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Hello!  I am an Assistant Professor in the Department of Philosophy at San José State University. My areas of expertise are philosophy of science, ethics, and moral psychology.  I’m interested in diverse issues at the intersection of science and society.  How do we understand other minds?  How do scientific studies of mind and behavior influence the way that we see each other and ourselves?  My primary research project, “The Science and Ethics of Empathy” focuses on pressing debates about the value of empathy in contemporary society.  Is empathy the root of human goodness?  Or is it inherently biased and therefore unsuitable for moral thinking, as some anti-empathy theorists argue?  What bearing does evidence from neuroscience and psychology have on these questions of value?

About

I’m currently an Assistant Professor in Philosophy at San José State University.  I’m engaged in a major research project on the “Science and Ethics of Empathy,” which I use as a vehicle for pursuing my other wide-ranging interests in the philosophy of science, cognitive science of morality, and biomedical ethics.  I take a highly interdisciplinary… Continue reading About

Current Projects

The Science and Ethics of Empathy The Science of Empathy: Conceptual and Measurement Issues In my PhD, I argued that there is substantial conceptual confusion in empirical psychological research on empathy and that this leads to various problems for attempts to apply such research to social, political, and moral problems. I continued this work at… Continue reading Current Projects

Contact

Please contact me here or via email (riana.betzler@gmail.com) if you have questions about my research or would like a copy of my CV.