Univ.-Prof. Dr. Christoph JÄGER
Head of Department
Department of Christian Philosophy
Karl-Rahner-Platz 1 (room 118)
A-6020 Innsbruck
Tel.: +43 512 507-85020
Fax: +43 512 507-85099
E-mail: christoph.jaeger@uibk.ac.at
Office hours: by appointment
Areas of specialization
Social epistemology; general epistemology; philosophy of religion; meta-emotions; free will
I am working on an account of epistemic or intellectual authority which I call the 'guided inquiry model'. While it acknowledges that intellectual authority is a pervasive social-epistemic phenomenon, it argues against preemptionist accounts that rational deference does not generally require the agent to preempt their own reasons. So, while the account is, as it were, epistemically anti-authoritarian, it accepts authoritative reasons and beliefs. An example of epistemic authority in this spirit is what I call 'Socratic epistemic authority'. (See, e.g., my “Epistemic Authority, Preemptive Reasons, and Understanding”, Episteme 13, 2016). My projects in the philosophy of mind include a theory of meta-emotions.