Eric Schwitzgebel

Eric Schwitzgebel is a contemporary American philosopher and a professor of philosophy at the University of California, Riverside. He received his PhD from the University of California, Berkeley, under the guidance of notable figures such as John Searle. Schwitzgebel's scholarly work spans several key areas, including the philosophy of mind, epistemology, and ethics, with a particular emphasis on the connections between empirical psychology and philosophical inquiry. He is recognized for his research into the nature of belief, exploring dispositionalist theories in contrast to traditional representationalist views. His work also delves into the complexities of conscious experience, questioning the extent to which we truly know or understand our own subjective awareness. A significant portion of his research has focused on the empirical analysis of ethicists, investigating whether those who study ethics behave more ethically than others. Through studies involving book borrowing rates from libraries and observations of conference behavior, Schwitzgebel's findings have generally suggested no significant difference in ethical behavior between ethicists and non-ethicists from similar backgrounds. He also maintains a popular blog, "The Splintered Mind," where he discusses philosophical ideas and his research.