Bob Fischer is an Americanphilosopher who specializes inepistemology (especiallymodal epistemology) andethics (especiallyanimal ethics). He is aProfessor of Philosophy atTexas State University and a Senior Research Manager atRethink Priorities. His books includeModal Justification via Theories (in which he defends his account of "Theory-Based Epistemology of Modality"),The Ethics of Eating Animals, andWeighing Animal Welfare.

Fischer earned aBachelor of Arts in philosophy and English atState University of New York at Geneseo from 2001 to 2004.^[1] He received aPhD in philosophy at theUniversity of Illinois Chicago.^[1] He submitted hisdoctoral thesis, which was entitledModal Knowledge, in Theory, in 2011. His advisor (andthesis committee chair) wasW. D. Hart; the other committee members were Colin Klein, Walter Edelberg, Daniel Sutherland, and Karen Bennett.^[2]

From Illinois, he moved toTexas State University, first (2011–2013) as asenior lecturer, and subsequently as anassistant professor of philosophy (2013–19), anassociate professor of philosophy (2019–2024),^[1] andprofessor of philosophy (2024-present).^{[citation needed]} Fischer is a senior research manager atRethink Priorities^[3] and, along withMark Budolfson andLisa Kramer, a director of the Animal Welfare Economics Working Group.^[4]

Fischer's philosophical work spans epistemology and animal ethics.

Fischer's first monograph wasModal Justification via Theories,^[5] in which he defends a "Theory-Based Epistemology of Modality". According to this account, agents can have a justifiedbelief in modal claims about certain kinds of "extraordinary" matters (e.g., philosophical issues) only if the claim follows from a theory in which they have a justified belief. Key to Fischer's account is thatabductive reasoning (such as appeals to the virtue ofsimplicity) is well-placed to help agents to identify the theories that they are justified in believing.^[6] The epistemologists Antonella Mallozzi, Anand Vaidya, and Michael Wallner give the example ofmind-body dualism. On Fischer's Theory-Based Epistemology of Modality, "we are justified in believing that mind-body dualism is metaphysically possible only if we are justified in believing a theoryT from which mind-body dualism follows", but ifT "is not the simplest theory, all else being equal, then one would not be justified in believing it, and thus not be justified in believing that mind-body dualism is metaphysically possible".^[6]

In 2024, Fischer publishedWeighing Animal Welfare,^[7] which collects the research that he and his team did from 2021-2023 on interspecies welfare comparisons. Interspecies welfare comparisons involve estimating the relative well-being levels of members of different species. For instance, if someone judges that a chicken in abattery cage is worse off than a human living a normal life, that person is making an interspecies welfare comparison. The book shows how it may be possible to make such comparisons by finding a mix of behavioral and physiological proxies for possible differences in the intensities of valenced experiences (like pleasure and pain). It then reports the results of applying that methodology.

Fischer has also conducted research on insect sentience and welfare, examining whether insects can feel pain and the ethical implications for their treatment.^[8]

Monographs

• Fischer, Bob (2017).Modal Justification via Theories. Springer.
• Fischer, Bob (2020).The Ethics of Eating Animals: Usually Bad, Sometimes Wrong, Often Permissible. Routledge.^[9][10]

Debate books

• Jauernig, Anja, and Bob Fischer (2024).What Do We Owe Other Animals? A Debate. Routledge.

Textbooks

• Fischer, Bob (2021).Animal Ethics: A Contemporary Introduction. Routledge.^[11]
• Palmer, Clare, Bob Fischer, Christian Gamborg, Jordan Hampton, and Peter Sandøe (2023).Wildlife Ethics: The Ethics of Wildlife Management and Conservation. Wiley.

Edited books

• Bramble, Ben, and Bob Fischer (eds.) (2015).The Moral Complexities of Eating Meat. Oxford University Press.^[12]
• Fischer, Bob, and Felipe Leon (eds.) (2017).Modal Epistemology After Rationalism. Springer.
• Fischer, Bob (ed.) (2017).College Ethics: A Reader on Moral Issues That Affect You. Oxford University Press.^[13]
  • Second edition published 2020.
• Fischer, Bob (ed.) (2020).The Routledge Handbook of Animal Ethics. Routledge.^[14]
• Fischer, Bob (ed.) (2020).Ethics, Left and Right: The Moral Issues That Divide Us. Oxford University Press.
• Weston, Anthony, and Bob Fischer (eds.) (2023).A 21st Century Ethical Toolbox (5th ed.). Oxford University Press.
• Fischer, Bob (ed.) (2024).Weighing Animal Welfare: Comparing Well-being Across Species. Oxford University Press.

• Official website
• Bob Fischer atPhilPeople

• Living people
• 21st-century American philosophers
• American animal welfare scholars
• American ethicists
• Animal ethicists
• American epistemologists
• State University of New York at Geneseo alumni
• Texas State University faculty
• Trinity International University alumni
• University of Illinois Chicago alumni
• Scholars of veganism
• Wild animal suffering writers

• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata
• Articles with hCards
• All articles with unsourced statements
• Articles with unsourced statements from June 2024
• Official website different in Wikidata and Wikipedia
• Year of birth missing (living people)