Boran Berčić
PRINCIPAL RESEARCHER
Full professor tenure
University of Rijeka, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
Boran Berčić is the principal researcher of the research group. He was the leader of three previous scientific research projects: (1) Rationality (Racionalnost, MZOS RH, 2002-2006), (2) Identity (Identitet. MZOS RH, 2007-2016), and (3) Metametaphysics (Metametafizika, University of Rijeka, 2018-2022). Since 1998 he organized about a dozen annual international conferences Contemporary Issues in Philosophy at the Department of Philosophy in Rijeka. He also organizes international conferences at the IUC Dubrovnik: Analytic Philosophy (since 2005, with colleagues from the Department of Philosophy, Ohio State University) and Metaphysics (since 2017, with colleagues from the Department of Philosophy, University of Auburn). Berčić reviewed many articles for the following philosophy journals: Filozofska istraživanja, Synthesis Philosophica, Prolegomena, Croatian Journal of Philosophy, European Journal of Analytic Philosophy, Acta Analytica, Dometi, Agora; books for the publishers: KruZak, Jesenski & Turk, Dometi; research projects of the MZOS (Croatian Ministery of Science) and HRZZ (Croatian Science Foundation); made undergraduate and postgraduate programs in philosophy; he is the member of editorial boards of several philosophy journals: Croatian Journal of Philosophy, KruZak, Zagreb, 2001-2008; European Journal of Analytic Philosophy, Filozofski fakultet Rijeka, 2005-2008; Agora, Adamić, Rijeka, 1995-2000.
From his rich track record we can mention the following two contributions that are directly relevant for the research that is to be conducted in this project: the chapter “Što je filozofija?” (What is Philosophy?) in the book Filozofija – svezak drugi, 2012, p. 359-386 and the article “What is Philosophy?” in the Journal Anthropology and Philosophy, 12 (2015), p. 11-20. He will conduct his research in the field of metametaphysics, the understanding of philosophy in logical positivism, conceptual analysis, relationship between science and philosophy, philosophy as reflection, pseudoproblems and others.
Filip Grgić
RESEARCHER – COLLABORATor
Scientific adviser with tenure
Institute for Philosophy in Zagreb
Filip Grgić brings to the project research team his expertise in Ancient philosophy, specifically his knowledge regarding Ancient Skepticism. His expertise is demonstrated by the fact that he translated to Croatian and edited Sextus Empiricus’ Outlines of Pyrrhonism (Obrisi pironizma 2008). He also authored the book Skepticism and Everyday Life: Essays on Ancient Pyrrhonism (Skepticizam i svakodnevni život: ogledi o antičkom pironizmu 2017) which deals with the question whether skepticism is tenable and plausible as a life philosophy. It is because of these relevant accomplishments that his expertise will be highly suitable for investigating the practical implications of philosophical theories.
Justin Weinberg
RESEARCHER – COLLABORATOR
Associate professor
University of South California
Justin Weinberg is well-versed in contemporary epistemology, ethics and metaphilosophy. Professor Weinberg teaches Metaphilosophy at the doctoral level and is an organizer of prestigious and prominent philosophical conferences. He is the creator and author of the website called Daily Nous dedicated to the “News for and about philosophy profession,” which is esteemed and well-known amongst philosophers inside and outside academic circles. His contribution to this project will be with regards to the question of progress in philosophy, general philosophical methodology and to the normative aspects of philosophical theories and solutions. He will also be responsible for the dissemination of works, ideas and discussions related to this project through his Daily Nous website.
Andrej Jandrić
RESEARCHER – COLLABORATOR
Assistant professor
University of Belgrade, Faculty of Philosophy
Andrej Jandrić’s work for the past several years has been focused on the popular and influential discussion between Hirsch and Sider. He takes seriously the position that metaphysical problems are in fact pseudoproblems that can be eliminated through a careful analysis of the language (a position called verbalism), but nonetheless argues that metaphysical problems are not pseudoproblems. According to him, they are in fact substantive and not just verbal disputes. Furthermore, Jandrić is a great devotee and a scholar of Wittgenstein’s philosophy which makes him more than qualified to discuss the methodology of contemporary philosophy, Wittgensteinian therapeutic approach in particular.
Ljudevit Hanžek
RESEARCHER – COLLABORATOR
Assistant professor
University of Split, Faculty of Philosophy
Ljudevit Hanžek’s fields of expertise are contemporary epistemology and the philosophy of mind. In the last years he has held two compelling lectures at the Metaphysics conference at IUC Dubrovnik: one was about the nature of disagreement, the other was about the progress in philosophy. During the course of this project he could continue his work, and further develop his insightful and clever ideas, both of which are closely and directly related to the topic of this project.
Filip Čeč
RESEARCHER – COLLABORATOR
Assistant professor
University of Rijeka, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
Filip Čeč earned his PhD on the subject of libertarianism in the free will debate. He is quite familiar with metaphilosophical elements present in that discussion: shifting the burden of proof, begging the question, and he is familiar with pessimistic views on the progress and aim of some philosophical discussions, namely the one on the freedom of will. Čeč has also investigated experimental philosophy which is a subject he is knowledgeable of. Here lie his contributions to the project as well.
Mark Balaguer
RESEARCHER – ADVISOR
Full professor
California State University Los Angeles
Mark Balaguer is a highly-esteemed philosophical author. His book Metaphysics, Sophistry and Illusion (2021) is a valuable and riveting contribution to contemporary metametaphysical discussions. Professor Balaguer is a brilliant and insightful participant in philosophical discussions. His part in this project will be appreciated and valued by all of the participants. He will play an advisory role in our discussions and offer suggestions and insight into project outputs.
Timothy Williamson
RESEARCHER – ADVISOR
Full professor tenure
University of Oxford
Timothy Williamson is a made name in the contemporary metaphilosophical discussions. His Philosophy of Philosophy (2007) is a contemporary classic. Professor Williamson is a world-renowned expert on logic contemporary philosophy, philosophical methodology, and so on. We are grateful and honored to be working alongside him. His role in the project is to participate in our project discussions and to offers suggestions and ideas on the subject and to our project outputs. Thus, his role in this project is of the advisory nature but his knowledge and tenacity in philosophical discussion is absolutely invaluable for this project. His addition to this project will undoubtedly contribute greatly to the aims of the project.
Vito Balorda
Postdoctoral RESEARCHER
University of Rijeka, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences