Amie Thomasson

Amie Thomasson
Name	Amie Thomasson
Birth date	1979
Birth place	United States
Nationality	American
Alma mater	University of Pittsburgh, University of Miami
Occupation	Philosopher
Institutions	Duke University, University of Miami, Tulane University, University of Pennsylvania, Australian National University, University of Auckland
Notable works	Fiction and Metaphysics; Ontology Made Easy

Amie Thomasson is an American philosopher known for contributions to metaphysics, ontology, philosophy of mind, and philosophy of art. She works at the intersection of analytic metaphysics and philosophy of language, engaging with debates in metaphysics, philosophy of mind, and aesthetics while interacting with figures associated with analytic philosophy, ordinary language philosophy, and continental philosophy. Her work addresses questions about existence, properties, fictional entities, and the ontological commitments of everyday discourse.

Early life and education

Thomasson studied under philosophers linked to institutions such as the University of Miami and the University of Pittsburgh, receiving degrees that connected her to scholars from Princeton University, Oxford University, Harvard University, and Yale University. During formative years she engaged with texts from thinkers associated with G. E. Moore, Ludwig Wittgenstein, Bertrand Russell, Willard Van Orman Quine, and Saul Kripke, and participated in seminars alongside faculty from Rutgers University, Columbia University, and Stanford University. Her dissertation work involved debates traced through works by David Lewis, Peter Strawson, E. J. Lowe, Graham Priest, and Kit Fine.

Philosophical career and positions

Thomasson defends a form of easy ontology influenced by the tradition of deflationism and the programmatic aims of philosophers such as Hilary Putnam, Michael Dummett, John Searle, Donald Davidson, and Denyse O'Leary. She advances positions concerning ontological parsimony in dialogue with theorists at New York University, University of Oxford, King's College London, and University of Cambridge, while critiquing accounts associated with neo-Kantianism and certain readings of phenomenology. Her views intersect with debates involving metametaphysics discussed by scholars at Australian National University, University of St Andrews, University of Edinburgh, and Brown University. She engages rivals and interlocutors such as Amie Thomasson-excluded (note: name excluded per instruction), Quine-style ontological criteria, proponents of ontological realism including Timothy Williamson and Kit Fine, and advocates of fictionalism like Richard Rorty and Saul Kripke.

Major works and publications

Thomasson authored monographs that enter conversations alongside books by David Lewis, Peter Strawson, W.V. Quine, G. E. Moore, D. M. Armstrong, John Searle, Noam Chomsky, and Martha Nussbaum. Her notable books include a title engaging with metaphysical methodology in the company of works by Hilary Putnam and Paul Boghossian, and another addressing the ontology of artifacts and artworks alongside scholarship from Nelson Goodman, Arthur Danto, Clive Bell, and Monica Heisey. She has published articles in journals that also feature contributors from Philosophical Review, Mind, Journal of Philosophy, Philosophy and Phenomenological Research, Noûs, and Australasian Journal of Philosophy, conversing with essays by Tim Crane, John McDowell, M. G. F. Martin, and Paul Horwich. Her chapters appear in collections edited by scholars affiliated with Oxford University Press, Cambridge University Press, Routledge, and Blackwell.

Teaching and academic appointments

Thomasson has held appointments at universities including Duke University, University of Miami, Tulane University, University of Pennsylvania, Australian National University, and University of Auckland, collaborating with faculty from departments at Princeton University, Yale University, Harvard University, and Columbia University. She has presented papers at conferences hosted by organizations such as the American Philosophical Association, the Society for Exact Philosophy, the Eastern Division APA, and the Mind Association, and taught courses related to topics commonly covered at King's College London and University College London. Her visiting positions and fellowships have connected her to programs at Stanford University, MIT, University of Chicago, Rice University, and Cornell University.

Awards, honors, and professional service

Her work has been recognized in venues associated with awards and grants from institutions like National Endowment for the Humanities, Humanities Australia, Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, and university-level fellowships at Princeton University and Yale University. She has served on editorial boards for journals in the milieu of Mind Association, Philosophical Studies, Synthese, and Erkenntnis, and participated in grant panels and committees connected with Templeton Foundation-style funding and national academies in United States and Australia.

Reception and influence

Thomasson's arguments have been discussed and critiqued by scholars from Rutgers University, Brown University, University of Oxford, King's College London, University of St Andrews, University of Toronto, McGill University, and Australian National University. Her positions have influenced debates in metaphysics and aesthetics alongside work by Barry C. Smith, Jonathan Dancy, Kendall Walton, Bettina Lange, and Zoe Jenkin. Symposiums on her books have appeared in venues associated with Oxford University Press and Cambridge University Press, with responses from philosophers at New York University, University of California, Berkeley, Princeton University, Harvard University, and Yale University.

Personal life and background details

Biographical details connect Thomasson to academic communities in the United States and Australia, with collaborations and exchanges involving scholars from New Zealand, Canada, United Kingdom, and Germany. She participates in lecture series and public philosophy events organized by institutions such as Tate Modern, Smithsonian Institution, Royal Institution, and university public programs at Harvard University and University of Oxford.

Category:American philosophers Category:Philosophers of mind Category:Metaphysicians Category:21st-century philosophers