Professor of Philosophy

Overview

David Christensen's research has mainly been in Epistemology and Philosophy of Science. Some of the questions he has written on are: What determines whether a given bit of evidence supports or refutes a given theory? What logical principles apply to rational beliefs (either degrees of belief either all-or-nothing beliefs)? How should one's beliefs be affected by one's knowing that other people--equally informed, rational and intelligent people--believe differently? He is currently working on questions about how our theory of ideal rationality should accommodate rational self-doubt, and, in general, what constraints rationality puts on the way one regards one's own beliefs. He received his B.A. from Hampshire College and his Ph.D. from UCLA. He taught for 20 years at the University of Vermont before coming to Brown in 2007.

Brown Affiliations