Avery Archer
© 2009, Avery Archer
"I have never let my schooling interfere with my education." - Mark Twain
CURRICULUM VITAE
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EMPLOYMENT
The George Washington University, District of Columbia, United States
Associate Professor, Department of Philosophy (2022-present)
Assistant Professor, Department of Philosophy (2016 – 2022)
University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee, United States
Assistant Professor, Department of Philosophy (2013 – 2015)
EDUCATION
Columbia University, New York, United States
Ph.D.: Philosophy (2013)
Dissertation: The Rational Significance of Desire
Committee: Katja Maria Vogt, Susanna Siegel, Christopher Peacocke
Columbia University, New York, United States
M.Phil.: Philosophy (2011)
Supervisor: Katja Maria Vogt
University of St Andrews, Scotland, United Kingdom
M.Phil.: Philosophy (2008)
Thesis: McDowell, Gettier, and the Bipartite Account of Perceptual Knowledge
Supervisors: Crispin Wright, Duncan Pritchard
Harvard University, The Divinity School, Massachusetts, United States
M.A.: Theological Studies (2002)
Supervisors: Diana Eck and David Lamberth
Andrews University, Caribbean Union College, Trinidad, West Indies
B.A.: Theology, magna cum laude (2000)
Senior Thesis: The Cameo of God in Cartesian Epistemology
RESEARCH INTERESTS
Areas of Specialisation Epistemology, Action Theory, Philosophy of Mind
Areas of Competence Moral Psychology, Normativity Theory, Logic
PUBLICATIONS
The Questioning-Attitude Account of Agnosticism (2022) Synthese 200 (498): 1-15.
The Aim of Inquiry (2021) Disputatio 13 (61): 95-119.
Agnosticism, Inquiry, and Unanswerable Questions (2019) Disputatio 11 (53): 63-88.
Are Desires Beliefs about Normative Reasons? (2019) Analytic Philosophy 61 (3): 236-251.
Wondering about What You Know (2018) Analysis 78 (4): 596-604.
Trying Cognitivism: A Defence of the Strong Belief Thesis (2018) Theoria 84 (2): 140-156.
Do We Need Partial Intentions (2017) Philosophia 45 (3): 995-1005.
Do Desires Provide Reasons? (2016) Philosophical Studies 173 (8): 2011-2027.
Reconceiving Direction of Fit (2015) Thought: A Journal of Philosophy 4 (2): 171-180.
PRESENTATIONS (Invited presentations marked with ‘†’)
The Questioning Attitude Account of Agnosticism
(57) Workshop in Ancient and Contemporary Philosophy, Columbia University, New York, NY, November 2022. †
What is Agnosticism?
(56) Rice Workshop in Philosophy of Mind, Rice University, Houston, TX, March 2022. †
(55) Departmental Colloquia, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA, February 2022. †
On What it Means to be Neutral
(54) Departmental Colloquia, Portland State University, Portland, OR, January 2021.†
The Aim of Inquiry
(53) Southern Society for Philosophy and Psychology, Virtual Conference, December 2020.†
(52) Department Colloquia, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, October 2020.†
Inquiry as Epistemic Improvement
(51) Department Colloquia, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, January 2020.†
(50) Departmental Colloquia, Marist College, Poughkeepsie, NY, November 2019.†
(49) Departmental Colloquia, Portland State University, Portland, OR, November 2019.†
(48) Philosophy Brown Bag, George Washington University, Washington, DC, November 2019.
Does Agnosticism Entail Inquiry?
(47) Centra America Philosophical Association, Chicago, IL, February 2020.
(46) Northwest Philosophy Conference, Pacific University, Portland, OR, November 2019.
Are Desires Beliefs about Normative Reasons?
(45) Southern Society for Philosophy and Psychology, Cincinnati, OH, March 2019. †
Acceptance Cognitivism
(44) Virginia Philosophical Association 79 Annual Meeting, Marymount University, Arlington, VA, October 2018.
(43) Northwest Philosophy Conference, Bellevue College, Bellevue, WA, October 2018.
(42) Ohio Philosophical Association Annual Meeting, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH, April 2018.
(41) North Carolina Philosophical Society Conference, Winthrop University, Winthrop, SC, March 2018.
Reconceiving Cognitivism
(40) Fordham Epistemology and Ethics Workshop, Fordham University, New York, NY, September 2018.†
(39) Alabama Philosophical Society, Pensacola Beach, FL, September 2018.
(38) Philosophy Department Workshop, University of California, Riverside, Riverside, CA, February 2018.
Cognitivism and the Aim of Desire
(37) Agency, Rationality and Value Conference, University Carlos III de Madrid, Madrid, Spain, November 2017.
Wondering about What You Know
(36) Indiana Philosophical Association, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, November 2017.
(35) Alabama Philosophical Society, Pensacola Beach, FL, September 2017.
(34) Philosophy Brown Bag, George Washington University, Washington, DC, September 2017.
Agnosticism and Inquiry
(33) Philosophy Brown Bag, George Washington University, Washington, DC, April 2017.
(32) Philosophy in an Inclusive Key Summer Institute, MIT, Cambridge, MA, June 2017.†
Do or Do Not, There is No Withholding
(31) University of Vermont Philosophy Colloquium, Burlington, VT, March 2017.†
(30) Philosophy Brown Bag, George Washington University, Washington, DC, November 2016.
(29) Midwest Epistemology Workshop, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, September 2016.†
Do We Need Partial Intentions?
(28) University of Albany Colloquium Talk, Albany, New York, February 2016.†
(27) University of South Carolina Colloquium Talk, Columbia, South Carolina, February 2016.†
Theoretical Approaches to Dual-Plan Cases
(26) Great Plains Philosophy Symposium, Lawrence, Kansas, October 2015.
On the Nonexistence of Practical Withholding
(25) Faculty Research Seminar, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, October 2015.
How to Distinguish Between Theoretical and Practical Attitudes
(24) George Washington University, Washington, DC, December 2014.†
(23) Faculty Research Seminar, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, November 2014.
What is Direction of Fit?
(22) Intentionality Conference, University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium, December 2014.
(21) Southwestern Philosophical Society, Lawrence, Kansas, October 2014.
(20) University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, February 2014.†
Do Desires Provide Reasons? An Argument Against the Cognitivist Strategy
(19) Midsouth Philosophy Conference, Memphis, TN, March 2015.
(18) American Philosophical Association Pacific Division Meeting, Vancouver, Canada, April 2015.
(17) The Eight European Congress of Analytic Philosophy, University of Bucharest, Bucharest, Romania, August 2014.
(16) The 50th Annual Meeting of the Western Canadian Philosophical Association, Winnipeg, MB, October 2013.
Making Sense of Direction of Fit
(15) Faculty Research Seminar, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, February 2014.
Do Desires Provide Rational Guidance?
(14) St Louis Gateway Conference, University of Missouri, St Louis, MO, April 2013.
(13) The University of Waterloo Philosophy Graduate Conference, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, March 2013.
(12) Knowledge and Action Conference, University of Calgary, Alberta, CA, March 2013.
(11) University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, February 2013.†
Competing Aims: Velleman vs. the Guise of the Good
(10) Rocky Mountain Philosophy Conference, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO, April 2012.
(9) The Princeton-Rutgers Philosophy Graduate Conference, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, March 2012.
Argumentation and Informal Fallacies
(8) Red Wing Kiwanis Club Invited Talk, Red Wing, MN, March 2012.†
Unpacking the Guise of the Good Theory of Desires
(7) The 2011 Intermountain West Graduate Philosophy Conference, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, April 2011.
(6) The University of Waterloo Philosophy Graduate Conference, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, April 2011.
Moral Responsibility and Moral Luck: A Defence of the Control Principle
(5) Carleton College, Northfield, MN, January 2011.†
Evaluation without Hyper-intellectualisation
(4) The 5th Biennial University of Washington Graduate Conference, Seattle, WA, November 2009.
Desires as Sub-agential Evaluations of the Good
(3) Philosophical & Psychological Issues Conference, University of South Alabama, Mobile, AL, September 2009.
Desires as Sub-agential Perspectives on the Good
(2) Action, Agency and Explanation Conference, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, May 2009.
Dreams, Solar Flares and Supernovas: A Reply to Moore’s Linguistic Objection to Scepticism
(1) The Raasay Philosophy Reading Party, University of St Andrews, Scotland, October 2005.
‘†’ =df invited
COMMENTARY
On Falvey’s “Against the Ubiquity of Trying in Action”
(5) The 70th Annual Northwest Philosophy Conference, Bellevue, WA, October 2018.
On Harman's "Ethics is Hard! What Follows?"
(4) Bellingham Summer Philosophy Conference, Bellingham, WA, August 2015.
On Sussman’s “Is Agent-Regret Rational?”
(3) Midsouth Philosophy Conference, Memphis, TN, March 2015.
On Pollon’s “Is There a Difference Between Primitive Agency and Mere Behaviour?”
(2) Western Canadian Philosophical Association, Winnipeg, MB, October 2013.
On Bengson’s “Practical Perception”
(1) Imperative Aspects of Perception Conference, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway, August 2013.
FELLOWSHIPS AND AWARDS
Scholarly and Research Incentive Funds Foreign Travel Award
University of Tennessee, TN, 2014.
Benjamin Wolstein Fellowship Fund
Columbia University, NY, 2013.
Graduate School of Arts and Sciences Summer Research Fellowship
Columbia University, NY, 2012.
Scholar-in-Residence Fellow
Philosophy Department, Carleton College, MN, 2011.
Graduate School of Arts and Sciences Summer Research Fellowship
Columbia University, NY, 2010.
Philosophy Department Summer Research Fellowship
Columbia University, NY, 2009.
Travel Grant (x3)
Columbia University, NY, 2009.
Office of Diversity Affairs Fellowship
Columbia University, NY 2009.
Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Fellowship
Columbia University, NY, 2008.
John W. Kluge Endowment for a New Generation of Faculty Excellence Summer Fellowship
Columbia University, NY, 2008.
TEACHING
Associate Professor, The George Washington University, Washington, DC
Symbolic Logic (Spring 2023); Analytic Philosophy (Spring 2023)
Mind, Brain, and Artificial Intelligence (Fall 2023); Epistemology (Fall 2023)
Assistant Professor, The George Washington University, Washington, DC
Ethics of Belief (Fall 2018); Logic (Fall 2018)
Action Theory (Spring 2018); Epistemology (Spring 2018)
Analytic Philosophy (Fall 2017); Logic (Fall 2017)
Epistemology (Spring 2017); Advanced Philosophy of Mind (Spring 2017)
Mind, Brain, and Artificial Intelligence (Fall 2016); Proseminar (Fall 2016)
Epistemology (Spring 2015); Analytic Philosophy (Spring 2015)
Assistant Professor, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN
Mind & Action (Fall 2015); Logic (Fall 2015)
Philosophy of Mind (Spring 2015); Logic (Spring 2015)
Desire & Intention (Fall 2014); Epistemology (Fall 2014)
Epistemology (Spring 2014); Logic (Spring 2014)
Action Theory (Fall 2013); Logic (Fall 2013)
Visiting Instructor, Carleton College, Northfield, MN
Logic (Fall 2011); Epistemology (Spring 2012)
PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIP
Minorities and Philosophy
American Philosophical Association
Society for Philosophy of Agency
Society of Young Black Philosophers
PROFESSIONAL SERVICE
Journal Refereeing
(10) Australasian Journal of Philosophy, 2018-present.
(9) Analysis, 2017-present.
(8) Canadian Journal of Philosophy, 2016-present.
(7) Social Theory and Practice, 2016-present.
(6) Dialectica, 2015-present.
(5) The American Philosophical Quarterly, 2015-present.
(4) Ratio: An International Journal of Analytic Philosophy, 2015-present.
(3) Journal of the American Philosophical Association, 2014-present.
(2) Synthese: An International Journal for Epistemology, 2013 – present.
(1) Thought: A Journal of Philosophy, 2013-present.
Miscellaneous Refereeing
(5) Philosophy Gourmet Report Area Evaluator: Philosophy of Mind & Action Theory.
(4) Bellingham Summer Philosophy Conference, Western Washington University, 2015.
(3) Hardwig Prize Essay Competition, University of Tennessee, 2015.
(2) Richard Aquilla Prize Essay Competition, University of Tennessee, 2015.
(1) Columbia-NYU Graduate Conference, Columbia University, 2008-2013.
