Bob Fischer (philosopher)

Bob Fischer is an American philosopher who specializes in epistemology (especially modal epistemology) and ethics (especially animal ethics). He is a Professor of Philosophy at Texas State University and a Senior Research Manager at Rethink Priorities. His books include Modal Justification via Theories (in which he defends his account of "Theory-Based Epistemology of Modality"), The Ethics of Eating Animals, and Weighing Animal Welfare.

Fischer earned a Bachelor of Arts in philosophy and English at State University of New York at Geneseo from 2001 to 2004.^[1] He received a PhD in philosophy at the University of Illinois Chicago.^[1] He submitted his doctoral thesis, which was entitled Modal Knowledge, in Theory, in 2011. His advisor (and thesis committee chair) was W. D. Hart; the other committee members were Colin Klein, Walter Edelberg, Daniel Sutherland, and Karen Bennett.^[2]

From Illinois, he moved to Texas State University, first (2011–2013) as a Senior Lecturer, and subsequently as an Assistant Professor of Philosophy (2013–19), an Associate Professor of Philosophy (2019–2024),^[1] and Professor of Philosophy (2024-present).^{[citation needed]} Fischer is a Senior Research Manager at Rethink Priorities^[3] and, along with Mark Budolfson and Lisa Kramer, a director of the Animal Welfare Economics Working Group.^[4]

Fischer's first sole-authored monograph was Modal Justification via Theories,^[5] in which he defends a "Theory-Based Epistemology of Modality". According to this account, agents can have a justified belief in modal claims about certain kinds of "extraordinary" matters (e.g., philosophical issues) only if the claim follows from a theory in which they have a justified belief. Key to Fischer's account is that abductive reasoning (such as appeals to the virtue of simplicity) is well-placed to help agents to identify the theories that they are justified in believing.^[6] The epistemologists Antonella Mallozzi, Anand Vaidya, and Michael Wallner give the example of mind-body dualism. On Fischer's Theory-Based Epistemology of Modality, "we are justified in believing that mind-body dualism is metaphysically possible only if we are justified in believing a theory T from which mind-body dualism follows", but if T "is not the simplest theory, all else being equal, then one would not be justified in believing it, and thus not be justified in believing that mind-body dualism is metaphysically possible".^[6]

In 2024, Fischer published Weighing Animal Welfare, which collects the research that he and his team did from 2021-2023 on interspecies welfare comparisons. Interspecies welfare comparisons involve estimating the relative well-being levels of members of different species. For instance, if someone judges that a chicken in a battery cage is worse off than a human living a normal life, that person is making an interspecies welfare comparison. The book shows how it may be possible to make such comparisons by finding a mix of behavioral and physiological proxies for possible differences in the intensities of valenced experiences (like pleasure and pain). It then reports the results of applying that methodology.^{[citation needed]}

Monographs

• Fischer, Bob (2017). Modal Justification via Theories. Springer.
• Fischer, Bob (2020). The Ethics of Eating Animals: Usually Bad, Sometimes Wrong, Often Permissible. Routledge.^[7][8]

Debate books

• Jauernig, Anja, and Bob Fischer (2024). What Do We Owe Other Animals? A Debate. Routledge.

Textbooks

• Fischer, Bob (2021). Animal Ethics: A Contemporary Introduction. Routledge.^[9]
• Palmer, Clare, Bob Fischer, Christian Gamborg, Jordan Hampton, and Peter Sandøe (2023). Wildlife Ethics: The Ethics of Wildlife Management and Conservation. Wiley.

Edited books

• Bramble, Ben, and Bob Fischer (eds.) (2015). The Moral Complexities of Eating Meat. Oxford University Press.^[10]
• Fischer, Bob, and Felipe Leon (eds.) (2017). Modal Epistemology After Rationalism. Springer.
• Fischer, Bob (ed.) (2017). College Ethics: A Reader on Moral Issues That Affect You. Oxford University Press.^[11]
  • Second edition published 2020.
• Fischer, Bob (ed.) (2020). The Routledge Handbook of Animal Ethics. Routledge.^[12]
• Fischer, Bob (ed.) (2020). Ethics, Left and Right: The Moral Issues That Divide Us. Oxford University Press.
• Weston, Anthony, and Bob Fischer (eds.) (2023). A 21st Century Ethical Toolbox (5th ed.). Oxford University Press.
• Fischer, Bob (ed.) (2024). Weighing Animal Welfare: Comparing Well-being Across Species. Oxford University Press.

• Official website
• Bob Fischer at PhilPeople