Robert B. Talisse

Robert B. Talisse (born 1970) is an American philosopher and political theorist. He holds positions as Professor of Philosophy and Political Science at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee. Previously, he served as the Chair of the Philosophy Department. Talisse also contributes to the blog *3 Quarks Daily* and is a former editor of *Public Affairs Quarterly*. He earned his PhD in Philosophy from the Graduate Center of the City University of New York in 2001. His primary research interests lie in political philosophy, with a specific focus on democratic theory and liberalism. Talisse's philosophical approach often utilizes the framework of pragmatism, though he has also engaged in critiques of prominent pragmatist thinkers like John Dewey, Richard Rorty, and Richard Posner. His 2007 book, *A Pragmatist Philosophy of Democracy*, critically examines Dewey's ideas on democracy, arguing for their incompatibility with the reality of reasonable pluralism. Instead, Talisse proposes a model of democracy, influenced by Charles Sanders Peirce and Cheryl Misak (often termed 'Peircean Democracy' or 'pragmatist political liberalism'), that grounds democratic justification in the epistemic processes of inquiry and reasoning. He also advocates for epistemic democracy, which suggests that democracy's justification partly stems from its capacity to yield correct collective decisions. Furthermore, Talisse has critiqued value pluralism as articulated by philosophers like Isaiah Berlin, William Galston, and John Gray, dedicating his 2012 book, *Pluralism and Liberal Politics*, to these discussions. In his more recent work, Talisse explores 'folk epistemology,' suggesting that fundamental epistemic norms governing belief formation can provide strong grounds for upholding democratic principles, thereby positioning epistemological reasons as foundational for democratic commitment. This focus leads him to engage with topics concerning public discourse, argumentation, media, and public ignorance. Talisse has also made contributions to the field of informal logic, notably co-authoring analyses of the 'Straw Man Fallacy' and rhetorical strategies in argumentation. He has authored several books, including *Overdoing Democracy: Why We Must Put Politics in its Place* (2019), *Why We Argue (And How We Should)* (2014, with Scott Aikin), and *Democracy After Liberalism* (2005).