Postdoc Positions in Epistemology and Philosophy of Mind. We are seeking highly motivated Postdoctoral Research fellows to work in the project "Knowledge, metacognition and modes of justification", at Institut Jean-Nicod (EHESS, ENS, CNRS), Paris. The aim of this project is to unravel the relations between metacognition, viewed as a set of normative dispositions used to evaluate and predict the cognitive adequacy of one’s mental states, and the various prima facie justifications or entitlements we use in fixing our true beliefs and conduct our epistemic inquiries.

Post-doc positions:Qualifications: The candidates must have a PhD (or equivalent) in philosophy and a strong interest in the contemporary debates in epistemology and the philosophy of mind.

Job Profile 1) : Knowledge, inquiry and modes of justification. Recent work in epistemology has moved away from the classical evidentialist framework, and has paid more attention to the dynamical features of belief revision and to the agent-centered aspects of justification. One aim of the project is to explore how knowledge might be viewed as inquiry and knowers as agents implementing methods of justification in the course of their epistemic evaluations.
The postdoctoral student will be expected to address such problems as : Should epistemic norms be viewed as obligations, hypothetical imperatives, or entitlements? What are the relations between various forms of entitlement, justification and normativity? What are the benefits of viewing knowledge as inquiry along pragmatist lines? Can we make sense of a “feeling of knowing” or “sentiment of rationality”? Can we account for a normative approach to epistemology within a naturalistic framework?

Job Profile 2) : Metacognition and normativity. Metacognition refers to the cognitive control and monitoring of “first-order” cognitive processes for perception, action, memory, reasoning or emoting. Metacognitive self-evaluation seems at least prima facie normative in the sense that metacognitive interventions track truth, adequacy, coherence, etc. Given that some non-linguistic animals present metacognitive abilities, some forms of self-evaluation do not require the grasp of mental concepts. Such forms provide a model for implicit critical reasoning. A new philosophical goal is to explore the semantic structure and the epistemological status of these implicit, non-conceptual forms of normative appraisals.
The postdoctoral student will take part in research at the intersection between philosophy of mind and epistemology, and will be expected to address related problems such as : What are the relations between epistemic and metacognitive norms ? Can explicit and implicit norms interact ? Can they contradict each other ? Are norms associated with metacognitive monitoring and control of a different nature? What is the specificity of concept-related norms?

Starting date for both positions : Preferably October 1, 2009, but extensible to January 1, 2010. Total duration for each position : 24 months. Net salary : 1902 euros per month.
Closing date for applications : April 10th, 2009. Interested candidates are encouraged to get in touch at their earliest convenience with: Claudine Tiercelin ctiercelin@gmail.com (postdoc 1) or Joëlle Proust jproust@ehess.fr (postdoc 2).

Please include the following documents in your application: CV, list of publications, names and contact details of two personal references


Joëlle Proust
Institut Jean-Nicod (EHESS-ENS)
UMR CNRS 8129
Ecole Normale Supérieure
Pavillon Jardin
29, rue d'Ulm
F-75005 Paris
Tel +33144322668
Fax +33144322699
http://joelleproust.hautetfort.com

This is a great opportunity to work under directors very much engaged both in virtue epistemology and metacognition! Deadline April 10.