The Open University of Israel
Dr. Levi Spectre

Dr. Levi Spectre

Dept. of History, Philosophy and Judaic Studies

Updated: March 2010

 

Personal

Office: 972-9-7781408

Cell: 972-50-2075666

E-mail: levisp@openu.ac.il

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Education

2009 Ph.D., Stockholm University. Dissertation: "Knowledge Closure and Knowledge Openness: A Study of Epistemic Closure Principles." Supervisors: Prof. Peter Pagin (Stockholm University), Prof. John Hawthorne (Oxford University), Prof. Åsa Wikforss (Stockholm University)
2002-2005 M.A. studies in Philosophy (incomplete), The Hebrew University, Israel
2001 B.A. Philosophy, The Hebrew University, Israel
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Area of Research

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Academic Positions

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Teaching

Fall 2009 Scientific Method and Research Ethics: A course for Humanities MA students at Stockholm University, Sweden.
Fall 2009 Religious Belief in Jewish Philosophy of the Middle Ages: An open course for Paideia (The European Institute for Jewish Studies in Sweden) fellows on religious belief in Jewish philosophy of the Middle Ages. The focus of the course is on the apparent/real tension between rationality and science and Jewish religious belief.
Spring 2009 Problems, Debates and Paradoxes in Contemporary Epistemology: A course for advanced undergraduate philosophy students at Stockholm University and open to MA students, PhD candidates and faculty. Stockholm University, Sweden.
Spring 2009 Scientific Method and Research Ethics: A course for Humanities MA students at Stockholm University, Sweden.
Fall 2008 Philosophy of Social Science: Part of an MA program of Electronic Government at Örebro University, Sweden.
Fall 2008 Scientific Method and Research Ethics: A course for MA students for the faculty of Humanities at Stockholm University, Sweden.
2001-2005 TA at The Hebrew University: Aristotle, Critical Evaluation of Contemporary Philosophical Texts, New Philosophy (from Descartes to Kant), Introduction to Moral and Political Thought, Introduction to Philosophy (for a trial pre-University program in the Humanities). Received highest category for lecturer in the faculty of Humanities on the 2004 student survey.
2001-2005 High School Teaching, for students graduating in philosophy at Harel High-School of Mevasert Zion in Israel: Metaphysics, Philosophy of Religion, Ethics, Jewish Philosophy, Epistemology, Early Modern Philosophy, and Introduction to Philosophy.
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Referee for:

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Publications

"Mr. Magoo's Mistake," with Assaf Sharon, Philosophical Studies, 139, 2 (2008), pp. 289-306 .

"Dogmatism Repuzzled," with Assaf Sharon, Philosophical Studies, 148, 2 (2010), pp. 307-321.

"Sleeping Beauty Meets Monday," with Karl Karlander, Synthese (forthcoming).

Knowledge Closure and Knowledge Openness: A Study of Epistemic Closure Principles, Stockholm University, ISBN 978-91-7155-973-9.

In preparation

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Work in Progress

"Determinacy Starts at Home": Develops a straight (roughly) Davidsonian solution to Kripke's meaning sceptical challenge.

"Knowledge of the Improbable": Develops the idea that one could give high rational credence to a proposition merely on the basis of its being highly improbable that it was invented by a witness.

"Probabilistic Relevance of Referential Access": A continuation of some ideas we studied in "Sleeping Beauty Meets Monday" co-authored with Karl Karlander.

"A Bayesian response to Skepticism": Discredits the idea that skepticism is based on an underdetermination principle and develops a Bayesian conception of knowledge that can cope with the skeptical challenge.

"Rationality and Knowledge": This paper concerns a distinction between having justification for believing and having a justification in believing combined with a new Bayesian conception of knowledge.

"A Problem of Memory": (co authored Karl Karlander) presents a puzzle about memory and self-undermining evidence.

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Conference Lectures

"Relativism and Translation" Reflections on Davidson (international conference), Jerusalem and Ben Gurion University, February 2004.

"Mr Magoo's Mistake," (Assaf Sharon co-author), Rutgers-Princeton Graduate Philosophy Conference, Rutgers University, March 2007.

"Evidence and Knowledge Openness," (Assaf Sharon co-author), 8th Annual NYU/Columbia Graduate Student Philosophy Conference, Columbia University, March 2008.

"Evidence and the Openness of Knowledge," The 12th Conference of the New Israeli Philosophical Association, Open University, April 2009 (in Hebrew). (Online video recoding)

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