Dario Vaccaro
Dario Vaccaro
PhD Philosophy Student, Graduate Teaching Associate
I am originally from Milan, Italy. I received my Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees in Philosophy from the University of Milan. As part of my Master’s program, I also attended a full academic year at King’s College London. I moved to the US in August 2022, to pursue an academic career in philosophy.
I specialize in epistemology, metaphysics and metaphilosophy because I think this is the way to engage with the most fundamental questions a human being can ask, but I have very wide-ranging philosophical interests and am passionate about most philosophical questions. I think that a good philosopher should engage with a wide variety of topics, and I try to live up to my belief.
When I don’t do philosophy, I enjoy videogames (mostly single-player adventures and competitive fighting games), I listen to (mostly Italian) music, I work out regularly, and I can be quite the party animal in the right context.
Education
M.A., Philosophy, University of Milan, 110/110 summa cum laude
Dissertation: Naturalizing Kripkenstein: How Dispositional, Primitivist, and Skeptical Answers to Kripke’s Wittgenstein All Fit within an Evolutionary Account of Meaning (Theoretical Philosophy, Professors Andrea Guardo and Paolo Spinicci)
M.A., Philosophy, King’s College London
Exchange student for the academic year 2019/2020
Teacher Training FOR24
Qualified to teach History and Philosophy in Secondary Education institutions.
B.A., Philosophy, University of Milan, 110/110
Capstone: Reason and other Paradoxes in Robert Fogelin’s “Walking the Tightrope of Reason” (Theoretical Philosophy, Professor Paolo Spinicci)
Research
Here is a list of works in progress and ideas I am currently focusing my research on:
MAIN PROJECTS:
- (Free Will) Skepticism: I want to provide a general taxonomy of “skepticism” as used in different areas of philosophy, and show that all -apparently very different- understandings of the term have one core commitment in common. I will then apply the finding to the free will skepticism debate, and show that Derk Pereboom’s use of the term in reference to his view is problematic.
- Epistemic Implications for Metaphysical Theories: I am in the very early stages of developing a project for my final doctoral dissertation. My intention is to develop and defend a metaphilosophical view that gives great importance to the epistemic implications of metaphysical theories in assessing their ultimate viability. In short, if a certain metaphysical account of X implies that we can know that X exists, this is a major indication that such theory should be preferred over a competing theory that does not allow this implication. Once laid out, I intend to explore this methodology in debates on global metaphysics, free will and meta-ethics.
SIDE-PROJECTS:
- When does a videogame end?: I am exploring the question of what is required to “finish” a videogame. I think the question is neglected in the literature, but has important implications for the nature of the videogame medium and for practices related to videogames, including playing and reviewing them. I suspect that an important piece of the puzzle lies in the concept of an “achievement”.
- Is your partner “the one”?: I am considering the rationality of beliefs such as “My partner is the one”, where “the one” is intended in the popular sense of, roughly, “being THE right person to spend one’s romantic life with”. The philosophical problem arises when considering that it seems epistemically irresponsible to believe that the one person one is in a romantic relationship with is one’s best fit out of billions of people on Earth. I offer an account that purports to explain why in many cases this belief is, surprisingly, actually rational.
Presentations
- “Dario Vaccaro on Analytic vs Continental Philosophy and Reliability in Knowledge”, The Philosopher’s Nest Podcast, November 2022 (https://open.spotify.com/episode/ 2o6NsBRzUp0MWsiiOPTgyL?si=1396f7089cea4086)
- “Kantian Fallibilism vs Kantian Infallibilism: An Analysis”, Tennessee Philosophical Association, Vanderbilt University (Nashville, TN) – 10/21/2023
- “G. E. Moore’s Naturalistic Fallacy”, Binghamton University Graduate Conference, Binghamton University (Binghamton, NY) – 11/03/2023
- “Epistemic Overshooting”, The Inquiry Network (online workshop for academic researchers in epistemology) – 11/29/2023
- “Epistemic Privilege, Testimonial Evidence, and Disability”, presented as part of the panel “(Dis)Ability Studies”, Women and Gender Studies 50th Anniversary Conference, University of South Carolina (Columbia, SC) – 01/20/2024
- “Williamson’s Epistemology and Knowledge from Falsehood”, 45th Annual UIUC Graduate Conference, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (Urbana-Champaign, IL) – 04/06/2024
Teaching
For University of Tennessee, Knoxville (as Teaching Associate):
Summer 2024 – Contemporary Moral Problems (synchronous online)
For University of Tennessee, Knoxville (as Teaching Assistant):
Spring 2024 – Professional Responsibility (Primary: Alex Feldt & Ryan Windeknecht)
Fall 2023 – Professional Responsibility (Primary: Ryan Windeknecht)
Spring 2023 – Introduction to Philosophy (Primary: Sam von Mizener)
Fall 2022 – Introduction to Philosophy (Primary: Kristina Gehrman)
For “Parini” Classical High School:
Spring 2017 – The “Actio”: Voice, Proxemics and Interpretation