Philosophy @ NTU Singapore

Yichen Luo & Eugene Y. S. Chua, De-Idealizing De-Idealization: Beyond Full Reversal - PhilPapers There is a question of whether de-idealization is needed for justified use of -- for 'checking' -- idealizations. We argue that the standard philosophical account of de-idealization has become too ide...

My paper with @yichenluo.bsky.social has been accepted for publication at @thebjps.bsky.social! We argue that standard pictures of de-idealization are themselves idealized, and develop a practice-first account of de-idealization for validating idealized models. Preprint: philpapers.org/rec/LUODDB

Thankful to be invited to present my work on atypicality in LLM-powered psychiatry (jme.bmj.com/content/earl..., preprint on arxiv) and be part of a roundtable dialogue on responsible AI in mental health. Human-centered AI w/ sociotechnical p.o.v., involving all stakeholders, is essential here!

Haoze Li (NTU) is giving a talk entitled "Future statements without modality" at NTU on 26 February 2026. All are welcome! More details can be found on the poster below.

Careful science is valuable, regardless of results Scientists should be celebrated for more than just flashy findings, argues a philosopher

"Stegenga’s claim that justification is the “heart of science” definitely gets something right—a career spent doing rigorous research that does not produce paradigm-changing results is still worthwhile, and scientists who do so should be praised for their service."

www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

New Book Release: "Heart of Science: A Philosophy of Scientific Inquiry" by Prof. Jacob Stegenga Professor Jacob Stegenga is a philosopher of science, and has published on topics in general philosophy of science, philosophy of medicine, and philosophy of biology.

New Book Release!

"Heart of Science: A Philosophy of Scientific Inquiry" by Prof. Jacob Stegenga

For more information, see here: www.ntu.edu.sg/soh/news-eve...

Putting Pressure Under Pressure: On the Status of Classical Pressure in Special Relativity Much of the century-old debate surrounding the status of thermodynamics in relativity has centered on the search for a suitably relativistic temperature; recent works by Chua (2023) and Chua and Calle...

Happy to share that my paper on the special relativistic pressure has been accepted for publication in Synthese! It's the last (for now) of a trilogy of papers on the generalization of thermodynamics into relativity, and I'm glad it found a nice home.

Preprint: arxiv.org/abs/2601.22133

Happy to announce the Perception, Memory, and Imagination workshop to take place here at NTU! Dates: April 9–10th. Details and registration here: event.ntu.edu.sg/2026-04-09-p...

I am hiring a second postdoctoral Research Fellow to join the Foundations of Thermodynamics group! This will be a two-year position. Deadline: March 20, 2026. Please share with anyone who's interested. I'm happy to answer any questions 😄

See PhilJobs ad for more info: philjobs.org/job/show/30726

Supporting Impactful Research: MOE AcRF Tier 1 Grant Awarded to Asst. Prof. James Openshaw Asst. Prof. Openshaw's principal interests are in philosophy of mind/cognitive science.

James Openshaw has been awarded an MOE AcRF Tier 1 Grant! The project, 'Referential (dis)continuities in imagination and memory', will run for 3 years from March 2026 to Feb 2029.
www.ntu.edu.sg/soh/news-eve...

Physicists have recently been "looking for work in quantum thermodynamics", but what would count as success? (To what extent) can quantum foundations help? My paper on these questions has been accepted at the @thebjps.bsky.social!

Preprint: philsci-archive.pitt.edu/27846/

#hps #philsci #philphys

Australasian Association of Philosophy Forthcoming in February 2026 "In Heart of Science, philosopher Jacob Stegenga breaks with the most dominant epistemologies of science to argue that in judging scientific activity, we should focus on....

www.facebook.com/Australasian...

Philip Kitcher: "Stegenga's deeply informed and wide-ranging discussions address numerous traditional issues in the philosophy of science, offering original and lucidly defended new alternatives."

Elliott Sober: "In this exciting new book, Stegenga argues that the goals of science need to be radically reconceived. [...] Stegenga provides illuminating arguments and counterarguments, which flesh out his big picture."

Helen E. Longino: "Heart of Science exemplifies next generation social epistemology of science. Stegenga creatively transports the distinction between deontic and utilitarian approaches from ethics to the epistemology of science."

Heart of Science A novel epistemology of science contends that good science need not attain its aims, but it must justify its claims.   In Heart of Science, philosopher Jacob Stegenga breaks with the most dominant epi...

Forthcoming in February 2026

Heart of Science: A Philosophy of Scientific Inquiry argues that the aim of science goes far beyond justification and is, instead, a special kind of truth—common knowledge, a broadly shared and mutually justified scientific finding.
press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/bo...

Alex Paseau (Oxford) is giving a talk entitled "Is Historical Mathematics Largely True?" at NTU on 8 January 2025. All are welcome! More details can be found here: event.ntu.edu.sg/2026-01-08-p...

Dr. Christophe de Ray wins ICC Most Caring Teacher Award 2025 Christophe de Ray obtained his PhD from King's College London in 2021. After a couple of years teaching theology and philosophy in a London secondary school, he joined NTU as a Lecturer in August 2023...

Congratulations to Christophe de Ray for winning the ICC Most Caring Teacher Award 2025!

www.ntu.edu.sg/soh/news-eve...

Shame Across East and West | Jun-Hyeok Kwak, Krista K. Thomason, Ken C In order to gain a deeper understanding of shame and shamelessness as ethico-political phenomena in the contemporary world, this book stages a cross-cultural

Shame Across East and West edited by Kwak, Thomason, and Cheng is out. In my paper “Xiu Wu in the Mencius,” I argue that xiu 羞 (being ashamed) is one’s reaction towards others’ wrongdoing. I then analyse the psychology of seeing oneself as a communal being on Mencius’s view.

NTU-Leeds - Advanced Entry to a PhD at the University of Leeds

For more information on NTU–Leeds 2+2, see here: www.ntu.edu.sg/soh/admissio...

NTU Research Scholarship Find out if you are eligible for an NTU Research Scholarship, awarded to outstanding graduate students for research and discover how to apply here.

For more on NTU's Research Scholarships, see here: www.ntu.edu.sg/admissions/g...

Prospective Students

NTU Philosophy welcomes applications from prospective MA and PhD students. Scholarships are available. The application deadline is 31 December.

Note: Starting this year MA students are eligible for advanced entry to a PhD programme in the University of Leeds.

www.ntu.edu.sg/soh/admissio...

Pursuit-worthiness and Epistemic Justification of Scientific Theories Pursuit-worthiness and Epistemic Justification of Scientific Theories

Casey McCoy (Yonsei University) is giving a talk entitled "Pursuit-worthiness and Epistemic Justification of Scientific Theories" at NTU on 17 Oct 2025. All are welcome! More details can be found here: event.ntu.edu.sg/philosophy-m...

Wrote a short piece for the IAI, on my recent paper on black holes and global energy! Contrary to title, I don't claim to have the messy truth behind black hole physics, but I do think we can move (and ppl are) from idealized global approaches to quasi-local approaches, in search of deidealization.

If You’re Happy, Clap Your Hands! Organised by Philosophy, School of Humanities, Nanyang Technological University

Daniel Waxman (NUS) is giving a talk entitled "If You’re Happy, Clap Your Hands!" at NTU on 9 Oct 2025. All are welcome! More details can be found here: www.ntu.edu.sg/soh/news-eve...

Measuring Effectiveness to Inform Decision-Makers Organised by Philosophy, School of Humanities, Nanyang Technological University

Ina Jäntgen (Munich Center for Mathematical Philosophy) is giving a talk entitled "Measuring Effectiveness to Inform Decision-Makers" at NTU on 26 Sep 2025. All are welcome! More details can be found here: www.ntu.edu.sg/soh/news-eve...

School - Associate Professor Winnie Sung has been awarded the MOE AcRF Tier 1 Grant (Call 1/2025) for her research project Epistemic Blinkering. Congratulations, Prof Sung! Abstract: There are vario... Associate Professor Winnie Sung has been awarded the MOE AcRF Tier 1 Grant (Call 1/2025) for her research project Epistemic Blinkering. Congratulations, Prof Sung! Abstract: There are various ways.....

Winnie Sung has been awarded the MOE AcRF Tier 1 Grant (Call 1/2025) for her research project: Epistemic Blinkering.

www.facebook.com/ntuhumanitie...

Final Call: We are hiring for multiple positions (open rank and open area).

Hard deadline for applications: September 30, 2025.

See here for more details: philjobs.org/job/show/29338

Asian Philosophy of Science Association (APSA) Conference 2026

Very happy to announce that the CFP is now open for APSA26: The Inaugural Biennial Conference of the Asian Philosophy of Science Association! It will be held at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. The keynote will be Craig Callender. Submission deadline: 31 Dec 2025. URL: tinyurl.com/APSA26

Clinical nudging as informing Organised by Philosophy, School of Humanities, Nanyang Technological University

Clint Hurshman (NUS) is giving a talk entitled "Clinical nudging as informing" at NTU on 18 Sep 2025. All are welcome! More details can be found here: www.ntu.edu.sg/soh/news-eve...