Professor Richard G Pettigrew
BA (Oxon.), MA (Bristol), PhD (Bristol)
- Professor of Philosophy,Department of Philosophy
BS6 6JL
Personal profile
Research interests
My recent research has been mainly in formal epistemology. In recent papers, I have pursued a research programme that I call epistemic utility theory. The strategy is to appeal to the notion of purely epistemic value as well as to the techniques of rational choice theory to provide novel and purely epistemic justifications for a range of epistemic norms. So far, I have considered the norms of Probabilism, Conditionalization, Jeffrey Conditionalization, the Principle of Indifference, and the Principal Principle.
I have a second research interest in the philosophy of mathematics, where I defend a variety of anti-platonist positions, such as eliminativist structuralism and instrumental nominalism.
Research Groups and Themes
- Welfare and Value Theory
- Mathematical and Scientific Philosophy
Fingerprint
- 6Similar Profiles
Collaborations and top research areas from the last five years
Dive into details
Select a country/territory to view shared publications and projects
Research output
Choosing How to Choose
Pettigrew, R. G.,Campbell-Moore, C. &Konek , J. P.,8 Oct 2025, (E-pub ahead of print)In:Theory and Decision.60 p.Research output:Contribution to journal ›Article (Academic Journal) ›peer-review
Open AccessOpinion Pooling
Elkin, L. &Pettigrew, R. G.,30 Jan 2025,Cambridge University Press. (Elements)Research output:Book/Report ›Authored book
Open AccessThree questions for liberals
Pettigrew, R. G.,5 Apr 2025,In:Social Research: An International Quarterly.92,1,p. 191-21323 p.Research output:Contribution to journal ›Article (Academic Journal) ›peer-review
Open AccessFile
IF23\100451 Credence and Chance in a Pluralist Approach to Quantum Theories
Pettigrew, R. G. (Principal Investigator)
1/03/24 →1/03/27
Project:Research
SfCJ:The Climate Crisis: What Best Hope To Tell Now?
Thebo, M. (Co-Principal Investigator),Pancost, R. D. (Co-Principal Investigator),Nadin, J. (Co-Investigator),Pettigrew, R. G. (Co-Investigator), Caldecott, E. (Co-Investigator) & Geen, E. C. (Administrator)
22/02/22 →26/07/22
Project:Research
Towards an accuracy-first approach to judgment aggregation
Pettigrew, R. G. (Principal Investigator)
1/09/21 →31/08/22
Project:Research
Activities
Workshop on Population Ethics and Epistemology
Pettigrew, R. G. (Keynote/plenary speaker)
17 Nov 2016Activity:Participating in or organising an event types ›Participation in workshop, seminar, course
3rd Topoi Conference
Pettigrew, R. G. (Keynote/plenary speaker)
27 Oct 2016Activity:Participating in or organising an event types ›Participation in conference
Formal Epistemology Workshop
Pettigrew, R. G. (Keynote/plenary speaker)
21 Jun 2016Activity:Participating in or organising an event types ›Participation in conference
Thesis
Natural, Rational, and Real Arithmetic in a Finitary Theory of Finite Sets
Pettigrew, R. G. (Author),Welch, P. (Supervisor),2008Student thesis:Doctoral Thesis ›Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)