Tanner Leighton

My research develops “irenic pragmatism” — a methodologically conservative framework in the Rorty-Brandom-Price neo-pragmatist tradition — and applies it to foundational questions in the philosophy of technology and science. Using this approach, I diagnose entrenched disputes in the philosophy of AI, philosophy of language, and quantum foundations by separating shared practice-level commitments from further semantic or metaphysical overlays, and defend the adequacy of the resulting “core” pragmatist view. I develop a positive account of linguistic agency in large language models, diagnose accountability gaps that arise when AI systems are deployed in practice, and articulate a practice-anchored core interpretation of quantum theory.