J.D.'s Homepage

J.D. Trout

About J.D.

J.D. Trout is the John and Mae Calamos Professor of Philosophy at Illinois Institute of Technology. In 2012-2013 he was the Phi Beta Kappa Romanell Professor.  J.D. received his PhD in Philosophy at Cornell University in 1988, where he was a National Science Foundation Pre-doctoral Fellow. He then took a Mellon Postdoctoral Fellowship at Bryn Mawr College. He has had visiting appointments at Virginia Tech, University of Innsbruck and University of Chicago. His chief interests include the nature of scientific explanation, the psychology of human judgment, scientific realism and intellectual progress, and social/political issues bearing on well-being. He has also work in epistemology and experimental and theoretical work in spoken language processing. His most recent book is Wondrous Truths: The Improbable Triumph of Modern Science, a lively and daring interpretation of the sudden rise of modern science. The Empathy Gap is on judgment and social policy.  In a book called Epistemology and the Psychology of Human Judgment, Michael Bishop and J.D. developed a version of epistemic naturalism called Strategic Reliabilism. He also advanced a novel version of scientific realism in Measuring the Intentional World , which gave special focus to the use of quantitative methods in the psychological and social sciences. J.D.'s research has been funded by a NSF Scholars Award, the NEH, the Templeton Foundation, and the Deafness Research Foundation, and he teaches a wide range of courses at the undergraduate and graduate levels, from epistemology and the philosophy of science, to metaphysics and the psychology of decision-making.

 J.D.'s Media and Popular Writing

An interview in What is it Like to Be a Philosopher?

An interview (with Carrie Figdor) about Wondrous Truths on New Books in Philosophy

Salon.com article on why we should get rid of the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology

Cautions about the impact of empathy on policy: J.D. Trout 2009 ( from the audiobook of The Empathy Gap) and Paul Bloom 2016 (from The Atlantic).

Philosophy TV episode on explanation and understanding with Michael Strevens and J.D. Trout

Slate story on Nadler and Trout, "The Language of Consent in Police Encounters"

Animal Language Story in Science

J.D. on Chicago Tonight

J.D. on Latino USA

Chicago Tribune Op-Ed

Neuronarrative Interview

Psychology Today Blog

Point of Inquiry

  Part 1

  Part 2

   

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