Hilary Kornblith — LLMpedia

Hilary Kornblith
Name	Hilary Kornblith
Birth date	1954
Era	Contemporary philosophy
Region	Western philosophy
School tradition	Naturalized epistemology
Institutions	University of Massachusetts Amherst
Main interests	Epistemology, philosophy of mind, metaphilosophy
Notable works	"Knowledge and Its Place in Nature", "Inductive Inference as a Guide to Belief"

Contents

Hilary Kornblith Hilary Kornblith is an American philosopher known for advocating a naturalistic approach to epistemology and for influencing debates in the philosophy of mind and knowledge. He served on the faculty of the University of Massachusetts Amherst and has engaged with figures and institutions across analytic philosophy including interactions with research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the University of Oxford, and conferences hosted by the American Philosophical Association and the Royal Institute of Philosophy. His work connects to traditions represented by thinkers associated with the Princeton University, the University of California, Berkeley, and the University of Pittsburgh.

Early life and education

Kornblith was born in 1954 and raised in a milieu that intersected with intellectual communities linked to the City College of New York, the Columbia University area, and scholarly circles around the New School for Social Research and the CUNY Graduate Center. He completed undergraduate studies that connected him with programs at the Swarthmore College-type liberal arts tradition and pursued graduate training culminating in a doctorate influenced by faculty with ties to the University of Chicago, Harvard University, and the University of California, Los Angeles. During his formative years he encountered the work of philosophers affiliated with the University of Pittsburgh, the Princeton Theological Seminary (through historical contacts), and visiting scholars from the Oxford University Press community.

Kornblith joined the faculty of the University of Massachusetts Amherst, contributing to departments that collaborate with scholars from the Yale University, Stanford University, and the University of Michigan. He held visiting appointments and delivered lectures at venues including the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the University of Oxford, the University of Cambridge, and institutes connected to the National Humanities Center and the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences. Kornblith participated in editorial and advisory roles for journals and presses associated with the Oxford University Press, the Cambridge University Press, and university journals tied to the Princeton University Press and the University of Chicago Press. His teaching and mentoring influenced students who later joined faculties at the Rutgers University, Brown University, and the Dartmouth College.

Kornblith is best known for arguing that epistemology should be informed by empirical results from the sciences of mind such as cognitive psychology, comparative psychology, and empirical work produced at labs affiliated with the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, and research groups at the University College London. He defends a form of naturalized epistemology in dialogue with positions associated with W.V.O. Quine, G.E. Moore-inspired realism, and critiques of internalism championed by philosophers connected to the Rutgers School and the University of Pennsylvania. Kornblith advances the claim that knowledge is a natural kind, aligning with research programs influenced by thinkers from the Philosophy of Science Association, the British Academy, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

His work engages with issues debated by philosophers at the University of Notre Dame, Cornell University, and the London School of Economics concerning the role of intuitions in philosophical methodology, linking to empirical projects at the Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences and experimental paradigms developed at the University of Edinburgh. Kornblith interacts with metaphilosophical currents represented by the New York University analytic tradition, the Australian National University program in philosophy of science, and the University of Pittsburgh philosophical community.

He has also contributed to discussions in the philosophy of biology and the philosophy of psychology by drawing on work from the Smithsonian Institution, the American Museum of Natural History, and research networks involving the Salk Institute and the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. Kornblith’s approach dialogues with positions defended by scholars at the University of Toronto, the University of British Columbia, and continental interlocutors connected to the Institut Jean Nicod.

Kornblith’s major books and essays have been published by academic presses including the Oxford University Press and the Cambridge University Press. Notable works include "Knowledge and Its Place in Nature", which situates him in discussions alongside authors from the Princeton University Press and contributors to volumes published by the Routledge and the MIT Press. Other influential essays appear in collections associated with the Blackwell Publishing catalog and journals linked to the Philosophical Review, the Mind (journal), and the Journal of Philosophy.

His publications have been cited and debated in venues connected to the American Philosophical Association, the Royal Society, and international conferences at the European Society for Philosophy and Psychology. Kornblith contributed chapters to handbooks produced by editors from the Cambridge University Press and essays in festschrifts honoring philosophers associated with the University of Oxford and the University of Cambridge.

Kornblith received recognition from academic bodies including fellowships and grants from organizations such as the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Guggenheim Foundation, and awards conferred by scholarly societies like the American Philosophical Association and the Royal Institute of Philosophy. He has been invited to deliver named lectures at institutions including the University of Chicago, the University of California, Berkeley, and the Princeton University, and has held visiting scholar positions supported by the National Humanities Center and the British Academy.

Category:American philosophers Category:Epistemologists Category:Philosophers of mind