Yasha Sapir
Email: jsapir [at] usc [dot] edu
I'm a philosophy graduate student at the University of Southern California. My main research interests are in epistemology, decision theory, philosophical logic, philosophy of language, and social philosophy.
Before USC, I was at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. And before that I was at Reed.
Teaching
Reasoning and Argument I: Propositional Logic. [Syllabus]
Reasoning and Argument II: Probability and Decision Theory. [Syllabus]
Cherry-picked praise from students.
Publications
Inquiry and deception (with Brian Haas) [preprint]
Analysis (Forthcoming).
What is it to be deceived? Brian and I argue that victims of deception settle on a false answer to a question. Want to avoid being duped? Our proposal provides an answer: inquire further, don't settle.
Hedging and the ignorance norm on inquiry (with Peter van Elswyk) [preprint]
Synthese (2021).
Peter and I defend the ignorance norm, the view that interrogative attitudes (like wonder and curiosity) directed at a question are never compatible with knowledge of the question’s answer. We further argue that the ignorance norm is exhaustive: all epistemic positions not ruled out by the ignorance norm (like mere belief) directed at the answer to a question are compatible with having an interrogative attitude towards that question.
Works in Progress
A paper on the practical value of concepts (with June Lee-Rogers).
A paper on when to inquire when you're not sure what you believe.
A paper on which update rules are optimal in settings where agents are unsure of what their priors are.
A paper on why vague information can lead to pyramid-shaped posteriors.
A paper on whether ignorance can make someone who would have been complicit not complicit.
A paper on complicity, influence, and silence.