Isaac Wilhelm

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I am an assistant professor—with a presidential professorship—in the philosophy department at the National University of Singapore. I got my Ph.D. from Rutgers, where I also got an M.S. in mathematics.

My research centers around non-fundamental phenomena, particularly that which mixes objective and subjective elements. One project is about how centered propositions can be objectively chancy. Another project develops a unified theory of explanation in metaphysics, science, and social philosophy. I also have projects on quantum field theories, the logic of identity, social metaphysics, and feminist philosophy.

Before coming to philosophy, I worked as a documentary filmmaker in Chicago. These days, in addition to philosophy, I like taking pictures, watching movies, knitting, reading and writing poems, teaching outside of the academy, and hiking.

Books

Organized Conferences

Articles (academic)

  1. The Typical Principle (forthcoming). The British Journal for the Philosophy of Science.
  2. Worlds are Pluralities (forthcoming). Australasian Journal of Philosophy.
  3. Comparing Mathematical Explanations (forthcoming). The British Journal for the Philosophy of Science.
  4. Bohmian Collapse (forthcoming). In A. Bassi, S. Goldstein, R. Tumulka, and N. Zanghì, eds., Physics and the Nature of Reality: Essays in Memory of Detlef Dürr. Springer.
  5. Disregard (forthcoming). Hypatia.
  6. Constitution, Evidence, and an Argument for Realism (forthcoming). The Asian Journal of Philosophy.
  7. Centering the Born Rule (2023). Quantum Reports 5: 311-324.
  8. Centering the Everett Interpretation (2022). Philosophical Quarterly 72: 1019-1039.
  9. Intrinsicality and Entanglement (2022). Mind 131: 35-58.
  10. Pluralities, Counterparts, and Groups (2022). Philosophical Studies 179: 2133-2153.
  11. Tractability and Laws (2022). Synthese 200: 1-17.
  12. Typical: A Theory of Typicality and Typicality Explanation (2022). The British Journal for the Philosophy of Science 73: 561-581.
    • Honourable mention, 2022 BJPS Popper Prize.
    • Featured in the OUP "Best of Philosophy 2019" article collection.
  13. Centering the Principal Principle (2021). Philosophical Studies 178: 1897-1915.
  14. Comparing the Structures of Mathematical Objects (2021). Synthese 199: 6357-6369.
  15. Explanatory Priority Monism (2021). Philosophical Studies 178: 1339-1359.
  16. Grounding and Propositional Identity (2021). Analysis 81: 80-81.
  17. The Counteridentical Account of Explanatory Identities (2021). The Journal of Philosophy 118: 57-78.
  18. A Statistical Analysis of Luck (2020). Synthese 197: 867-885.
  19. An Argument for Entity Grounding (2020). Analysis 80: 500-507.
  20. Interventionist Explanation and the Problem of Single Variable Boundary Constraints (2020). Noûs 54: 945-955.
  21. The Logic of Typicality (2020). In V. Allori, ed., Statistical Mechanics and Scientific Explanation: Determinism, Indeterminism and Laws of Nature. World Scientific. (with Harry Crane)
  22. The Stage Theory of Groups (2020). Australasian Journal of Philosophy 98: 661-674.
  23. Celestial Chaos: The New Logics of Theory-Testing in Orbital Dynamics (2019). Studies in History and Philosophy of Modern Physics 65: 97-102.
  24. The Ontology of Mechanisms (2019). The Journal of Philosophy 116: 615-636.
  25. New Data on the Representation of Women in Philosophy Journals: 2004-2015 (2018). Philosophical Studies 175: 1441-1464. (with Sherri Conklin and Nicole Hassoun)
  26. The Representation of Belief (2018). Journal of Philosophical Logic 47: 715-732.

Public Philosophy

  1. Mystical Rationality (2023). In H. De Cruz and J. De Smedt, eds., Avatar: The Last Airbender and Philosophy. Wiley.
  2. Why Christians should welcome face masks (2021, January/February). Messenger 170: 27.
  3. From Ants to Quantum Non-Locality (2017, July). The Daily Ant: Philosophy Phriday. (with Eddy Chen)

Current Teaching