Alex Worsnip
@aworsnip.bsky.social
Professor of Philosophy and Director of the Applied Epistemology Project at UNC Chapel Hill. Current work: rationality; political epistemology. Also baseball (Orioles), music nerd.
Really excited about the lineup for this. Check out the full thread for details and for how to apply to be a respondent.
We're delighted to announce the fourth (and final!) Applied Epistemology Project workshop, on Applied Epistemology in Times of Political Crisis, here at UNC on March 6-7, 2025. (1/3)
September 22, 2025 at 3:33 PM
Really excited about the lineup for this. Check out the full thread for details and for how to apply to be a respondent.
Reposted by Alex Worsnip
AEP research getting out there! 👏👏👏
Honored to co-present with Aditi Ahuja (her first academic conference presentation and she did great!) at the Humility in Inquiry conference. We presented data on factors affecting people’s willingness to defer to experts.
September 20, 2025 at 6:59 PM
AEP research getting out there! 👏👏👏
Reposted by Alex Worsnip
22 new papers up at @philimprint.bsky.social, including papers by @thisishannahkim.bsky.social, @catsaintcroix.bsky.social, @wiglet1981.bsky.social & @jweisber.bsky.social, @dellsen.bsky.social, @bartstreumer.bsky.social, and @aworsnip.bsky.social.
journals.publishing.umich.edu/phimp/
journals.publishing.umich.edu/phimp/
Philosophers' Imprint
journals.publishing.umich.edu
August 14, 2025 at 1:40 PM
22 new papers up at @philimprint.bsky.social, including papers by @thisishannahkim.bsky.social, @catsaintcroix.bsky.social, @wiglet1981.bsky.social & @jweisber.bsky.social, @dellsen.bsky.social, @bartstreumer.bsky.social, and @aworsnip.bsky.social.
journals.publishing.umich.edu/phimp/
journals.publishing.umich.edu/phimp/
(Kinda) new paper, with the fab Z Quanbeck, finally out @ Phil Imprint! We defend a combo of epistemic permissivism + limited pragmatism re reasons for belief. This preserves some features of pragmatic encroachment views while avoiding their drawbacks.
journals.publishing.umich.edu/phimp/articl...
journals.publishing.umich.edu/phimp/articl...
A Permissivist Alternative to Encroachment
As a slew of recent work in epistemology has brought out, there are a range of cases where there's a strong temptation to say that prudential and (especially) moral considerations affect what we ought...
journals.publishing.umich.edu
August 14, 2025 at 1:26 PM
(Kinda) new paper, with the fab Z Quanbeck, finally out @ Phil Imprint! We defend a combo of epistemic permissivism + limited pragmatism re reasons for belief. This preserves some features of pragmatic encroachment views while avoiding their drawbacks.
journals.publishing.umich.edu/phimp/articl...
journals.publishing.umich.edu/phimp/articl...
For one year only, the 8th Chapel Hill Normativity Workshop will (paradoxically) be in Montreal! Keynote by Jane Friedman plus 7 talks selected via open CFA. As usual, accepted papers eligible for special issue of Phil Studies. Submissions due Oct 15th; more info at normativity.web.unc.edu
Chapel Hill Normativity Workshop
normativity.web.unc.edu
July 1, 2025 at 2:58 PM
For one year only, the 8th Chapel Hill Normativity Workshop will (paradoxically) be in Montreal! Keynote by Jane Friedman plus 7 talks selected via open CFA. As usual, accepted papers eligible for special issue of Phil Studies. Submissions due Oct 15th; more info at normativity.web.unc.edu
Reposted by Alex Worsnip
Very excited to share our third "explainer video". (Refresher: these are ~5 min animations introducing applied epistemology concepts for a wide audience.) This one's on epist of free speech, featuring a script by Rob Simpson! Please share & consider using in teaching!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMgb...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMgb...
[AEP Explainers] The Epistemology of Free Speech (with Robert Simpson)
YouTube video by PPE at UNC
www.youtube.com
June 16, 2025 at 1:55 PM
Very excited to share our third "explainer video". (Refresher: these are ~5 min animations introducing applied epistemology concepts for a wide audience.) This one's on epist of free speech, featuring a script by Rob Simpson! Please share & consider using in teaching!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMgb...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMgb...
Reposted by Alex Worsnip
Reminder: tomorrow is the deadline to apply for this! It's a chance to get expert instruction in public writing on applied epistemology, feedback from peers, and to enjoy an in-person workshop here at UNC
Interested in writing applied epistemology for a public-facing audience? Apply to be part of our new working group! It'll meet four times over the summer, followed by a capstone in-person event here at UNC in September facilitated by Eleanor Gordon-Smith. Details here:
philevents.org/event/show/1...
philevents.org/event/show/1...
April 14, 2025 at 5:39 PM
Reminder: tomorrow is the deadline to apply for this! It's a chance to get expert instruction in public writing on applied epistemology, feedback from peers, and to enjoy an in-person workshop here at UNC
Reposted by Alex Worsnip
🥁🎉It's time again! My colleague Thomas Grundmann is organising the Cologne Summer School in Philosophy. This year's star is @aworsnip.bsky.social (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill). 🎊📢
You can find more information on the following website: cssip.uni-koeln.de
Spread the word and repost!
You can find more information on the following website: cssip.uni-koeln.de
Spread the word and repost!
March 24, 2025 at 12:01 PM
🥁🎉It's time again! My colleague Thomas Grundmann is organising the Cologne Summer School in Philosophy. This year's star is @aworsnip.bsky.social (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill). 🎊📢
You can find more information on the following website: cssip.uni-koeln.de
Spread the word and repost!
You can find more information on the following website: cssip.uni-koeln.de
Spread the word and repost!
The exciting AEP announcements just keep on coming! This is a really cool initiative being spearheaded by our summer 2025 RA Devin Lane--anyone interested in writing applied epistemology for a public audience should apply!
Interested in writing applied epistemology for a public-facing audience? Apply to be part of our new working group! It'll meet four times over the summer, followed by a capstone in-person event here at UNC in September facilitated by Eleanor Gordon-Smith. Details here:
philevents.org/event/show/1...
philevents.org/event/show/1...
March 19, 2025 at 4:26 PM
The exciting AEP announcements just keep on coming! This is a really cool initiative being spearheaded by our summer 2025 RA Devin Lane--anyone interested in writing applied epistemology for a public audience should apply!
These explainer videos (produced and animated by the fantastic Ripley Stroud) are among my favorite things we're doing at the @unc-aep.bsky.social. The second one just came out, featuring Kevin Dorst on polarization. Please check it out and share widely!
Very excited to share our second "explainer video". (Refresher: these are ~5 min animations introducing applied epistemology concepts for a wide audience.) This one's on polarization, featuring a script by Kevin Dorst! Please share, consider using in teaching, etc!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=h9nd...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=h9nd...
[AEP Explainers] Political Polarization (with Kevin Dorst)
YouTube video by PPE at UNC
www.youtube.com
March 19, 2025 at 1:09 PM
These explainer videos (produced and animated by the fantastic Ripley Stroud) are among my favorite things we're doing at the @unc-aep.bsky.social. The second one just came out, featuring Kevin Dorst on polarization. Please check it out and share widely!
What a gigantic surprise--the "civil discourse" folks have been having a little trouble with their civil discourse
www.insidehighered.com/news/faculty...
www.insidehighered.com/news/faculty...
Resignations, Disagreements With Dean Roil UNC Civics School
UNC professors who supported the initiative when others derided it are resigning and denouncing its leader. It’s an ironic turn for a civil discourse school.
www.insidehighered.com
March 18, 2025 at 4:58 PM
What a gigantic surprise--the "civil discourse" folks have been having a little trouble with their civil discourse
www.insidehighered.com/news/faculty...
www.insidehighered.com/news/faculty...
Reposted by Alex Worsnip
In support of #philosophymatters, this fortnight I'll be highlighting things that don't matter that are not philosophy. First up: layovers.
March 18, 2025 at 1:09 PM
In support of #philosophymatters, this fortnight I'll be highlighting things that don't matter that are not philosophy. First up: layovers.
Reposted by Alex Worsnip
Fascinating new post on our blog by Emily McWilliams, discussing the denial and undertreatment of women's pain in medical procedures through the lens of applied epistemological work on testimonial injustice, manufactured ignorance, and motivated reasoning:
aep.unc.edu/2025/03/17/t...
aep.unc.edu/2025/03/17/t...
The Retrievals and the Routine: Systematic Erasure of Women’s Pain | The Applied Epistemology Project @ UNC
aep.unc.edu
March 17, 2025 at 2:37 PM
Fascinating new post on our blog by Emily McWilliams, discussing the denial and undertreatment of women's pain in medical procedures through the lens of applied epistemological work on testimonial injustice, manufactured ignorance, and motivated reasoning:
aep.unc.edu/2025/03/17/t...
aep.unc.edu/2025/03/17/t...
Reposted by Alex Worsnip
One columnist, a professional pundit, is living in a paranoid delusion. The other, a sociologist, is living in America.
March 15, 2025 at 12:01 PM
One columnist, a professional pundit, is living in a paranoid delusion. The other, a sociologist, is living in America.
Reposted by Alex Worsnip
Is the unwillingness of deferring to experts really a serious societal pathology? Review by @aworsnip.bsky.social et al explores under exactly what conditions we ought to defer to experts, and under what conditions people are willing to defer to experts:
buff.ly/NXuDVSu
buff.ly/NXuDVSu
March 14, 2025 at 9:18 AM
Is the unwillingness of deferring to experts really a serious societal pathology? Review by @aworsnip.bsky.social et al explores under exactly what conditions we ought to defer to experts, and under what conditions people are willing to defer to experts:
buff.ly/NXuDVSu
buff.ly/NXuDVSu
Reposted by Alex Worsnip
New Paper in Philosophical Psychology:
Trust in experts is low. Why? How bad is it? And what should we do? To answer these questions, we reviewed philosophy (when *ought* we defer to the experts) and psychology (when *do* people defer to the experts).
Link in comments!
Trust in experts is low. Why? How bad is it? And what should we do? To answer these questions, we reviewed philosophy (when *ought* we defer to the experts) and psychology (when *do* people defer to the experts).
Link in comments!
March 12, 2025 at 2:47 PM
New Paper in Philosophical Psychology:
Trust in experts is low. Why? How bad is it? And what should we do? To answer these questions, we reviewed philosophy (when *ought* we defer to the experts) and psychology (when *do* people defer to the experts).
Link in comments!
Trust in experts is low. Why? How bad is it? And what should we do? To answer these questions, we reviewed philosophy (when *ought* we defer to the experts) and psychology (when *do* people defer to the experts).
Link in comments!
Speedy work by @journalphp.bsky.social and their publishers--the published version of the paper is now available, open access (thanks to our grant!), here:
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
March 11, 2025 at 8:36 PM
Speedy work by @journalphp.bsky.social and their publishers--the published version of the paper is now available, open access (thanks to our grant!), here:
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
Reposted by Alex Worsnip
The disease of the American political class is the inability to see, describe, or respond what is happening, when doing so would conflict with the speech norms of the American political class
March 4, 2025 at 1:49 PM
The disease of the American political class is the inability to see, describe, or respond what is happening, when doing so would conflict with the speech norms of the American political class
I wrote a blog post about Samuel Alito as a case study in the ethics of suspicion and psychologizing
blogs.cardiff.ac.uk/openfordebat...
blogs.cardiff.ac.uk/openfordebat...
Samuel Alito and the Ethics of Suspicion
Exploring the changing nature of public debate
blogs.cardiff.ac.uk
March 3, 2025 at 3:39 PM
I wrote a blog post about Samuel Alito as a case study in the ethics of suspicion and psychologizing
blogs.cardiff.ac.uk/openfordebat...
blogs.cardiff.ac.uk/openfordebat...
First (soon to be) published paper to come out of a fun collaborative project we're doing at UNC with a group of philosophers and psychologists on deference to experts!
Mistrust in experts is high. So, under what conditions should people defer to experts and when do they actually do so? We synthesized the philosophy and psychology literatures on deference to experts in this preprint, soon to be published in Philosophical Psychology. (1/2) https://buff.ly/3ERGzqq
February 26, 2025 at 7:26 PM
First (soon to be) published paper to come out of a fun collaborative project we're doing at UNC with a group of philosophers and psychologists on deference to experts!
It's this kind of thing that gives me hope that we live in a simulation designed by a massive joker and all the other crap that's going on is just a part of that too
regret to inform everyone this is a real guy who could be pope
February 23, 2025 at 5:16 PM
It's this kind of thing that gives me hope that we live in a simulation designed by a massive joker and all the other crap that's going on is just a part of that too
Reposted by Alex Worsnip
Interesting to see that US safety standards focus on what happens to people inside the car on collision, whereas in the UK there’s a much greater focus on pedestrian safety and that of people in the cars you collide with.
Cyber truck seized in UK. It doesn't meet standards for driving in the country & is not permitted on the streets.
www.forbes.com/sites/peterl...
www.forbes.com/sites/peterl...
Tesla Cybertruck Banned And Seized By Police In The U.K.
The Cybertruck has a cult following in the U.S., but safety issues such as excessive size and acceleration and sharp edges make the Tesla illegal on U.K. roads.
www.forbes.com
February 21, 2025 at 4:17 PM
Interesting to see that US safety standards focus on what happens to people inside the car on collision, whereas in the UK there’s a much greater focus on pedestrian safety and that of people in the cars you collide with.
I'm honored to be the guest lecturer at this year's Cologne Summer School in Philosophy, where I'll be delivering five lectures (plus a public lecture) on my current work in applied epistemology. (1/2)
cssip.uni-koeln.de
cssip.uni-koeln.de
Cologne Summer School in Philosophy
cssip.uni-koeln.de
February 21, 2025 at 3:01 PM
I'm honored to be the guest lecturer at this year's Cologne Summer School in Philosophy, where I'll be delivering five lectures (plus a public lecture) on my current work in applied epistemology. (1/2)
cssip.uni-koeln.de
cssip.uni-koeln.de
Genuinely never thought I'd see the day when Mitch McConnell was described by other Republicans as a "RINO". *Mitch McConnell* as "Republican in Name Only".
Because he--what?--opposed like 1% of Trump's agenda and appointments?
Because he--what?--opposed like 1% of Trump's agenda and appointments?
February 20, 2025 at 11:24 PM
Genuinely never thought I'd see the day when Mitch McConnell was described by other Republicans as a "RINO". *Mitch McConnell* as "Republican in Name Only".
Because he--what?--opposed like 1% of Trump's agenda and appointments?
Because he--what?--opposed like 1% of Trump's agenda and appointments?