Joshua Schechter

Joshua Schechter is Professor of Philosophy and Chair of the Philosophy Department at Brown University. He received his PhD from New York University in 2006 and has taught at Brown since 2005. His academic journey began with an A.B. in mathematics from Princeton University in 1998. Schechter maintains an active research profile across multiple philosophical domains, with significant contributions to epistemology, metaethics, and the philosophy of logic.

His research primarily focuses on the epistemology of logic and inferential reasoning, examining how we justify basic logical beliefs and inferential practices. He has developed accounts addressing the reliability challenge for logic, exploring whether evolutionary explanations can account for our reliability about logical truths. His work extends to the epistemology of moral belief, examining difficult cases where moral justification becomes problematic, and to general issues in epistemology concerning the a priori/a posteriori distinction and the nature of epistemic justification.

Schechter's publications reveal a consistent engagement with foundational issues in philosophical methodology. His recent work shows increasing sophistication in addressing the relationship between logical validity and epistemic justification, as well as expanding his focus to include emotional and motivational states within epistemological frameworks. The pattern across his publications demonstrates a deepening exploration of how different mental states relate to epistemic norms and justification.

• George A. and Eliza Gardner Howard Foundation Fellowship (2019)
• External Faculty Fellowship, University of Connecticut Humanities Institute (2015-16)
• NEH Summer Stipend (2009)
• Visiting Fellowship, New College, Oxford University (Spring 2009)
• Henry Merritt Wriston Fellowship (2008-2009)

Professor Schechter regularly teaches undergraduate courses in epistemology, logic at all levels, paradoxes, philosophy of mathematics, and twentieth-century analytic philosophy. His graduate seminars cover specialized topics including the nature of logic, metaphysics and epistemology of modality, rationality, skepticism, and moral epistemology. His teaching reflects his research interests while maintaining a broad coverage of philosophical methodology and history.