FHI is pleased to welcome a new member of staff, Dr Eric Mandelbaum, who joins us this week as James Martin Research Fellow.
Before joining the FHI, Eric received his PhD from the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill where he was an ACLS/Mellon Dissertation Fellow and a Fellow in the UNC Society of Fellows. His interests include the philosophy of mind, the philosophy of psychology, moral psychology, and cognitive science. His work has examined issues in moral psychology (particularly focusing on people's paradoxical responsibility judgments), the nature of beliefs (and 'aliefs'), and belief fixation. He has also written papers on numerical modularity, the psychology of political extremism, how the advance of neuroscience will affect the law, and John Locke's psychological theories. His most recent work revolves around concept acquisition, the performance/competence distinction in moral psychology, people’s tendency to anthropomorphize inanimate objects, and the cognitive basis of belief in god. In addition to the furtherance of these projects, Eric will be working with the FHI on matters of applied epistemology, rationality, and existential risk. He is also currently working on a book manuscript on automatic belief fixation.