1 Lara Buchak CV (Nov 2016) buchak@berkeley.edu 610-764-9102 Department of Philosophy 314 Moses Hall #2390 University of California Berkeley, CA 94720-2390 Academic Positions University of California at Berkeley; Berkeley, CA (2008 present) Associate Professor, Department of Philosophy (2014 present) Member, Group in Logic and the Methodology of Science (2009 present) Assistant Professor, Department of Philosophy (2009 2014) Acting Assistant Professor, Department of Philosophy (2008-2009) Education Princeton University; Princeton, NJ. (2003-2008), Ph.D. in Philosophy, awarded April 2009. Harvard College; Cambridge, MA. (1999-2003), A.B. in Philosophy and Mathematics, magna cum laude, awarded June 2003. Areas of Teaching and Research Areas of Specialization: Decision Theory, Formal Epistemology, Philosophy of Religion Areas of Competence: Game Theory, Social Choice Theory Books 1. Risk and Rationality. Oxford University Press, 2013. Research Articles 2. Instrumental Rationality, Epistemic Rationality, and Evidence-Gathering, Philosophical Perspectives 24: 85-120 (2010). 3. Can it be rational to have faith?, in Jake Chandler and Victoria S. Harrison (eds.), Probability in the Philosophy of Religion (Oxford, 2012), 225-247. Reprinted in Louis P. Pojman and Michael Rea (eds.), Philosophy of Religion: An Anthology, 7 th edition (Wadsworth, 2014). 4. Free Acts and Chance: Why the Rollback Argument Fails, Philosophical Quarterly 63(1): 20-28 (2013). 5. Belief, Credence, and Norms, Philosophical Studies 169(2): 285-311 (2014). 6. Risk and Tradeoffs, Erkenntnis 79(6): 1091-1111 (2014). 7. Rational Faith and Justified Belief, in Tim O Connor and Laura Goins (eds.), Religious Faith and Intellectual Virtue (Oxford, 2014), 49-73. 8. Learning not to be Naïve: A comment on the exchange between Perrine/Wykstra and Draper, in Trent Dougherty and Justin McBrayer (eds.), Skeptical Theism: New Essays (Oxford, 2014), 178-190.
2 9. Lara Buchak and Philip Pettit. Reasons and Rationality: The Case of Group Agents, in Weighing and Reasoning: Festschrift for John Broome (Oxford, 2015), 207-231. 10. Jeffrey Sanford Russell, John Hawthorne, and Lara Buchak. Groupthink, Philosophical Studies, 172(5): 1287-1309 (2015). 11. Revisiting Risk and Rationality: A Reply to Pettigrew and Briggs, Canadian Journal of Philosophy, forthcoming. 12. Why high-risk, non-expected-utility-maximizing gambles can be rational and beneficial: The case of HIV cure studies, Journal of Medical Ethics, forthcoming. 13. Taking Risks Behind the Veil of Ignorance, Ethics, forthcoming. Handbook Articles 14. Decision Theory, in Alan Hájek and Christopher Hitchcock (eds.), Oxford Handbook of Probability and Philosophy (Oxford, forthcoming). 15. Reason and Faith, in William J. Abraham & Frederick D. Aquino (eds.), Oxford Handbook of the Epistemology of Theology (Oxford, forthcoming). Pedagogy Articles 16. Charles Pence and Lara Buchak. Oyun: A New, Free Program for Iterated Prisoner s Dilemma Tournaments in the Classroom, Evolution: Education and Outreach 5(3): 467-476 (2012). Book Reviews 17. Review of José Luis Bermúdez s Decision Theory and Rationality, Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews 2009.09.13 (September 2009). 18. Review of John Haldane s Reasonable Faith, Analysis 72(2):413-415 (2012). 19. Review of Robert Audi s Rationality and Religious Commitment, International Journal for Philosophy of Religion 72(2): 139-144 (2012). Encyclopedia Entries Lectures 20. Allais Paradox. Encyclopedia of Philosophy and the Social Sciences, ed. Byron Kaldis. Sage (2013). 1. Acquiring and Maintaining Faith, Society of Christian Philosophers, Rutgers (keynote speaker), Oct 2016. 2. Faith and Steadfastness in the Face of Counter-evidence, Bellingham Faith Workshop, Bellingham, WA, Sept 2016. 3. Faith and Resistance to Counterevidence, UCLA (colloquium talk), May 2016. 4. Taking Risks Under the Veil of Ignorance, University of Pennsylvania (colloquium talk), Apr 2016. 5. Risk and Rationality, University of Ohio Conference on Risk and National Security, Apr 2016.
6. Faith, Commitment, and Disagreement, Pacific APA, Mar 2016. 7. Can Faith be Rational?, Azusa Pacific University, Mar 2016. 8. The Principle of Charity, Berkeley Institute Conference on Difficult Discourses, Feb 2016. 9. Taking Risks Under the Veil of Ignorance, Stanford University (colloquium talk), Feb 2016. 10. Taking Risks Under the Veil of Ignorance, Princeton University Center for Human Values, Feb 2016. 11. Taking Risks Under the Veil of Ignorance, Arizona Metaphysics Workshop, Jan 2016. 12. Taking Risks for Oneself, Taking Risks for Others, and Social Betterness, Workshop on Ethics, Decision Theory, and Uncertainty, Australian National University, July 2015. 13. Faith, Resiliency, and Disagreement and What Problem Does Faith Solve?, Faith Summer Seminar (featured speaker), University of Missouri, Columbia, July 2015. 14. Risk, Inequality, and Relative Priority, UC Irvine (colloquium talk), May 2015. 15. Risk, Inequality, and Relative Priority, Cal State Los Angeles, May 2015. 16. Are high-risk, non-maximizing gambles ever rational?, Workshop on HIV cure research ethics, Harvard Medical School, May 2015. 17. Being a Woman in Philosophy, Minorities and Philosophy Symposium, UC Berkeley, Apr 2015. 18. Tenacity, Belief, and Disagreement: Clarifications and Applications of my View on Faith, Midwest Society of Christian Philosophers Conference (keynote speaker), Alabama, Mar 2015. 19. Risk and Rationality, Berkeley Book Chats, UC Berkeley, Mar 2015. 20. Inequality and Relative Priority, Philosophy Department Works in Progress Lunch, UC Berkeley, Feb 2015. 21. Inequality and Relative Priority, Duke University (colloquium talk), Feb 2015. 22. What is Faith?, UC Merced, Nov 2014. 23. Inequality and Relative Priority, Princeton University (colloquium talk), Oct 2014. 24. Risk and Rationality, Columbia University (colloquium talk), Oct 2014 25. Risk and Rationality, Institute of Cognitive and Brain Sciences, UC Berkeley, Oct 2014. 26. Inequality and Relative Priority, University of Bristol, June 2014. 27. Inequality and Relative Priority, London School of Economics, June 2014. 28. Learning not to be Naïve, Religion on the Raritan, Rutgers University, May 2014. 29. Relative Priority, University of Utah (colloquium talk), April 2014. 30. Author-meets-critics session on my book, Risk and Rationality, Pacific APA, San Diego, April 2014. 31. Belief, Credence, and Norms, Invited symposium on Formal Decision Theory and Substantive Rationality, Central APA, Chicago, Feb 2014. 32. Relative Priority, MIT, Feb 2014. 33. What is Faith?, Westmont College, Erasmus Lecture, Jan 2014. 34. Risk and Rationality, USC, Dec 2013. 35. Risk and Rationality, University of Notre Dame, Nov 2013. 36. Risk and Inequality, Group in Social Ontology, UC Berkeley, Nov 2013. 37. Risk and Rationality, University of Wisconsin (colloquium talk), Nov 2013. 38. Risk and Inequality, Group in Logic and the Methodology of Science, UC Berkeley, Nov 2013. 39. Risk and Rationality, Rutgers University (colloquium talk), Oct 2013. 40. Risk and Rationality, Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand, July 2013. 41. Risk and Rationality, Formal Epistemology Festival, University of Toronto, June 2013. 42. Risk and Rationality, 2nd CSLI Workshop on Logic, Rationality & Intelligent Interaction, Stanford, June 2013. 43. Risk and Rationality, Society for Exact Philosophy (keynote speaker), Montreal, May 2013. 44. Decision weights are not probabilities, CRNAP Probability Week, Princeton University, April 2013. 45. Rational Faith, Pacific-Mountain Division of the Society of Christian Philosophers (keynote speaker), University of Colorado, Boulder, March 2013. 3
46. Faith, Commitment, and Belief, 8 th Annual Philosophy of Religion Conference, Baylor University, March 2013. 47. Probability, Rationality, and Belief in God and Probability, Rationality, and Faith in God, Oxford-Cambridge project in Establishing the Philosophy of Cosmology (miniseries on Is God Explanatory? ), Jan 2013. 48. Risk and Rationality, University of Bristol, Oct 2012. 49. Belief and Credence, University of Leeds, Oct 2012. 50. Risk and Rationality, Oxford Jowett Society (colloquium talk), Oct 2012. 51. Risk and Rationality, University of Missouri (colloquium talk), Sept 2012. 52. Belief and Credence, Harvard Workshop on the Nature of Belief, Sept 2012. 53. Can it be rational to have faith?, Association for the Philosophy of Judaism, online symposium, Aug 2012. 54. Risk and Tradeoffs, Peking University, Beijing, China, June 2012. 55. Risk and Tradeoffs, Formal Epistemology Workshop, LMU, Munich, Germany, May 2012. 56. Belief and Credence, Epistemology above the Arctic Circle, Oslo Center for the Study of Mind and Nature, Lofoten Islands, Norway, May 2012. 57. Risk Aversion and Diachronic Preference Consistency, Northwest Workshop on Time and Rationality, Leavenworth, WA, April 2012. 58. Risk and Tradeoffs, University of Pittsburgh Center for Philosophy of Science, Conference on New Science New Risks, March 2012. 59. Belief and Credence, guest lecture in Robert Audi s graduate seminar, Notre Dame, Feb 2012. 60. Risk and Tradeoffs, Group in Logic and the Methodology of Science, UC Berkeley, Dec 2011. 61. Risk and Tradeoffs, University of Toronto (colloquium talk, metaphysics and epistemology group), Nov 2011. 62. Faith, Belief, and Evidence, Amherst College (public lecture series on rationality and religious belief), Nov 2011. 63. How Faith Makes Rational Action Possible, Baylor, Notre Dame, Georgetown Phil Religion Conference, Oct 2011. 64. Commitment and Belief, Northwestern Epistemology Brownbag Series, Sept 2011. 65. Risk and Representation, Carolina Metaphysics Workshop, UNC Chapel Hill, June 2011. 66. Risk and Representation, Orange Beach Epistemology Workshop, University of Southern Alabama, May 2011. 67. Risk and Representation, Logic and Methodology Workshop, Stanford University, May 2011. 68. Faith and its Relationship to Belief, University of British Columbia (colloquium talk), Feb 2011. 69. Faith and its Relationship to Belief, 6 th Annual Philosophy of Religion Conference, Baylor University, Jan 2011. 70. What is faith?, Phil Femme, UC Berkeley, Dec 2010. 71. Is it rational to look for more evidence?, Berkeley-London Graduate Conference (faculty keynote speaker), University College London, May 2010. 72. Risk Aversion and Rationality, Stanford University (colloquium talk), Jan 2010. 73. Is it rational to have faith?, San Francisco State University (Philosophy of Religion Society), Nov 2009. 74. Is it rational to have faith?, Cal Undergraduate Philosophy Forum, Nov 2009. 75. Different Decision or Different Decision Theory?: Modeling Risk Aversion, Group in Logic and the Methodology of Science, UC Berkeley, Oct 2009. 76. Risk Aversion and Rationality, MIT (colloquium talk), Oct 2009. 77. Is it rational to have faith?, Formal Methods in the Epistemology of Religion, Katholieke Universiteit, Leuven, Belgium, June 2009. 78. Separability, Advice-Giving, and Scoring-Rule-Based Arguments for Probabilism. (with Branden Fitelson), Formal Epistemology Festival, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, May 2009. 4
5 79. Risk without Regret, UNC Chapel Hill, Feb 2008. 80. Risk without Regret, U Illinois Chicago, Feb 2008. 81. Risk without Regret, Rutgers University, Feb 2008. 82. Risk without Regret, Southern Methodist University, Feb 2008. 83. Risk without Regret, U Mass Amherst, Feb 2008. 84. Risk without Regret, University of Iowa, Feb 2008. 85. Risk Aversion and Rationality, UC Berkeley, Jan 2008. 86. Risk without Regret, University of Pennsylvania, Jan 2008. 87. Risk without Regret, Duke University, Jan 2008. 88. Risk Sensitivity, Formal Epistemology Workshop, UT Austin, May 2005. Talk Series on Religion and Rationality (Berkeley Institute, 4 lectures each) 1. Conversions, Nov 2016. 2. Kierkegaard s Works of Love, Feb/Mar 2016. 3. MacIntyre s After Virtue (co-taught), Sept 2016. 4. Theology in the Age of Scientific Reasoning, Mar 2015. 5. Four Ways to Believe in God, Oct 2014. 6. Science and Religion, Part II, Mar 2014. 7. Science and Religion, Part I, Feb 2014. 8. What is Faith?, Oct 2013. 9. Religious Commitments and Academic Knowledge, Apr 2013. Upcoming Lectures 1. Claremont McKenna (colloquium talk), Jan 2017. 2. Metaphysics and Philosophy of Religion, USC, Jan 2017. 3. NYU Mind and Language Seminar, Feb 2017. 4. Mountain-Pacific Society of Christian Philosophers (keynote speaker), April 2017. 5. Carnegie Mellon (colloquium), Fall 2017. Comments 1. Comments on Peter van Inwagen s The Rev d Mr. Bayes and the Life Everlasting, Faith and Reason Conference, Purdue, Sept 2014. 2. Comments on Branden Fitelson s Coherence, Duke, May 2014. 3. Comments on Patricia McShane s paper on faith, Baylor, Notre Dame, Georgetown Phil Religion Conference, Oct 2013. 4. Comments on Brian Weatherson s Running Risks Morally, Bellingham Summer Philosophy Conference, Bellingham, WA, Aug 2013. 5. Comments on Michael J. Dodd s Unlocking Divine Action, Dominican School of Philosophy and Theology, April 2013. 6. Comments on Jeffrey Dunn s Reliability for Degrees of Belief, APA Central Division, Chicago, IL, Feb 2012. 7. Comments on Jacob Ross and Mark Schroeder s Belief, Credence, and Pragmatic Encroachment, Formal Epistemology Workshop, USC, May 2011. 8. Comments on Tom Dougherty s May we prefer a holiday not to be over?, Bellingham Summer Philosophy Conference, Bellingham, WA, Aug 2011. 9. Comments on Liz Harman s Good and Bad I ll Be Glad I Did It Reasoning and Caspar Hare s Composite Defects, APA Pacific Division, San Francisco, CA, April 2010. 10. Comments on Mark Jensen s Rational Unity and the Discursive Dilemma, APA Central Division, Chicago, IL, Feb 2009.
6 11. Comments on Ryan Muldoon s Social Epistemology and Individual Rationality, Formal Epistemology Workshop, Carnegie Mellon University, June 2007. 12. Comments on Armin Schulz s Condorcet and Communitarianism, Princeton-Rutgers Graduate Conference, Princeton University, March 2007. 13. Comments on Kenneth Presting s Non-Trivial Conditional Probability, Princeton-Rutgers Graduate Conference, Princeton University, March 2005. Honors and Awards: 1. UC President s Faculty Fellowship (2011-2012). 2. Doreen B. Townsend Fellowship for Assistant Professors, UC Berkeley (2011-2012). 3. Committee on Research Grants (2009-2013). 4. Research Assistantship in the Humanities, Committee on Research, UC Berkeley (2010-2011). 5. Committee on Research Travel Grant, UC Berkeley (2009-2013). 6. Research Enabling Grant, University of California, Berkeley (2009-2010). 7. Charlotte Elizabeth Proctor Fellowship, Princeton University (2007-2008). 8. Laurance S. Rockefeller Graduate Prize Fellowship, Princeton University Center for Human Values (2006-2007). 9. National Science Foundation Graduate Fellowship Honorable Mention (2004). 10. Graduate School Fellowship, Princeton University (2003-2006). 11. Committee on Undergraduate Education (CUE) Certificate of Distinction for teaching, Harvard University (2001). 12. Detur Book Prize, Harvard University (1999). Courses Taught: PHILOS 290-1: Nature, Ethics, and Rationality of Faith F 2014 PHILOS 290-1: Decision Theory: Paradoxes and Alternatives F 2013 PHILOS 290-1: Social Choice Theory F 2012 PHILOS 290-1: Science and Religion S 2011 PHILOS 290-1: Decision Theory: Preferences, Beliefs, Desires S 2010 PHILOS 290-7: Decision Theory: Time, Persons, States of Nature F 2008 PHILOS 200: First-Year Graduate Seminar F 2016 PHILOS 375: Teaching Seminar F 2016 PHILOS 141: Philosophy and Game Theory S 2009, F 2010, S 2013, S 2014 PHILOS 100: Philosophical Methods: Free Will F 2008, S 2015 PHILOS 11: Philosophy of Religion S 2009, S 2010, S 2011, S 2013, S 2015 Professional Service UC Berkeley philosophy department: Director, Berkeley Connect in Philosophy, January 2014 present. Director of Graduate Studies, Group in Logic and Methodology of Science, January 2014 June 2015 Co-organizer, Working Group in the History and Philosophy of Logic, Mathematics, and Science, 2008 present. Visiting Scholars Committee, 2008 present. Search Committee, 2014-15. Library Committee, 2008 2014. Graduate Admissions Committee, 2009-10, 2010-11.
7 UC Berkeley university-wide: Chancellor's Advisory Committee on Work and Family, Sept 2016 present. Undergraduate Council, Aug 2016 present. Howison Lectures committee, Jan 2016 present. Conference organizing: Co-organizer, Bellingham Summer Philosophy Conference, Bellingham, WA, 2012. Co-organizer, Northwest Workshop on Time and Rationality, Leavenworth, WA, 2012. Journal editing: Refereeing: Associate Editor, British Journal for the Philosophy of Science, Mar 2015 present. Editorial Board, Economics and Philosophy, Jan 2015 present. Board of Editorial Consultants, Faith and Philosophy, Sept 2015 present. Section Editor, Ergo, August 2013 July 2015. Books and Journals: British Journal for the Philosophy of Science; Broadview Press; Cambridge University Press; Canadian Journal of Philosophy; Dialectica; Economics and Philosophy; Economics and Philosophy; Erkenntnis; European Journal for Philosophy of Science; Faith and Philosophy; Journal of Medical Ethics; Journal of Philosophical Research; Mind; Oxford University Press; Philosophers Imprint; Philosophical Studies; Philosophy and Phenomenological Research; Philosophy Compass; Philosophy of Science; Res Philosophica; Synthese. Conferences and Prizes: Bellingham Summer Philosophy Conference; Berkeley-London Philosophy Conference; FCS Schiller Essay Prize in Philosophy; Fink Prize; Formal Epistemology Workshop; Models and Decisions Conference; Princeton-Rutgers Graduate Philosophy Conference; Society for Exact Philosophy Conference; Society for Philosophy and Psychology Conference; LOFT (Logic and the Foundations of Game and Decision Theory). Fellowships and Grants: France-Berkeley Fund; Notre Dame Institute for Advanced Study.