Dr James Kirkpatrick

Background

I received a DPhil in Philosophy at the University College, University of Oxford in 2019. Before that, I read for a BPhil in Philosophy at University College, University of Oxford, an MLitt in Philosophy at the Universities of St Andrews and Stirling (SASP), and a BA in Philosophy at the University of Reading.

Before joining Magdalen as a Special Lecturer in Philosophy (in conjunction with a Departmental Lectureship in Philosophy of Language at the Faculty of Philosophy, University of Oxford), I was a Fixed-Term Fellow at Somerville College, Oxford. I have also taught at St Catherine’s College, Oxford and the Linguistics Department at UCL.

Teaching

At undergraduate level, I teach Philosophy of Logic and Language, Ethics, Epistemology, Metaphysics, Philosophy of Mind, and Aesthetics, as well as General Philosophy, Logic, and Moral Philosophy.

At graduate level, I mostly teach Philosophy of Language.

Research

My research mainly focuses on the philosophy of language and its intersections in neighbouring areas. In particular, I work on the meaning of generic sentences, impersonal pronouns, definite descriptions, quantifiers, and proper names, amongst other things. I also interested in related issues in epistemology, ethics, and the philosophy of mind, as well as the philosophy and ethics of AI.

Selected Publications

• ‘Generic Excluded Middle’, forthcoming in Philosophers’ Imprint.
• ‘The Acquisition of Generics’, Mind & Language 39 (2024): 492-517.
• ‘The Dynamics of Generics’, Journal of Semantics 40 (2023): 523–548.
• ‘Generic Conjunctivits’ Linguistics & Philosophy 46 (2023): 370–428.
• ‘Indicative conditionals and epistemic luminosity’ (with Matthew Hewson) Mind 131 (2022): 231–258.