Benjamin Rancourt

Bio

I earned my PhD in Philosophy from the University of Massachusetts Amherst, my MA in Philosophy from the University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee, and my BS in Physics from the University of Minnesota. In addition to teaching as NCSU, I have taught philosophy at Springfield College, William Peace University, University of Massachusetts Amherst, and University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee. I have presented at conferences across the USA and Europe. I enjoy philosophy.

Office Hours

TTh 11:40 AM – 12:40 PM

Area(s) of Expertise

I have taught a wide variety of courses, including Medical Ethics, Epistemology, Logic, Existentialism, Philosophy of Religion, and Introduction to Philosophy.

I research epistemology, philosophy of science, and formal epistemology. My dissertation focused on the nature of understanding and its relation to successful inquiry. I have published papers about understanding based on false beliefs, epistemic relativism, skeptical theism, and the identification of heuristics. I am currently researching the potential for groups to understand a topic that no individual member of the group understands, justifications of the use of burdens of proof in deliberation, and epistemic standards within relativism.