About
Ian M. Church
I am a philosopher whose work sits at the intersection of epistemology, psychology, cognitive science, philosophy of religion, and artificial intelligence.
A philosopher interested in how people think
I am currently Associate Professor of Philosophy at Hillsdale College and Director of the Areté Research Center for Philosophy, Science, and Society. Before coming to Hillsdale, I held research appointments at the University of Edinburgh, Saint Louis University, and Fuller Graduate School of Psychology. I earned my PhD through the St Andrews–Stirling Joint Programme in Philosophy in 2012.
My primary research areas are epistemology, philosophy of science (especially the philosophy of the social sciences and moral psychology), and the epistemology of religion. I also maintain active interest in the history of analytic philosophy, early modern philosophy, and the philosophy of artificial intelligence. Much of my work has involved building interdisciplinary research teams that bring philosophers into conversation with psychologists, cognitive scientists, and other scholars.
Beyond the CV
Outside of my academic work, my wife and I have been married for more than twenty-one years, and we are grateful to be raising four wonderful children together.
When I'm not writing or teaching, you'll usually find me in the weight room, planning our family's next trip, tinkering with one of my aquariums, or enjoying a game of chess—though some of my children are already significantly better than I am.
I also enjoy being involved in my local community. Over the years I've enjoyed speaking for churches, schools, and civic organizations, and I served for six years on the board of a local K–12 classical academy, including two years as board president.
One of my more unusual academic interests is tracing intellectual lineages. Over the past few years I have assembled an Academic Family Tree tracing my supervisory lineage through Patrick Greenough, Crispin Wright, Michael Dummett, G. E. M. Anscombe, Ludwig Wittgenstein, Bertrand Russell, and beyond.
