William Vincent is a Ph.D. student in philosophy at the University of Virginia. He is currently completing his dissertation, The Definitional Conception of Essence, under Trenton Merricks.
What excites you about philosophy?
When I started studying philosophy out of high school, I was interested in existentialism, since that’s primarily what I encountered in novels, in poetry, and in my English classes (I began as an English major in college). I thought the questions existentialists raised were pressing, but their answers struck me as unsatisfactory.
Later on, I read a textbook on logic and some books in analytic philosophy. Analytic philosophers offered a clear picture of what an answer to a philosophical question should look like: it should be established by a clearly valid argument, with true premises that are supported by one’s evidence.
To the extent that a work of philosophy approximates the ideals of the analytic tradition, I tend to find it more exciting.
What are you working on right now?
I am currently working on three projects. The first is my dissertation: The Definitional Conception of Essence.
On my view, essential properties are, roughly, defining properties. More exactly, they are properties mentioned in a thing’s real definition. I give some conditions on real definition. The big picture is that real definitions summarize an explanatory account of a thing’s identity. They explain why that thing is distinct from all things besides itself. In subsequent chapters, I apply this account of real definition to some issues in the metaphysics of essence. So for example, I am currently arguing that essential dependence does not imply ontological dependence (see, e.g., the work of Kit Fine).
The second is an argument for the sufficiency of origins. I argue that we can give a non-circular argument for the sufficiency of origins for biological species. This vindicates a kind of necessity of origins argument for biological species. I then comment on how my argument for the sufficiency of biological origins might be extended to individual material objects, such as tables and human organisms.
The third is an argument against logical pluralism. Logical pluralism is the view that there is more than one correct logic. On my view, there is at most one correct logic. My view is sometimes called ‘logical monism’.
Imagine you accept two logics, one implying the law of excluded middle, one not. Given that validity is at least truth-preservation, it follows that the first logic tells you about something guaranteed to be true by other things you believe, while the second doesn’t. Presumably, this is a good-making feature of the first logic, and it is a bad-making feature of the second logic that it omits mention of this fact. A family of arguments (sometimes called ‘the normativity argument’) concludes from this that, then, the first logic must be correct and the second mistaken. I develop a new argument in this family and motivate its premises. I then show how that avoids some recent responses made by logical pluralists.
What do you like to do outside of work?
Most evenings, I lift weights and train Brazilian jiu-jitsu. I enjoy cooking. Indian cuisine is my favorite. I’ve been playing guitar since my first year in college. I mostly dabble with it, but I know a few songs I can sing. I do some solos.
Outside of hobbies, I think having a solid group of friends is super important in graduate school. I feel fortunate to have a number of the other graduate students, as well as others folks I’ve met in Charlottesville, as good friends.
On nights where I’m not training or hanging out with folks, I enjoy a good book, be that some novel or non-fiction. And I love poetry. I used to watch quite a bit of classic film by myself, but these days I mostly watch movies with friends.
Which books have changed your life? In what ways?
Plato’s dialogues sparked my initial interest in philosophy. Since it’s doubtful that I’d be doing philosophy had I not read those books, I suppose they’ve impacted me the most. Among more recent philosophy books, Timothy Williamson’s Knowledge and its Limits and Alvin Plantinga’s God, Freedom, and Evil come first to mind.
Prior to reading T.S. Eliot, I had no appreciation of poetry. Something about his imagery struck me. I tend to like older poets now. In no particular order: Marvell, Blake, Pope, Milton, Shakespeare, Clare, Melville. I find their poetry immensely comforting.
Books about physical training (weightlifting, and so on) have recently been important to me, since I’ve had to teach myself these things. That said, those books have only been impactful as conveyors of information, so I don’t think I could remark on any in particular.
What time of day are you most productive and creative?
I’m by far most productive in the morning. Still, there’s a window between waking and working where I’m somewhat cloudy. I usually take about an hour and a half and a couple cups of coffee before I get started on anything.
I don’t think I am naturally a morning person. I’m capable of working late into the evening, particularly after a light workout. But I usually forego late work for the sake of better sleep. I’d rather have a morning of a little solid writing than an evening of lots of so-so writing.
Creativity, it seems to me, is another thing entirely. If I need to think about something very different from what I’m used to, I usually go for a walk. It tends to be that sitting at my desk and trying to write works best when I already have something in mind.
This section of the APA Blog is designed to get to know our fellow philosophers a little better. We’re including profiles of APA members that spotlight what captures their interest not only inside the office, but also outside of it. We’d love for you to be a part of it, so please contact us via the interview nomination form here to nominate yourself or a friend.
Dr. Sabrina D. MisirHiralall is an editor at the Blog of the APA who currently teaches philosophy, religion, and education courses solely online for Montclair State University, Three Rivers Community College, and St. John’s University.
