Nick Willis
Position: Current PhD Student
School: School of Philosophy
Email: nicholas.willis@anu.edu.au
Thesis title: Negotiated Natural Languages
I am a PhD Candidate in Philosophy at the Australian National University (ANU). My research focuses on accounts of natural language and the relevance of these accounts outside of philosophy language.
In my thesis, I articulate an emerging account of languages negotiated between a duo of speaker and hearer - their 'Duolect'. I demonstrate the consequences of a Duolectical account in social epistemology and philosophy of mind. In social epistemology, I argue that agents are often blameworthy for hermeneutical injustice. In philosophy of mind, I argue that belief ascriptions often track our public commitments rather than private mental states.
Before coming to ANU in 2019, I completed BA(Hons) in Philosophy and Linguistics at Monash University and a Bachelor of International Studies in Development Studies at UNSW.
Philosophy of Language
Social Epistemology
Philosophy of Mind
Organiser of Conference on the Philosophy of Social Categories and Oppression, 2021
2015 Monash Dean's Recognition Award
2017 Monash Peter Singer Prize
2019 AGRTP Domestic Scholarship
2022 ANU, CASS Award for Excellence in Education
2022 AAP Postgraduate Presentation Prize
PHIL1004 - Fundamentals of Philosophy - Tutor
PHIL1005 - Logic and Critical Thinking - Tutor
PHIL3076 - Life Sciences - Tutor