Professor Emeritus
Fields of Interest
Biography
Ph.D. from Harvard University, 1976
CV (163.22 KB)Professor Talbott has taught and has published articles in epistemology, and moral and political philosophy, including the philosophy of human rights, rational choice theory, and the philosophy of law. Bill wrote his dissertation on reliabilist epistemology (The Reliability of the Cognitive Mechanism, Garland Publishing, 1990). He was the author of two books in the philosophy of human rights: Which Rights Should Be Universal? (Oxford, 2005), the Korean translation of which was named Korean Human Rights Book of the year in 2011, and Human Rights and Human Well-Being (Oxford 2010). His new book, Learning From Our Mistakes: Epistemology for the Real World, was published by Oxford in September 2021.
Research
Selected Research
- Talbott, William J. “Is Epistemic Circularity a Fallacy?” Philosophical Studies (June 2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11098-019-01310-3.
- Talbott, William J. “A New Reliability Defeater for Evolutionary Naturalism.” Philosophy and Phenomenological Research 93 (2016): 538-564. doi: 10.1111/phpr.12338.
- William J. Talbott. “A Non-Probabilist Principle of Higher-Order Reasoning.” Synthèse 193 (2015): 3099-3145. DOI: 10.1007/s11229-015-0922-y. This article can now be accessed online for no charge at: https://rdcu.be/6rSp
- Talbott, William J. “How Could A “Blind” Evolutionary Process Have Made Human Moral Beliefs Sensitive to Strongly Universal, Objective Moral Standards?” Biology & Philosophy 29 (July 2014): 1-18.
- Talbott, William J. “Human Rights, Human Dignity, and Hypothetical Consent.” In Human Rights, Human Dignity, and Cosmopolitan Ideals, edited by Matthias Lutz-Bachmann and Amos Nascimento, 25-44. Burlington, Vermont: Ashgate, 2014.
- Talbott, William, "Bayesian Epistemology", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Fall 2013 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.). http://plato.stanford.edu/archives/fall2013/entries/epistemology-bayesian/
- Talbott, William J. Human Rights and Human Well-Being. New York: Oxford University Press, 2010.
- Talbott, William J. Which Rights Should Be Universal? New York: Oxford University Press, 2005.
- Talbott, William J.The Reliability of the Cognitive Mechanism: A Mechanist Account of Empirical Justification. New York: Garland Publishing, 1990. Reprint 2015: London: Routledge.
- Learning from Our Mistakes: Epistemology for the Real World (forthcoming Sept. 2021, Oxford University Press).
Courses Taught
Spring 2021
Summer 2018 A-term
Summer 2017 A-term
Winter 2017
Autumn 2016
Summer 2016 A-term
Spring 2016
Summer 2015 A-term
Summer 2014 Full-term
Winter 2014
Autumn 2013
Summer 2013 A-term
Winter 2013
Related News
Related News
- Professor Bill Talbott reflects on a career of practical inquiry - March 28, 2022
- Faculty Summer Reading Recommendations 2021 - June 14, 2021
- William Talbott gave keynote address at PLATO WA - March 23, 2021
- Faculty Summer Reading Recommendations 2020 - June 25, 2020
- Faculty Summer Reading Recommendations 2019 - July 14, 2019
- Faculty Summer Reading Recommendations 2018 - June 26, 2018
- Register for the Epistemology for the Real World: Navigating in an Archipelago of Alt-Epistemology and Alt-Truth conference - December 11, 2017
- Ethics & Policy: 200 Days into the Trump Administration Workshop - September 18, 2017
- Awards Reception 2017 - June 21, 2017
- Civil Disobedience - #philosophyresponds: Conversations After the Election - March 23, 2017
- Hate Speech and Slurs - #philosophyresponds: Conversations After the Election - January 30, 2017
- #philosophy responds: Conversations After the Election - January 17, 2017
- Immigration, Toleration, and Human Rights Conference - November 18, 2016
- Ronald Moore and Lynn Hankinson Nelson's Retirement Celebration - July 11, 2016
- Bill Talbott Selected as Joff Hanauer Honors Professor in Western Civilization - July 5, 2016
- UW Philosophers Talk About the Migration Crisis - December 15, 2015
- UW Philosophy Series on Migration Crisis: Human Rights - Professor Bill Talbott - Podcast - October 15, 2015
- Newsletter Spring 2015 From the Chair - March 31, 2015
- Newsletter Fall 2014 Awards and Achievements - February 6, 2015
- Awards and Achievements 2012 - April 1, 2014
- Newsletter Fall 2011 Awards and Achievements Faculty - March 31, 2014
- Newsletter Fall 2011 Bill Talbott's Distinguished Teaching Award - March 27, 2014
- Newsletter Winter 2012 Bill Talbott: Human Rights Book Award - March 13, 2014
- Philosophy Professor Bill Talbott chosen for prestigious UW's 2011 Distinguished Teachers Award! - August 7, 2012