Graham Clay
Irish Research Council GOI Postdoc | University College Dublin email: graham.clay@ucd.ieCV
I am a philosopher who specializes in epistemology, philosophy of mind, and metaphysics, with a special focus on David Hume and other figures in the early modern period. My current focus is on Hume’s positions on what distinguishes stably believable philosophical claims, how we can stabilize philosophical beliefs via argument, and when and why representations of philosophical claims cause actions. My project is based at University College Dublin under Ruth Boeker and funded by a €100,000 grant from the Irish Research Council. My doctoral dissertation, which I defended in June of 2019 at the University of Notre Dame, concerned Hume’s account of knowledge. I did my undergraduate work at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Recent Essays in Popular Forums
Shaping the AI Revolution in Philosophy at Daily Nous (w/ Caleb Ontiveros)
Recent and Upcoming Talks/Events
October 14th-15th, 2022: I and Ruth Boeker are hosting the “Early Moderns on the Power of Philosophy Workshop” at University College Dublin in Dublin, Ireland.
July 11th-August 5th, 2022: I will participate in the NEH Summer Institute “David Hume in the 21st Century: Perpetuating the Enlightenment” in Portland, USA.
July 4th-8th, 2022: I will comment on Todd Ryan’s “Scepticism with Regard to Abstract Reason in the Treatise and First Enquiry” at the 48th International Hume Society Conference in Prague, Czech Republic.
April 5th, 2022: I presented “Hume’s Radical Contention: Philosophical Beliefs are Causal Beliefs” at University College Dublin in Dublin, Ireland.
March 1st, 2022: I presented “Hume’s Radical Contention: Philosophical Beliefs are Causal Beliefs” at Fort Lewis College in Durango, USA.
February 16th, 2022: I presented “Hume’s Radical Contention: Philosophical Beliefs are Causal Beliefs” at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, USA.
July 6th-11th, 2021: I presented “Hume’s Incredible Demonstrations” at the 47th International Hume Society Conference in Bogotá, Colombia.
June 9th-11th, 2021: I presented “Towards Establishing Locke’s General Ontology of Substance Dualism” at the 2021 International Conference of the John Locke Society in Naples, Italy.
Pre-COVID Events
December 5th, 2019: I hosted and moderated a public debate on immigration and citizenship at Notre Dame. Here’s a write-up in the Notre Dame school newspaper The Observer about the event, here is a video of the event on the Notre Dame Philosophy Facebook page, and here are some photos from the event:
Personal
Outside of philosophy, I really enjoy spending time in the great outdoors, whether it’s mountain biking, hiking, or birdwatching. Here are some photos of some of the places I’ve been, as well as some photos of me (and my wife Kourtney) in action:
