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Last modified 7 Nov 09
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Philosophy Program RSSS, ANU |
Office: 4106, Coombs Building
Phone: +61 2 6125 4078
E-mail: aidan at coombs.anu.edu.au
Snail-mail: Philosophy Program
Research School of Social Sciences
The Australian National University
Canberra ACT 0200
I came to the ANU in March 2006 from the University of Queensland where I studied mathematics and philosophy. Here at the ANU, I am working on the philosophical foundations of probability theory with Alan Hájek. The rest of my advisory panel includes David Chalmers and Mark Colyvan. My other main academic interests are in: philosophy of science, formal epistemology, philosophy of mathematics, decision/game/social choice theory, and mathematics. At the moment I am specifically interested in the relationship between modality and probability theory, interpretations of probability used in evolutionary theory and statistical mechanics, and whether or not there are non-trivial objective probabilities in a deterministic universe.
You can find a blog that I co-author with Weng Hong Tang and Jens Christian Bjerring here.
Publications:
'The Explanatory Power of Phase Spaces', Philosophia Mathematica (3), Vol. 16 (2008). (Co-author: Mark Colyvan)
'Philosophy of Probability', invited contribution to F. Allhoff (ed.), Philosophy of the Special Sciences. (forthcoming)
Work in Progress:
'Gruesome Simplicity: A Guide to Truth' (Draft down for revision.)
'Probability in Evolutionary Theory'
Presentations:
Aug '07: ‘Gruesome Simplicity---A Problem for Akaikean Methodology’, presented at the 13th International Congress for Logic, Methodology and Philosophy of Science: Tsinghua University, Beijing.
July '07: ‘Probability in Evolutionary Theory’, International Society for the History, Philosophy and Social Studies of Biology: University of Exeter.
July '07: ‘Probability in Evolutionary Theory’, ANU Philosophy Society: ANU.
July '07: ‘Probability in Evolutionary Theory’, Australasian Association of Philosophy Conference: University of New England.
Jun '07: ‘Gruesome Simplicity: A Guide to Truth’, presented at the ANU-Sydney-Kyoto Probability Workshop: University of Sydney.
Jun '07: ‘Gruesome Simplicity---A Problem for Akaikean Methodology’, presented at the 4th Annual Formal Epistemology Workshop: Carnegie Mellon University.
Feb '07: ‘Gruesome Simplicity: A Guide to Truth’, ANU Philosophy Society: ANU
Dec '06: ‘Simplicity and Probability’, ANU Philosophy Society: ANU (6 Month Review).
Nov '06: ‘Size Matters’, ANU Graduate Conference: Kioloa.
Nov '06: ‘Populations and Particles’, Philosophy of Biology Postgraduate Workshop: Kioloa.
Sep '06: ‘Bertrand's Paradox is a Paradox for You Too’, University of New England Rationality and Risk conference: Coffs Harbour.
Sep '06: ‘Simplicity, Symmetry, and Similarity’, Australian Postgraduate Conference: University of Tasmania.
Jun '06: ‘Blurry Modal Vision: Possibility Through Eyes of Probabilists’, Australasian Association of Philosophy Conference: ANU.
Apr '06: ‘Probability, Possibility, and Propositions’, ANU Graduate Conference: Kioloa.
Teaching:
S2, '07: MATH1014 ‘Mathematics and its Applications 2’ (Tutor, ANU).
S1, '07: MATH1007 ‘The Poetry of the Universe’ (Tutor, ANU).
S1, '07: PHIL1004 ‘Fundamental Ideas in Philosophy’ (Tutor, ANU).
S1, '07: MATH1013 ‘Mathematics and its Applications 1’ (Tutor, ANU).
S2, '06: ANU Mathematics Drop-In Centre (Tutor, ANU).
S2, '06: MATH1014 ‘Mathematics and its Applications 2’ (Tutor, ANU).
S1, '06: MATH1013 ‘Mathematics and its Applications 1’ (Tutor, ANU).
S2, '05: MATH1050 ‘Calculus and Linear Algebra’ (Tutor, UQ).
S2, '05: MATH1052 ‘Multivariate Calculus, Ordinary Differential Equations, and Mathematical Programming with MATLAB’ (Tutor, UQ).
S2, '05: MATH1052 ‘Multivariate Calculus, Ordinary Differential Equations, and Mathematical Programming with MATLAB’ (Exam Invigilator, UQ).