Tokyo Forum For Analytic Philosophy

Program

Friday 2 Oct 2026
Yair Levy

TBA

Speaker: Yair Levy
From: Tel Aviv University
URL: https://www.yairlevy.sites.tau.ac.il/
Abstract: TBA

 
 
Friday 9 Oct 2026
Alexandre Declos

TBA

Speaker: Alexandre Declos
From: Université de Neuchâtel
URL: https://www.unine.ch/philo/alexandre-declos/
Abstract: TBA

 
 
Friday 23 Oct 2026
Sui Shimizu

Toward a Generative View of Testimonial Justification

Speaker: Sui Shimizu
From: Hokkaido University
URL:
Abstract: The debate between transmissive and generative views of testimony is usually framed in terms of knowledge. According to the generation view, testimony can generate knowledge even when neither the speaker nor the testimonial chain previously possessed that knowledge. However, Wright (2016) argues that the real issue underlying the dispute concerns justification rather than knowledge, particularly propositional justification. Despite the significance of this challenge, a generative account of testimonial justification remains largely unexplored. Interestingly, a similar debate in the epistemology of memory has developed in a different direction. While early discussions focused on the generation of memorial knowledge, subsequent work has centred on whether memory preserves or generates propositional justification, yielding increasingly refined accounts of the preservative/generative distinction. In this talk, I draw on these developments in the epistemology of memory to reconsider the testimonial case. Using the framework proposed by Miyazono and Tooming (2025), I examine existing generative accounts of testimony and sketch a more precise way of understanding the distinction between the transmission and generation of testimonial justification.

 
 
Friday 13 Nov 2026
Tomoya Kubota

TBA

Speaker: Tomoya Kubota
From: University of Tokyo
URL: https://researchmap.jp/kubotatomoya?lang=en
Abstract: TBA

 
 
Friday 20 Nov 2026
Chris Letheby

TBA

Speaker: Chris Letheby
From: University of Western Australia
URL: https://research-repository.uwa.edu.au/en/persons/chris-letheby/
Abstract: TBA

 
 
Friday 4 Dec 2026
Frank Zenker

Bayesian Confirmation Without the Problems of Old Evidence and Circularity

Speaker: Frank Zenker
From: Nankai University
URL: https://phil.nankai.edu.cn/enn/2023/0301/c29847a505408/page.htm
Abstract: Bayesian Confirmation Theory faces two core challenges: the Problem of Old Evidence, where known data fails to incrementally confirm a hypothesis, and the Circularity Problem, where defining confirmation via posterior probabilities presupposes the very belief state being evaluated. This paper dissolves both problems by defining confirmation through the Likelihood Ratio, grounded in an agent’s hypothetical prior probability distribution—their evidence-independent reasoning commitments. Because contingent evidence has a probability between 0 and 1 in this prior distribution, the old evidence retains its actualized confirmational power without counterfactual assumptions. Furthermore, because LR relies exclusively on likelihoods, it avoids circularity by operating independently of posterior probabilities or initial priors. Beyond resolving historical paradoxes, this framework provides a principled criterion for scientific pursuitworthiness, allowing researchers to assess an experiment's potential epistemic value prior to gathering data.

 
 
Friday 8 Jan 2027
Diana Craciun

TBA

Speaker: Diana Craciun
From: University College London / Human Abilities Center, Berlin
URL: https://www.dianacraciun.co.uk
Abstract: TBA

 
 
Friday 22 Jan 2027
Gurpreet Rattan

TBA

Speaker: Gurpreet Rattan
From: University of Toronto
URL: https://discover.research.utoronto.ca/5751-gurpreet-rattan/about
Abstract: TBA

 
 
Friday 14 May 2027
Sam Clarke

TBA

Speaker: Sam Clarke
From: University of Southern California
URL: https://sampclarke.net/
Abstract: TBA