Victor Gijsbers
University Lecturer Metaphysics and Philosophy of Science
- Name
- Dr. V.A. Gijsbers
- Telephone
- +31 71 527 1250
- v.gijsbers@hum.leidenuniv.nl
Victor Gijsbers is a University Lecturer at the Institute for Philosophy.
More information about Victor Gijsbers
News
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Three tips on how to celebrate World Philosophy Day -
Science & Cinema: Leiden researchers at the Leiden International Film Festival -
Rapenburg - backdrop for art and knowledge -
Victor Gijsbers wins the 2017 Faculty Education Award -
Wanted: weblecture fact checkers -
Lecturer Hebrew Studies Martin Baasten wins 2013 LSr Teaching Prize
PhD candidates
Research
My main research interests are in metaphysics, where I study the topics of time, causation, and modality. I see these topics as intimately connected: it is only through a robust (non-Humean) understanding of causality that we can understand the (dynamic) nature of time and the (inner-worldly) nature of modality. These metaphysical topics also lead me into epistemology, where I am interested in how the causal structure of the world mirrors the dynamic, reason-seeking structure of finite knowledge. Over the past decade, I have become more and more enamoured by the theoretical philosophy of Kant, and one of my aims is to develop transcendental idealism into a philosophy that is worth defending in contemporary philosophy.
Fields of interest
I used to do a lot of work on topics in the epistemology of explanation and understanding, such as the relation between explanation, understanding and unification, the contrastive nature of explanation, and the nature of mathematical explanation. While this is no longer my core research topic, I remain interested in it.
My tastes in philosophy are wide. I am passionate about the history philosophy, especially modern European philosophy from the 17th century onwards, since that is the area I know most about. Much of my current research is inspired by Kant; and I have translated Wittgenstein's Tractatus into Dutch. I'm also very willing to engage with continental philosophy, as well as with figures that sit uneasily between traditions, such as Collingwood and Rorty.
Websites:
Dr. Victor Gijsbers regularly uploads philosophy videos to his YouTube channel. Some are in-depth looks at philosophical works such as Kant's Critique of Pure Reason or Rorty's Contingency, Irony and Solidarity, while other discuss single articles or explain important philosophical topics. The channel has more than 12 thousand subscribers and is watched for about 100 hours on an average day.
YouTube channel with philosophy videos
Website with occasional philosophy posts
University Lecturer Metaphysics and Philosophy of Science
- Faculty of Humanities
- Instituut for Philosophy
- Gijsbers V.A. (2023), The paradox of predictability, Erkenntnis 88: 579–596.
- Gijsbers V.A. (2022), Vrije wil en causaal hedenisme, Tijdschrift voor Filosofie 84(1): 11-39.
- Gijsbers V.A. (2021), Perceiving causation and causal singularism, Synthese 199: 14881–14895.
- Gijsbers V.A. (2021), How (not) to judge a theory of causation, Synthese 199: 3117–3135.
- Gijsbers V.A. (2020), Review of: Rutten E. (2020), Contra Kant: herwonnen ruimte voor transcendentie. Utrecht : Kok Boekencentrum. Het goede leven .
- Gijsbers V.A. (2019), On the causal nature of time. In: Kleinberg S. (Ed.), Time and causality across the sciences. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 49-71.
- Gijsbers V.A. (2019), Wat als? Review of: Hopster J. (2018) De andere afslag: hoe had het leven anders kunnen lopen?, Wijsgerig Perspectief 2019(1).
- Gijsbers V.A. (2018), Reconciling contrastive and non-contrastive explanation, Erkenntnis 83: 1213-1227.
- Gijsbers V.A. (2017), A Quasi-Interventionist Theory Of Mathematical Explanation, Logique et Analyse 60(237): 47-66.
- Regt H. de & Gijsbers V.A. (2017), How false theories can yield genuine understanding. In: Grimm S.R., Baumberger C. & Ammon S. (Eds.), Explaining Understanding: Routledge. 50-75.
- Gijsbers V.A. (2016), Explanatory Pluralism and the (Dis)Unity of Science: The Argument from Incompatible Counterfactual Consequences, Frontiers in Psychiatry 7(32): 1-10.
- Gijsbers V.A. (2016), Rorty, scepticisme en het einde van de filosofie, Filosofie Magazine 56(1): .
- Gijsbers V.A. (2016), Denker in het donker. Tien columns voor Naturalis After Dark. Leiden: Naturalis Biodiversity Centre.
- Gijsbers V.A. (2016), Modale kennis, Wijsgerig perspectief op maatschappij en wetenschap 56(3): .
- Gijsbers V.A. (2015), Can probabilistic coherence be a measure of understanding?, Theoria 30(1): .
- Gijsbers V.A. (2015), Het scepticisme voorbij. Wittgenstein, Heidegger en Rorty over het probleem van de externe wereld. In: Mey T. de (Ed.), Het nadeel van de zekerheid: Lemniscaat.
- Gijsbers V.A. (2015), Fading foundations en het conditioneel a priori, Algemeen Nederlands Tijdschrift voor Wijsbegeerte 107(2): .
- Gijsbers V.A. (2014), Unification as a Measure of Natural Classification, Theoria : .
- Gijsbers V.A. & Bruin L. de (2013), How agency can solve interventionism’s problem of circularity, Synthese 191(8): 1775–1791.
- Gijsbers V.A. (2013), Understanding, explanation, and unification, Studies in History and Philosophy of Science 44(3): 516-522.
- Gijsbers V.A. (2011), Keuzevrijheid en autoriteit: literaire experimenten met interactieve fictie, nY: Tijdschrift voor literatuur, kritiek en amusement : .
- Gijsbers V.A. (2008), Wittgenstein als verleider, Filosofie. Tweemaandelijks tijdschrift van de Stichting Informatie Filosofie 18(4): 2-6.
- Gijsbers V.A. (2007), Why Unification is neither Necessary nor Sufficient for Explanation, Philosophy of Science 74: 481-500.
- Run a YouTube philosophy channel