About Me
I am a postdoctoral fellow in the philosophy department at the University of California, San Diego – working under Eric Watkins. I recently received my Ph.D. from the philosophy department at Yale University, studying under Michael Della Rocca, and was an exchange scholar for two years at the University of California, Berkeley, studying under Shamik Dasgupta.
My dissertation primarily concerns foundational metaphysics, and the way in which developments in metaphysics influence other philosophical debates. In particular, I discuss the abundance of real definitions, and the way in which merely partial definition sheds light on an unexamined position concerning the analysis of knowledge.
Recently, I have begun to address truth-maker semantics. I argue that generalized identities – sentences of the form ‘To be F is to be G’ – ought to be understood in terms of exact truth-maker semantics. Currently, I am writing two papers that expand upon this idea. In the first, I discuss and motivate two conceptions of physicalism in terms of truth-maker semantics, and in the other I argue that a version of the epistemic safety principle in terms of truth-makers fares better than purely modal characterizations.
Other than studying philosophy, I enjoy hiking, cooking, traveling and listening to classical music. If you would like to contact elgin.samuel@gmail.com. I always appreciate comments and feedback on my work.
My CV is accessible here
Publications
Physicalism and the Identity of Identity Theories (Erkenntnis)
Merely Partial Definition and the Analysis of Knowledge (Synthese):
On Question-Begging and Analytic Content (Synthese):
The Unreliability of Foreseeable Consequences: a Return to the Epistemic Objection (Ethical Theory and Moral Practice):
Works in Progress
Counterfactual Logic and the Necessity of Mathematics
Concerning the Levels of the Empirical Sciences
Teaching
