John Patrick Hawthorne (born 1964) is an English

philosopher A philosopher is a person who practices or investigates philosophy. The term ''philosopher'' comes from the grc, φιλόσοφος, , translit=philosophos, meaning 'lover of wisdom'. The coining of the term has been attributed to the Greek th ...

, currently serving as Professor of Philosophy at the

Australian Catholic University Australian Catholic University (ACU) is a public university in Australia. It has seven Australian campuses and also maintains a campus in Rome. History Australian Catholic University was opened on 1 January 1991 following the amalgamatio ...

in Melbourne, and Professor of Philosophy at the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in C ...

. He is recognized as a leading contemporary contributor to

metaphysics Metaphysics is the branch of philosophy that studies the fundamental nature of reality, the first principles of being, identity and change, space and time, causality, necessity, and possibility. It includes questions about the nature of conscio ...

and

epistemology Epistemology (; ), or the theory of knowledge, is the branch of philosophy concerned with knowledge. Epistemology is considered a major subfield of philosophy, along with other major subfields such as ethics, logic, and metaphysics. Episte ...

Early life and career

Hawthorne was born on 25 May 1964 in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

, England. He earned his PhD from

Syracuse University Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York. Established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church, the university has been nonsectarian since 1920. Locate ...

, where he studied with

William Alston William Payne Alston (November 29, 1921 – September 13, 2009) was an American philosopher. He is widely considered to be one of the most important epistemologists and Philosophy of religion, philosophers of religion of the twentieth century, a ...

and Jonathan Bennett. From 2006 to 2015, he was the

Waynflete Professor of Metaphysical Philosophy The Waynflete Professorships are four professorial fellowships at the University of Oxford endowed by Magdalen College and named in honour of the college founder William of Waynflete, who had a great interest in science. These professorships are s ...

at the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

. He has also taught at the

University of New South Wales The University of New South Wales (UNSW), also known as UNSW Sydney, is a public research university based in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is one of the founding members of Group of Eight, a coalition of Australian research-intensive ...

Arizona State University Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public research university in the Phoenix metropolitan area. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, ASU is one of the largest public universities by enrollment in the ...

Rutgers University Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's ...

, and

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial Colleges, fourth-oldest ins ...

Philosophical work

Hawthorne's 2006 collection ''Metaphysical Essays'' offers original treatments of fundamental topics in

philosophy Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...

, including

identity Identity may refer to: * Identity document * Identity (philosophy) * Identity (social science) * Identity (mathematics) Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''Identity'' (1987 film), an Iranian film * ''Identity'' (2003 film), ...

ontology In metaphysics, ontology is the philosophical study of being, as well as related concepts such as existence, becoming, and reality. Ontology addresses questions like how entities are grouped into categories and which of these entities exis ...

vagueness In linguistics and philosophy, a vague predicate is one which gives rise to borderline cases. For example, the English adjective "tall" is vague since it is not clearly true or false for someone of middling height. By contrast, the word "prime" is ...

, and causation, which one reviewer called "essential reading for anyone currently engaged in analytic

". In his book ''Knowledge and Lotteries'', Hawthorne defends a view in

according to which the presence of

knowledge Knowledge can be defined as awareness of facts or as practical skills, and may also refer to familiarity with objects or situations. Knowledge of facts, also called propositional knowledge, is often defined as true belief that is distinc ...

is dependent on the subject's interests (he calls this view "Subject-Sensitive Invariantism"). Unlike

contextualism Contextualism, also known as epistemic contextualism, is a family of views in philosophy which emphasize the ''context'' in which an action, utterance, or expression occurs. Proponents of contextualism argue that, in some important respect, the a ...

, Hawthorne's view does not require that the meaning of the word "know" changes from one context of

ascription Ascription, in sociology, is a way to acquire status, along with achievement or chance."The Sociology of Gender: Theoretical Perspectives and Feminist Frameworks" in Lindsey, L. ''Gender Roles: a Sociological Perspective'', Pearson Prentice-Hall, 20 ...

to another. His view is thus a variety of invariantism. However, whether a subject has knowledge depends to a surprising extent on features of the ''subject's'' context, including practical concerns. The American philosopher

Jason Stanley Jason Stanley (born 1969) is an American philosopher who is the Jacob Urowsky Professor of Philosophy at Yale University. He is best known for his contributions to philosophy of language and epistemology, which often draw upon and influence other ...

holds a similar view.https://www.yoaavisaacs.com/uploads/6/9/2/0/69204575/ms_for_fine-tuning_fine-tuning.pdf Hawthorne has also written on

philosophy of language In analytic philosophy, philosophy of language investigates the nature of language and the relations between language, language users, and the world. Investigations may include inquiry into the nature of meaning, intentionality, reference, ...

and

philosophical logic Understood in a narrow sense, philosophical logic is the area of logic that studies the application of logical methods to philosophical problems, often in the form of extended logical systems like modal logic. Some theorists conceive philosophical ...

philosophy of religion Philosophy of religion is "the philosophical examination of the central themes and concepts involved in religious traditions". Philosophical discussions on such topics date from ancient times, and appear in the earliest known texts concerning ph ...

philosophy of mind Philosophy of mind is a branch of philosophy that studies the ontology and nature of the mind and its relationship with the body. The mind–body problem is a paradigmatic issue in philosophy of mind, although a number of other issues are addre ...

, and on

Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Gottfried Wilhelm (von) Leibniz . ( – 14 November 1716) was a German polymath active as a mathematician, philosopher, scientist and diplomat. He is one of the most prominent figures in both the history of philosophy and the history of mathema ...

Works

Books

* ''The Bounds of Possibility: Puzzles of Modal Variation'', (with Cian Dorr and Juhani Yli-Vakkuri, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2021) * ''Narrow Content'' (with Juhani Yli-Vakkuri,

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...

, 2018) * ''The Reference Book'' (with David Manley,

, 2012) * ''Relativism and Monadic Truth'' (with

Herman Cappelen Herman Wright Cappelen (born 1967) is a Norwegian philosopher. He is currently the Chair Professor of Philosophy at the University of Hong Kong. Biography Cappelen is the son of author and publisher Peder Wright Cappelen and actress Kari Simo ...

, Oxford University Press 2010) * ''Metaphysical Essays'' (

, 2006) * ''Knowledge and Lotteries'' (

, 2004) * ''Substance and Individuation in Leibniz'' (with J. A. Cover,

Cambridge University Press Cambridge University Press is the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted letters patent by Henry VIII of England, King Henry VIII in 1534, it is the oldest university press A university press is an academic publishing hou ...

2003) * ''The Grammar of Meaning: Normativity and Semantic Discourse'' (with Mark Norris Lance, Cambridge University Press, 1997)

Edited books

* ''Knowledge, Belief, and God: New Insights in Religious Epistemology'' (edited with Matthew A. Benton and Dani Rabinowitz, Oxford University Press, 2018) * ''Contemporary Debates in Metaphysics'' (edited with

Theodore Sider Theodore "Ted" Sider is an American philosopher specializing in metaphysics and philosophy of language. He is Distinguished Professor of Philosophy at Rutgers University. Family Sider is the son of theologian Ronald Sider. He is the partner of ...

and

Dean Zimmerman Dean Zimmerman may refer to: * Dean Zimmerman (philosopher) Dean W. Zimmerman is an American professor of philosophy at Rutgers University specializing in metaphysics and philosophy of religion. Education and career Zimmerman received his bach ...

, Blackwell, 2007) * ''Perceptual Experience'' (edited with

Tamar Gendler Tamar Szabó Gendler (born December 20, 1965) is an American philosopher. She is the Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences at Yale as well as the Vincent J. Scully Professor of Philosophy and a Professor of Psychology and Cognitive Sciences ...

, Oxford University Press, 2006) * ''Conceivability and Possibility'' (edited with

, Oxford University Press, 2002)

References

External links

University of Southern California Webpage
*
Google Scholar Page
1964 births 20th-century English non-fiction writers 20th-century English philosophers 20th-century essayists 21st-century British non-fiction writers 21st-century English philosophers 21st-century essayists Analytic philosophers British male essayists English essayists English logicians Epistemologists Living people Metaphysicians Ontologists Philosophers of language Philosophers of logic Philosophers of mind Philosophers of religion Philosophy academics Philosophy writers Syracuse University alumni Waynflete Professors of Metaphysical Philosophy {{reli-philo-bio-stub