Don Dcruz

My philosophical sensibilities are primarily shaped in the analytic tradition with inclinations towards naturalistic and empirically informed developments. I specialise in the domains of philosophy of science and epistemology with a focus on foundational issues in the sciences of intelligent systems. This covers topics in philosophy of cognitive science and artificial intelligence that intersect in closely related ways. On the one hand I inquire into aspects of intentionality and the nature of mental processes to analyze cognitive abilities. On the other hand, I investigate problems related to knowledge, explanation and understanding when building machines with human-like abilities. Questions in these categories are pursued to advance an overarching research agenda of philosophically evaluating characterizations of intelligent behaviour. This includes assessing the scope and limits of our endeavours to engineer artificial intelligence. Apart from the classical philosophical views that underlie this agenda, my research work draws from contemporary debates concerning epistemic states and properties, principles of knowing, rationality of belief and action, and conditions for agency and responsibility. My areas of competence include the metaphysics of inter-level relations, the philosophy of Aristotle, and ethics.

Prior to my tenure as an assistant professor in IIT Delhi, I served as a full time faculty member in IIT Gandhinagar and IIIT Hyderabad. After graduating in Electrical and Electronics Engineering from the University of Kerala, I moved on to do my post-graduation and doctoral research in Philosophy from the University of Hyderabad. Before starting my academic career, I worked as a management trainee in ABB Ltd. and as an assistant engineer in Kerala State Electricity Board.