John Pittard

I am an Associate Professor of Philosophy of Religion at Yale Divinity School (with a secondary appointment in Yale's philosophy department), and work primarily in epistemology and philosophy of religion. While I certainly am interested in the intersection of these two areas (i.e., the epistemology of religious belief), my epistemological interests and my interests in philosophy of religion both extend well beyond this intersection. A major focus of my work has been questions concerning the epistemic significance of disagreement with informed and intelligent disputants. This is the focus of my book with Oxford University Press, Disagreement, Deference, and Religious Commitment. Much of my current research is focused on arguments that purport to show that some worldview or metaphysical outlook is rationally incompatible with cognitive self-trust. Other recent and ongoing work explores ethical concerns posed by the prospect of artificial general intelligence.

On to more important matters: I'm married to a lovely woman who is a pediatrician, and we have a son and two daughters who are the cause of the large majority of our smiles.