WILLIAM J. TALBOTT

 

CURRICULUM VITAE

 

 

I.  EDUCATION

 

            A.B., Philosophy, Princeton University, 1970.

            Ph.D., Philosophy, Harvard University, 1976.

 

 

II.  DOCTORAL DISSERTATION

 

            Title:  The Reliability of the Cognitive Mechanism:  A Mechanist Account of Empirical Justification (March 1976).  Advisers:  Robert Nozick and Israel Scheffler.

 

 

III.  AREAS OF SPECIALIZATION

 

            Social and Political Philosophy, Philosophy of Human Rights, Epistemology, Ethics, Rational Choice Theory, and the Philosophy of Law.

 

 

IV.  TEACHING EXPERIENCE

 

1989-90  Acting Assistant Professor, Department of Philosophy, University of Washington.

 

1990-96  Assistant Professor, Department of Philosophy, University of Washington.

 

1996-2005  Associate Professor, Department of Philosophy, University of Washington.

 

2005-          Professor, Department of Philosophy, University of Washington.

 

 

V.  PUBLICATIONS

 

            A. Books

 

1.  The Reliability of the Cognitive Mechanism:  A Mechanist Account of Empirical Justification (New York: Garland Publishing; 1990).

 

2.  Which Rights Should Be Universal? (New York: Oxford University Press, 2005).       

  • Korean Translation (Seoul: Han’gilsa, 2011).

 

3.  Human Rights and Human Well-Being (New York: Oxford University Press, 2010).

 

            B. Articles

 

1.  "Standard and Non-Standard Newcomb Problems", Synthese, Vol. 70 (1987), pp. 415-458.

 

2.  "Cost Spreading and Benefit Spreading in Tort Law", Research in Law and Economics, Vol. 11 (1988), pp. 25-51.

 

3.  "Two Principles of Bayesian Epistemology", Philosophical Studies, Vol. 62 (1991), pp. 135-150.

 

4.  "Intentional Self-Deception in a Single, Coherent Self", Philosophy and Phenomenological Research, Vol. 55 (1995), pp. 27-74.

 

5.  Alvin I. Goldman, co-author, "Games Lawyers Play:  Legal Discovery and Social Epistemology", Legal Theory, Vol. 4 (1998), pp. 93-163. 

 

6.  "Why We Need A Moral Equilibrium Theory", Peter A. Danielson, ed., Modeling Rationality, Morality, and Evolution (Oxford:  Oxford University Press; 1998), pp. 302-339.

 

7.  "Bayesian Epistemology", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Fall 2001 Edition; Revised Fall 2006), Edward N. Zalta (ed.), URL = http://plato.stanford.edu/archives/fall2001/entries/epistemology-bayesian/.

 

8.  "The Illusion of Defeat", in James Beilby, ed., Naturalism Defeated? (Ithaca:  Cornell University Press; 2002), pp. 153-164.

 

9.  "The Universality of Human Rights:  A Response", Human Rights and Human Welfare:  An International Review of Books and Other Publications 7 (2007):  113-141.

 

10. "Reply To Critics: In Defense of One Kind of Epistemically Modest but Metaphysically Immodest Liberalism", Human Rights Review 9 (2008): 193-212. 

 

11. “More on the Illusion of Defeat” and “The End of an Illusion?”, in Bruce L. Gordon and William A. Dembski, eds., The Nature of Nature: Examining the Role of Naturalism in Science (Wilmington: ISI Books; 2011):  152-165 and 172-178.

 

            C. Reviews and Commentaries

 

1.  Review of Robert Nozick, The Nature of Rationality, in The Philosophical Review, Vol. 104 (April 1995), pp. 324-329.

 

2.  Review of Richard E. Nisbett, ed., Rules for Reasoning, in Philosophy & Psychology, Vol. 8 (December 1995), pp. 390-396.

 

3.  Commentary on A.R. Mele, "Real Self-Deception", in Behavioral and Brain Sciences, Vol. 20 (1997), p. 127.

 

4.  Review of Frederic Schick, Making Choices:  A Recasting of Decision Theory, in Mind, Vol. 110 (2001), pp. 827-833.

 

5.  "The Case for a More Truly Social Epistemology", review of Alvin Goldman, Knowledge in a Social World, in Philosophy & Phenomenological Research 64 (Jan. 2002), pp. 199-206. 

 

6.  Review of A.R. Lacey, Robert Nozick, and David Schmidtz, ed., Robert Nozick, in Philosophical Books 44:4 (Oct. 2003), pp. 355-358.

 

7.  Review of David Christensen, David, Putting Logic in its Place, Formal Constraints on Rational Belief, in Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews (10/4/2005) URL: = http://ndpr.nd.edu/review.cfm?id=4181.

 

8.  "Universal Knowledge", review of Hilary Kornblith, Knowledge and its Place in Nature, in Philosophy & Phenomenological Research 71 (Sept. 2005), pp. 420-426. 

 

9.  Review of Carol Gould, Globalizing Democracy and Human Rights, in Philosophical Review 116 (2007):  294-297.

 

10. Review of James Griffin, On Human Rights, in Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews (11/8/2008) URL:  http://ndpr.nd.edu/review.cfm?id=14645.

 

VI.  GRANTS, FELLOWSHIPS, AND AWARDS

 

1.  Danforth Fellow, 1970.

 

2.  Woodrow Wilson Fellow, 1970.

 

3.  "Benefit Spreading Agreements and Justice" was co-winner of the 1985 Rockefeller Prize for Best Work in Philosophy by a Non- Academically Affiliated Philosopher awarded by the A.P.A. Committee on Lectures, Publications, and Research.

 

4.  University of Washington Graduate School Fund Research Grant for the Summer of 1992.

 

5.  University of Washington, Arts and Sciences Scholarly Exchange Program, to fund a series of outside speakers on the topic:  "Risk Assessment in the Evaluation of New Medical Treatments" (co-author), Spring 1994.

 

6.  University of Washington, Arts & Sciences Mentoring Grant, Summer 1994.

 

7.  National Endowment for the Humanities Fellowship for University Teachers for 1996-97.

 

8.  University of Washington, Human Rights Education and Research Network, Course Development Grant, Summer 1999.

 

9.  University of Washington, Walter Chapin Simpson Center for the Humanities Research Fellow, 2000-2001.

 

10.  "Games Lawyers Play", co-authored with Alvin Goldman, 2001 Berger Prize from the American Philosophical Association for the best essay in philosophy and law.

 

11.  Outstanding Teaching Award, Golden Key International Honour Society (one of two U.W. faculty members recognized for outstanding teaching), 2003-2004.

 

12.  U.W. Faculty Grant for Writing-Integrated Course Design, 2005-2006.

 

13.  Scholar-in-Residence, Whiteley Center, Friday Harbor, WA, Summer 2007, Winter 2008, and Winter 2009.

 

14.  Walter Chapin Simpson Center for the Humanities Grant for a conference on "Global Justice in the 21st Century", April 17-18, 2009.

 

15.  Fellow, Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities, Goethe University, Frankfurt am Main, April- May, 2011.

 

16.  Distinguished Teaching Award, University of Washington, 2011.

 

17.  2011 Human Rights Book of the Year Award to Korean translation of Which Rights Should Be Universal? by Korea Human Rights Foundation, Dec. 13, 2011.

 

VII.  SERVICE

 

1.  U.W. Committee on Intellectual Property, April-July 1992.

 

2.  Solomon Katz Lectureship and Professorship Committee (Chair), 1997-98.

 

3.  Three-Campus Writing Centers Committee, 1998-2004. 

 

4.  Advisory Committee to the Program Committee in Epistemology, Eastern Division of the American Philosophical Association, 1999-2001.

 

5. Executive Board, Walter Chapin Simpson Center for the Humanities, 1999-2001.

 

6.  American Philosophical Association Board of Officers, Pacific Division Representative, 1999-2002.

 

7.  Member of the following American Philosophical Association Committees, 1999-2002:  Committee for the Defense of Professional Rights of Philosophers, Committee on Committees, Pacific Division Executive Committee. 

 

8.  American Philosophical Association, Kavka Prize Committee, 2002.

 

9.  U.W. Selection Committee for the Alvord, Fritz, Macfarlane and Lederman Fellowships for 2008-9. 

 

10.  Review Committee, Mark Lindenberg Center, Evans School of Public Affairs, May – June 2008.

 

11.  Organizing Committee, Conference on Global Justice in the 21st Century, University of Washington, April 17-18, 2009.

 

12.  U.W. College of Forestry RCEP Committee, April – May 2009.

 

13.  Selection Committee for UW Alvord, Fritz, Macfarlane and Lederman Graduate and Undergraduate Fellowships 2008 – 2009.

 

14.  Selection Committee for UW Beinecke Scholarship 2008 – 2009.

 

15.  U.W. Human Rights Minor Advisory Committee, 2002-    

 

16.  U.W. Center for Human Rights Steering Committee 2009-

 

17.  Tri-Campus Human Interactions and Normative Innovation (HI-NORM) Cluster Steering Committee 2011 -

 

 

VIII.  PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES

 

A.  Papers Presented

 

1.  "Reflections on Two Principles of Bayesian Epistemology", presented at the A.P.A. Eastern Division Meetings, Colloquium on Logic, Probability, and Methodology, on December 28, 1987.

 

2.  "Intentional Self-Deception in a Single, Undivided Self", presented at the University of British Columbia, November 21, 1991.

 

3.  "Intentional Self-Deception in a Single, Undivided Self", presented at the University of Oregon, February 28, 1992.

 

4.  "Why We Need A Moral Equilibrium Theory" presented at the Conference on Modeling Rational and Moral Agents presented by the Cognitive Science Program of Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, British Columbia, on Feb. 11, 1994. 

 

5.  "How Consequentialist Moral Theories Can Be Self-Defeating", presented at the A.P.A. Eastern Division Meetings, Colloquium on Ethics, on Dec. 30, 1994.

 

6.  "How Consequentialist Moral Theories Can Be Self-Defeating", presented at the University of California, Davis, on January 25, 1995.

 

7.  "Naturalism Undefeated" presented at the plenary session on "Metaphysics: Are Evolution and Naturalism Incompatible?", as part of the conference, "The Nature Of Nature: An Interdisciplinary Conference On The Role Of Naturalism In Science", Baylor University, April 13, 2000.

 

8.  "Toward a More Social Epistemology", presented at the Conference in Honor of Alvin Goldman, University of Arizona, January 27, 2001.

 

9.  Symposium on "Games Lawyers Play: Legal Discovery and Social Epistemology", Winner of the 2001 Berger Prize, American Philosophical Association, Pacific Division Meetings, March 31, 2001.

 

10.  "What's So Bad About Paternalism? (Or What's So Good About Autonomy?)", presented at a colloquium at the University of Alberta, September 19, 2003.

 

11.  "What's So Bad About Paternalism? (Or What's So Good About Autonomy?)", presented at the GALA Seminar at the Kadish Center for Morality, Law & Public Affairs, U.C. Berkeley on March 11, 2004.

 

12.  "The Evolution of a Right to Autonomy", presented at the Interdisciplinary Colloquium on Privacy, University of Utah on April 2, 2004.

 

13.  “Statistical Paternalism”, presented to the Center for Statistics and Social Sciences, University of Washington, May 19, 2004.

 

14.  "What's Wrong With Wishy-Washy Teaching of Political Philosophy?", Special Session on Neutrality, Objectivity, and Viewpoint Diversity in the Teaching of Political Philosophy, A.P.A. Pacific Division Meetings, Portland, Oregon, March 23, 2006.

 

15.  "Reply to Critics ", Author Meets Critics Symposium (on Which Rights Should Be Universal?), American Philosophical Association Pacific Division Meetings, Portland, Oregon, March 25, 2006.

 

16.  "Human Wrongs and Human Rights", Symposium on Which Rights Should Be Universal?, Program on Values in Society, University of Washington, April 10, 2006.

 

17.  "Reply to Critics:  The Power of Human Rights", Author Meets Critics Symposium (on Which Rights Should Be Universal?), American Political Science Association Annual Meeting, Philadelphia, PA, August 31, 2006.

 

18.  "Toward a Revival of Consequentialism in Political (and Moral) Philosophy", presented to the Colloquium in Legal, Political, and Social Philosophy, NYU, September 7, 2006. 

 

19. "Reply:  A Realistic Package of Basic Human Rights", Author Meets Critic Session (on Which Rights Should Be Universal?), American Philosophical Association Eastern Division Meetings, BaltimoreMD, December 28, 2007.

 

20.  "Toward a Revival of Consequentialist Human Rights Theory", Conference on "Human Rights and the New Global Order", John F. Kennedy School of Government, May 8, 2008.  

 

21. "Consequentialist Foundations for Liberal Rights", invited paper for Symposium at the Pacific Division Meetings of the American Philosophical Association, Vancouver, BC, April 9, 2009.

 

22. “What is Moral Sensitivity and How Could We Have Acquired It?”, workshop presentation, Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities, Goethe University, Frankfurt, Germany, April 28, 2011.

 

23.  “What is Moral Progress? How Is It Possible?”, Cluster of Excellence on the Formation of Normative Orders, Goethe University, Frankfurt, Germany, May 2, 2011.

 

24.  “Human Rights, Human Dignity, and Hypothetical Consent,” Conference on Human Dignity, Human Rights, and the Cosmopolitan Idea, Goethe University, Frankfurt, Germany, May 7, 2011.

 

 

B.  Other Presentations

 

1.  Commentator at A.P.A. Pacific Division Meetings, Colloquium on Epistemology, March 29, 1991, San Francisco, California, on a paper by James Maffie, "Realism and Relativism in Naturalized Epistemology".

 

2.  Commentator on Alexander Rueger, "The Rationality of Pursuit", Northwest Conference on Philosophy, November 8, 1991.

 

3.  Commentator at A.P.A. Pacific Division Meetings, Colloquium on Naturalized Epistemology, March 26, 1992, Portland, Oregon, on a paper by Eugene Mills, "Is Naturalized Epistemology Fundamentally Incoherent?"

 

4.  Chair, Colloquium on Observation and Evidence, A.P.A. Pacific Division Meetings, March 28, 1993, San Francisco, California.

 

5.  Commentator at A.P.A. Pacific Division Meetings, Colloquium on Moral Deliberation and Moral Dilemmas, April 1, 1994, Los Angeles, California, on a paper by Gerald W. Barnes, "Is Maximizing Rationality Morally Neutral?"

 

6.  Participant, "Working Group on the Construction and Maintenance of Trust", an interdisciplinary workshop sponsored by the Russell Sage Foundation, New York University, and the University of Washington, Feb. 25-26, 1995, in New York City.

 

7.  Participant, "Philosophical Collaborations", University of Oregon, April 7-8, 1995.

 

8.  Chair, A.P.A. Pacific Division Meetings, Colloquium on Consciousness, April 6, 1996, Seattle, Washington.

 

9.  Commentator, A.P.A. Pacific Division Meetings, Colloquium on Acceptance Theory, March 29, 1997, Berkeley, California, on a paper by Glenn Ross, “Inescapable Irrationality”.

 

10.  Commentator, A.P.A. Pacific Division Meetings, Gregory Kavka Memorial Prize Essay Session, April 1, 1999.  Commented on Elijah Millgram, "Incommensurability and Practical Reasoning".

 

11.  Commentator, A.P.A. Pacific Division Meetings, Symposium on April 2, 1999, Berkeley, California.  Commented on Dan D. Crawford, "Ultra-Strong Internalism and the Reliabilist Insight".

 

12.  Commentator, A.P.A. Pacific Division Meetings, March 30, 2002, Seattle, Washington:  "Author Meets Critics:  Alfred R. Mele, Self-Deception Unmasked".

 

13.  Wednesday University, a joint project of Seattle Arts & Lectures and the U.W. Simpson Center for the Humanities, Spring Quarter 2003.  Five sessions on "Why Human Rights Should Be Universal".

 

14.  Commentator, Northwest Philosophy Conference, October 9, 2004.  Commented on Uriah Kriegel, "The Analysis of Courage". 

 

15.  Commentator, Conference on Alien Rule, June 3, 2005, University of Washington.  Commented on Allen Buchanan, "Institutionalizing the Just War".

 

16.  Discussion of Which Rights Should Be Universal?, part of the U.W. Simpson Center for the Humanities New Books in Print Series, January 17, 2006.

 

17.  "The Evolution of a Constitutional Right to Liberty:  The development and justification of a Constitutional Right Against Government Paternalism", Bellevue Community College, June 18, 2006.

 

18.  "The Discovery of Universal Human Rights: How to Believe in Universal Human Rights Without Being a Moral Imperialist", Keynote Address for Human Rights Week, Cascadia College, Bothell, WA, January 8, 2007.

 

19.  "How to Advocate Universal Human Rights Without Being a Moral Imperialist", The Bard College Jefferson County Clemente Course, Port Hadlock, WA, April 10, 2008.

 

20.  "Eminent Domain for Intellectual Property:  Comments on Buchanan and Keohane",  Conference on Global Justice in the 21st Century, University of Washington, April 17, 2009.

 

21.  “Book Talk:  Discussion on Human Rights,” a discussion of  Human Rights and Human Well-Being,  U.W. Simpson Center for the Humanities, January 28, 2011.

 

22.  “Good News and Bad News on Obtaining Financial Support for Research in Philosophy,” invited session on “Applications for Philosophy Grants and Fellowships,” American Philosophical Association Pacific Division Meetings, Seattle, WA, April 7, 2012.