Since July 2023, I have been a postdoctoral research fellow at the Czech Academy of Sciences (Department of Logic, Institute of Philosophy), working under Dr. Ansten Klev.

I completed my PhD in Philosophy at the University of California, Irvine (August 2023). I have an MA in Philosophy (Logic and Philosophy of Science, UC Irvine), an MSc. in Logic (Amsterdam) and a BSc. in Mathematics and Philosophy (Warwick). My PhD dissertation is titled Husserlian Philosophy of Mathematical Practice: An Empathy-First Approach, and was supervised by David Woodruff Smith (UC Irvine) and Marco Panza (CNRS & Chapman).

I am broadly interested in foundational issues concerning mathematical practice. The philosophical approach I developed in my dissertation is called, an empathy-first approach. This means to consider and reflect on mathematics from the mathematicians' perspective, and to raise and address philosophical questions based on such perspective.

Underlying my empathy-first approach is the view that mathematics is a social practice. I am interested in exploring how mathematicians empathise with each other in their activities. Furthermore, this community formed by the empathic relations can provide a novel account of social groups. In my view, empathy is also what distinguishes an AI from conscious minds, who can form a community of empathy. 

The empathy-first approach extends to my attitude in teaching. I particularly focus on understanding different perspectives when learning new concepts. When teaching, I  frequently position myself in the students' perspective (i.e. empathise with them) to adapt to their learning styles. 

Other research interests of mine include mathematical structuralism, formal theories of truths, and the connections between mathematics and philosophy in the Early Modern period. 

You can contact me at [firstname]sb[lastname] [at] gmail [dot] com.