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Dr Kristoffer Ahlstrom-Vij

Positions held:
  • Chair/Assistant Dean for Philosophy, School of Social Sciences, History & Philosophy
  • Reader in Philosophy, Department of Philosophy
Address

Room 308, 30 Russell Square

Email
  • Overview

    Overview

    Biography

    I’m Reader and Chair in Philosophy at Birkbeck College, Research Fellow at the National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR), and Research Associate at LSE’s Centre for Philosophy of Natural and Social Science (CPNSS). Before coming to Birkbeck in 2017, I was Senior Lecturer at University of Kent, Canterbury (2012-17), and post doc at Rutgers University (2009-10) and the University of Copenhagen (2010-12).

    Qualifications

    • PhD in Philosophy, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, 2010

    Web profiles

    Administrative responsibilities

    • Assistant Dean for Philosophy

    Visiting posts

  • Research

    Research

    Research overview

    I work in social epistemology with a particular interest in the intersection between theories of knowledge, empirical psychology, statistical modelling, and political philosophy.

    On the theoretical side, I’ve worked on epistemic value, virtue epistemology, epistemic paternalism, and cognitive outsourcing the handing over (outsourcing) of one’s information collection and processing (the cognitive).

    As for applied social epistemology, I’ve worked on how people process evidence of the economic impact of immigration, done experimental work on self-resolving information markets, and explored the problems posed for democracy by public ignorance and the pitfalls of social deliberation in democratic decision making.

    At the moment, I’m looking at addressing problems of public political ignorance by determining electoral outcomes through models of fully informed preferences, and exploring how such models of fully informed preferences can be used to determine what political positions people likely would have taken, had they been able to keep abreast of the constant stream of political developments.

    For a full list of past and present research projects, please vist my personal website: http://www.ahlstromvij.com/research-projects

    Research Centres and Institutes

  • Supervision and teaching

    Supervision and teaching

    Supervision

    Supervisions within Birkbeck:
    3

    I welcome research students in any of the areas of my research interests, and am always happy to receive enquiries from prospective students.

    Current doctoral researchers

    • CONOR CLARKE
      Nature of supervision:
      Principal Supervisor, onwards
      Title of thesis:
      Liberal Democracy, Legitimacy, and 'Bad' Influence
      Description:

      There are many kinds of influence on our beliefs, attitudes, and behaviours which are considered 'bad', either morally or epistemically. If we are subject to enough of these influences, then this may have negative implications for the grounds of legitimacy in liberal democracies. My project aims to explain what these bad influences consist in, how they affect legitimacy, and what we can do to manage them.

      The project involves both social epistemology and political philosophy. I have wider research interests in all areas of normative philosophy,

    • MARYAM JAFAR AGHDAMI KHAMENEH
      Nature of supervision:
      Principal Supervisor, onwards
      Title of thesis:
      Does ignorance of privilege lead to epistemic oppression?
      Description:

      In a world marked by pandemics and driven by multicultural engagement, where people with multifaceted identities interact with each other online and offline, harms such as silencing, language policing and epistemic oppression occur frequently. ‘Epistemic oppression’ refers to a persistent exclusion that prevents certain communities from contributing to social knowledge (Dotson, 2014). Much research has been devoted to how racist or sexist people silence marginalised groups. However, little attention has been given to epistemic oppressions committed by well-meaning anti-racists and anti-sexists who are nevertheless ignorant of their privileges. My PhD research offers an original contribution to social epistemology by examining such ignored cases of epistemic oppression and providing recommendations towards a more equal community of knowers. The increased attention to racism and sexism alongside movements like #BlackLivesMatter and #MeToo make this a timely and relevant project.

    Teaching

    I regularly teach undergraduate modules in Epistemology and Social Epistemology, as well as the Political Philosophy sessions of our Introduction to Philosophy module for the Conversion MA programme, geared specifically towards students with a non-philosophical background.

  • Publications

    Publications

    Article

    Book

    Monograph