USC College School of Philosophy

Kenneth Easwaran

Assistant Professor of Philosophy

Contact Information
Office: MHP 113
Phone: (213) 740-4085
E-mail: easwaran@usc.edu

LINKS
Curriculum Vitae

Education

B.A. Music and Philosophy, Stanford University, 6/2002
B.S. Mathematics, Stanford University, 6/2002
Ph.D. Logic and the Methodology of Science, UC Berkeley, 5/2008

Postdoctoral Training

Research Fellow, Australian National University, Fall 2008

Description of Research

Summary Statement of Research Interests

Kenny Easwaran works in the areas of epistemology and the philosophy of mathematics. His work in epistemology focuses on the mathematical notions of probability theory, and how they can help clarify the pre-theoretic notions of belief, justification, knowledge, and the like. In particular, his research has focused on cases involving probability zero, and what they can show about the notions of conditional and unconditional probability in other cases. In the philosophy of mathematics he is particularly interested in set theory and its foundations. In particular, he has worked on the question of what role axioms play in mathematical reasoning, and how they can serve a useful epistemological role despite the ongoing debates about the ontological questions of mathematics (whether abstract objects exist, and whether they are the right sort of thing for us to be able to come to have knowledge about). Additionally, he is interested in the role that the social practices of mathematics play in the development of mathematical knowledge, and the constraints they put on the notions of proof that are acceptable to mathematicians.

Research Specialties

Philosophy of Mathematics, Mathematical Logic, Formal Epistemology

Publications

Book Review

Easwaran, K. (2009). Review of Representation, Evidence, and Justification: Themes from Suppes. Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews. Full text URL
Easwaran, K. (2008). Review of Tracking Reason: Proof, Consequence, and Truth, by Jody Azzouni. The Philosophical Review.
Easwaran, K. (2007). Review of Ambiguity and Logic, by Frederic Schick. Mind. pp. 478-482.

Journal Article

Easwaran, K. (2009). Probabilistic Proofs and Transferability. Philosophia Mathematica. Vol. 17 (3), pp. 341-362.
Colyvan, M., Easwaran, K. (2008). Mathematical and Physical Continuity. Australasian Journal of Logic. Vol. 6, pp. 87-93.
Easwaran, K. (2008). Strong and Weak Expectations. Mind. Vol. 117, pp. 633-641.
Easwaran, K. (2008). The Role of Axioms in Mathematics. Erkenntnis. Vol. 68 (3)