Dr Sophie Archer

(she/her)

Publication

• Date
• Type

Research

My primary research interests are in philosophy of mind, philosophy of psychology, and epistemology.

To date, I have been particularly concerned with what it is to believe something. My work on this question touches upon issues to do with epistemic normativity, agency, and irrationality and psychopathology. I am currently collecting my thoughts (some of which have already been published or are under review in article form) into a book manuscript.

I have also published an edited collection on the topic of salience. Salience is central to human life, yet is relatively underexplored as a philosophical topic. In my collection, I draw together a number of contributions from across a wide philosophical spectrum – including epistemology, philosophy of perception, philosophy of language, philosophy of psychology, practical reason, feminist philosophy, and aesthetics – in the hope that understanding more about the role of salience in these different areas will facilitate an understanding of what salience is.

Teaching

I have taught or co-taught the following modules at Cardiff.

Undergraduate

Critical Thinking, Debates in the History of Philosophy, Four Great Works in Philosophy, Mind, Language, and Belief, Reason and its Limits, Epistemology, Minds, Bodies, and Worlds, Belief and Irrationality, UG Dissertation

Postgraduate

Irrationality, Philosophical Analysis and Writing, Philosophy Research and Communication Skills, MA Dissertation

Biography

2024-Present: Senior Lecturer in Philosophy, Cardiff University

2018-24: Lecturer in Philosophy, Cardiff University

2013-18: Stipendiary Lecturer in Philosophy, Christ Church, University of Oxford

2013-18: The Robin Geffen Research Fellow and Tutor in Philosophy, Keble College, University of Oxford

2012-13: Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Southampton

2009-13: PhD Philosophy, University College London

2007-09: MPhil Stud Philosophy, University College London

2003-07: MA (Hons) Philosophy, University of Edinburgh 

Supervisions

I am happy to supervise graduate students working in any of my research areas. I would be particularly interested to supervise projects on:

the nature of belief;

irrationality (both theoretical and practical).