Matthew Kotzen

contemporaryAnalytic Philosophy

Matthew Kotzen is a contemporary analytic philosopher at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, specializing in epistemology and philosophy of probability. He is known for his work on Bayesian confirmation theory, selection effects, and the epistemology of fine-tuning arguments. His research examines how evidence bears on hypotheses, particularly in contexts involving probabilistic reasoning and cosmological arguments.

Notable Achievements

Developed influential analyses of selection effects and their impact on Bayesian confirmation

Contributed to the epistemological critique of fine-tuning arguments for theism

Advanced understanding of how background evidence constrains prior probability assignments

Published work on the relationship between confirmation theory and skeptical hypotheses

Positions & Arguments(1)

Natural Theology

claim

When focusing on a limited class of constants C, background evidence used to motivate the prior P(D) may include initial conditions of the universe, laws of physics, and values of all constants other than C