries they have. My office is Room B3 in the basement of 19 Woodland Road. The entrance to the basement down a flight of stairs at the left of the building.

I'm involved in some other organizations and activities. For information about these, see Other link above.

And see my photos from holidays in South Africa, Croatia, Australia, south-west USA, Scotland, and New Zealand on Flickr here.

For my CV, click here.

For quick access to my academic activities, see below. Please also see my webpage at www.academia.edu.

Publications

Papers

Books

  • (Under contract) Continuum Companion to Philosophical Logic (co-edited with Leon Horsten) (Continuum Press)

Contributions to volumes

  • (under contract) 'Interpretations of Probability' in L. Horsten and R. Pettigrew (eds.) Continuum Companion to Philosophical Logic (Continuum Press)
  • (forthcoming) ‘The foundations for arithmetic in finite bounded Zermelo set theory’ in Hinnion, R. and T. Libert (eds.) One Hundred Years of Axiomatic Set Theory, vol. 17, Cahiers du Centre de Logique
  • (forthcoming) ‘Logic’, ‘Indirect Test for Validity’, ‘Validity’, and ‘Formal System’ Key Terms in Logic J. Williamson and F. Russo (eds.) Continuum Press

Book reviews

Under consideration

Work in progress

  • ‘The foundational claims of category theory’ (with Øystein Linnebo)
  • ‘Benacerraf's problem, structuralism, and logic in a topos’
  • ‘Aiming for accuracy when learning by candlelight’

Invited talks

  • ‘Updating rules for partial beliefs’, Workshop on the Lottery Paradox, University of Glasgow, 12th December 2009
  • ‘The prospects for a foundation for mathematics in category theory’ (joint work with Øystein Linnebo) IP seminar, ENS, Paris, 9th November 2009
  • ‘Category theory and the paradoxes of motion’, Philosophy and Mathematics at 40 celebrations, University of Oxford, 5th July 2009
  • ‘Aristotle and Lawvere on the ontology of geometry’, Ontological Shifts in Geometry, Université Paris Diderot - Paris 7, 4th-6th June 2009
  • ‘The foundations of arithmetic and analysis in a theory of finite sets’, Set Theory and its Neighbours, University of Bristol, 19th November 2008 (slides)
  • ‘Infinity and Separation in the foundations of arithmetic and analysis’, One Hundred Years of Axiomatic Set Theory (organized by The Belgian Society for Logic and Philosophy of Science), Université Libre de Bruxelles, 30th-31st October 2008 (slides)
  • ‘Bayesian Epistemology and the goal of accurracy’ (joint work with Hannes Leitgeb), Mathematical Methods in Philosophy (organized by The Luxemburger Zirkel), University of Bristol, 19th-21st September 2008 (slides)
  • ‘Non-isomorphic Natural Number Systems in a Finitary Theory of Finite Sets’, Logic Seminar, MIMS, The University of Manchester, 12th February 2008 (slides)
  • ‘Reply to Stewart Shapiro’s talk ‘Identity, Indiscernibility, and ante rem Structuralism: the Tale of i and -i’’, Structuralism about Physics and Mathematics, University of Bristol, 2nd-3rd December, 2006

Conferences, seminars, and talks

  • ‘Bayesian epistemology and the goal of accuracy’ (joint work with Hannes Leitgeb), EPSA 09, 21st-24th October 2009
  • ‘Bayesian epistemology and the goal of accuracy’ (joint work with Hannes Leitgeb), Foundations of Uncertainty: Probability and its Rivals, Prague, 1st-4th September 2009
  • ‘An epistemology for self-locating beliefs’, Graduate Sessions at the Joint Sessions of the Aristotelian Society and Mind Association, University of East Anglia, 10th-12th July 2009
  • ‘On the possibility of non-isomorphic natural number systems’, Annual Conference of the British Society for the Philosophy of Science, University of St Andrews, 10th-11th July 2008 (slides)
  • ‘Number systems of different lengths, and a natural approach to infinitesimal analysis’, CAMeLEoN meeting, DPMMS, University of Cambridge, 23rd April 2008 (slides, handout)
  • ‘Singular Terms, Free Variables, and Platonism’, (alternate speaker and session chair) Joint Paris-Arché conference in Abstract Objects in Semantics and the Philosophy of Mathematics, École Normale Supérieure, 28th February - 1st March 2008 (slides, summary)
  • ‘Platonism and Aristotelianism in Mathematics’, Annual Conference of the British Society for the Philosophy of Science, University of Bristol, 4th-5th July 2007
  • ‘Two arguments against sui generis structuralism’, Annual Conference of the British Society for the Philosophy of Science, University of Southampton, 6th-7th July 2006
  • ‘A Problem for Bayesian Epistemology (and a solution?)’, Sixth National Conference of the Italian Society of Analytic Philosophy (SIFA), University of Genoa, 23rd-25th September 2004
  • ‘The Justification of Conditionalization’, Annual Conference of the British Society for the Philosophy of Science, University of Canterbury, 8th-9th July 2004