Research

My research focuses on the philosophies of logic, language, and mathematics. This research is guided by a faithfulness constraint: that one’s theories in these domains should illuminate the ways that logic, mathematics, and ordinary language are actually used, rather than prescribing major revisions to that practice. This constraint leads me to take the practices of logical and mathematical reasoning as central data in my work. On this basis, I argue for distinctive forms of logical pluralism and mathematical structuralism. My latest project involves using the theories of meta-linguistic negotiation to make sense of logical disputes. 

I also work on Susan Stebbing, a contemporary of Russell and Moore.  During the 2022-2023 academic year, I held an NEH Fellowship to complete a book on Stebbing, titled "Susan Stebbing, Critical Thinking and Common Sense". 

If you would like to see copies of any of the papers or drafts listed here, please email me at tkouri@odu.edu. 

In Progress

A paper on logical pluralism and harmony, under blind review

"Merely verbal disputes and cooperation", a paper on using the notion of cooperation developed out of the question-under-discussion framework to determine when merely verbal disputes are worth having

"Susan Stebbing, translations and Verbal Disputes", invited to Susan Stebbing, forthcoming with Oxford University Press, edited by Annalisa Coliva and Louis Doulas

"Susan Stebbing and Common Sense", invited to Susan Stebbing, forthcoming with Palgrave Macmillan, edited by Brian Garvey and Siobhan Chapman

"Susan Stebbing, Critical Thinking and Common Sense", book length manuscript on Stebbing's notion of common sense, and how it influences her philosophy and work on  helping the general public to be better critical thinkers. 

Books

Classical First-Order Logic, with Stewart Shapiro, under contract with Cambridge University Press for the Cambridge Elements series 

Peer-Reviewed Papers

"Carnap as a Beall-Style Logical Pluralist," Asian Journal of Philosophy, online first

"Susan Stebbing and Russell's Logical Atomism",  Russell and Women, forthcoming with Palgrave Macmillan, edited by Landon Elkind and Alex Klein, forthcoming

“The Principle of Tolerance and Logical Pluralism,” Carnap Handbook, Editors Christian Damböck and Georg Schiemer, Metzler-Verlag, forthcoming

“Directional Analysis,” and “Potted Thinking,” Encyclopedia of Concise Concepts by Women Philosophers, 2021

“Metalinguistic Negotiation and Logical Pluralism,” Synthese, 2019, 198(Supplemental volume 20), 4801-4812

“Pluralistic Perspectives on Logic: An Introduction,” Synthese, 2021, 198(Supplemental volume 20), 4789-4800, with Colin Caret

“Logical Pluralism and Normativity,” Inquiry, with Stewart Shapiro, 2020, 63(3-4), 389-410

“A New Interpretation of Carnap’s Logical Pluralism,” Topoi, 2019, 38(2), 305-314

“Logical Instrumentalism and Concatenation,” Felsefe Arkivi, 2019, 51, 153-160

“Susan Stebbing,” Portale Italiano Di Filosofia Analytica, 2019

 “Classical Logic,” Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2018, with Stewart Shapiro

“Logical Pluralism and Connective Meanings,” Pluralisms in Truth and Logic, edited by Jeremy Wyatt, Nikolaj J.L.L. Pedersen and Nathan Kellen, Palgrave Macmillan, 2018, 217-235

“Logical Pluralism from a Pragmatic Perspective,” Australasian Journal of Philosophy, 2018, 96(3), 578-591

“Restall’s Proof-Theoretic Pluralism and Relevance Logic,” Erkenntnis, 2016, 81(6), 1243-1252

“Ante Rem Structuralism and the No-Naming Constraint,” Philosophia Mathematica, 2016, 24(1), 117-128

“A Reply to Heathcote’s ‘On the Exhaustion of Mathematical Entities by Structures’,” Axiomathes, 2015, 25(3), 345-357

Edited Volumes

"Pluralistic Perspectives on Logic," Special Issue of Synthese, with Colin Caret, 2021

Reviews

“Review of Charles Parsons, Philosophy of Mathematics in the Twentieth Century: Selected Essays,” with Stewart Shapiro, Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews, 2014