Research project | Agency, Rationality, and Epistemic Defeat

Project

Agency, Rationality, and Epistemic Defeat

01/02/2021–31/10/2025

Funded by .

Collaboration with University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna.

ARED is an interdispiclinary project that aims to bring philosophy and cognitive science in dialogue by developing a characterization of epistemic agency that applies to all putative epistemic agents: adult humans, infants, animals and idealized subjects. The project will involve the design and execution of experiments aimed at testing reflective abilities of preverbal children, pigs, and dogs. The experiments will be executed in cooperation with Dr. Eva Rafetseder (Psychology, Stirling), and Dr. Zsofia Viranyi (Comparative Cognition, University of Vetrinary Medicine, Vienna).

Total award value ?1,020,296.34

People (3)

Dr Giacomo Melis

Future Leadership Fellowship Researcher, Philosophy

Dr Eva Rafetseder

Associate Professor, Psychology

Dr Kresimir Durdevic

Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Philosophy

Outputs (5)

Article

Epistemic Rationality Begins Unreflectively

Melis G & Blakey K (2025) Epistemic Rationality Begins Unreflectively. Erkenntnis. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10670-025-00977-x

Article

Children consider others’ need and reputation in costly sharing decisions

Blakey KH (2025) Children consider others’ need and reputation in costly sharing decisions. Scientific Reports, 15, Art. No.: 7103. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-91648-y

Article

Are humans the only rational animals?

Melis G & Monsó S (2023) Are humans the only rational animals?. Philosophical Quarterly. https://doi.org/10.1093/pq/pqad090

Article

Normative Defeaters and the Alleged Impossibility of Mere Animal Knowledge for Reflective Subjects

Melis G (2023) Normative Defeaters and the Alleged Impossibility of Mere Animal Knowledge for Reflective Subjects. Philosophia. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11406-023-00658-5

Article

Children transition from simple associations to explicitly reasoned social learning strategies between age four and eight

Blakey KH, Renner E, Atkinson M, Rafetseder E & Caldwell CA (2022) Children transition from simple associations to explicitly reasoned social learning strategies between age four and eight. Scientific Reports, 12 (1), Art. No.: 5045. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-09092-1

果冻传媒

Agency, Rationality, and Epistemic Defeat

People (3)

Outputs (5)

Research programmes

Research themes