Professor Pittard is a philosopher specializing in epistemology and the philosophy of religion. Several of his publications focus on questions concerning the rational significance of disagreement with informed and intelligent interlocutors. His book, Disagreement, Deference, and Religious Commitment (Oxford University Press, 2019), assesses the challenge that religious disagreement poses to confident religious (or irreligious) commitment. Other topics he has explored in published work include the problem of evil, the nature of God, skepticism, and the meaning of normative terms. He has published articles in numerous journals including Mind, Noûs, Philosophical Studies, Ergo, Inquiry, Philosophical Quarterly, Journal of Religious Ethics, and Faith and Philosophy.
Much of Prof. Pittard’s work explores skeptical challenges facing both religious and secular worldviews. Other recent work addresses ethical questions posed by increasingly capable AI systems.
Books
Disagreement, Deference, and Religious Commitment (Oxford University Press, 2019)