Teruji Thomas

About Me

I am a senior research fellow in philosophy at the University of Oxford, based at the Global Priorities Institute. My current work is mainly in ethics, decision theory, and epistemology. I have previously done some work in the philosophy of mathematics and the foundations of physics, and I have recently been exploring new projects related to the philosophy of AI.

I was previously a mathematician, working on some topics in representation theory and algebraic geometry. My PhD was from the University of Chicago, and I held research fellowships at Oxford and Edinburgh. Having collaborated on some interdisciplinary projects, I decided to retrain in philosophy, completing a second doctorate at Oxford in 2016.

Overview

I supervise graduate students and sometimes teach classes for the BPhil. I have also taught philosophy undergraduates at various Oxford colleges. In the past I have taught mathematics as a tutor and course lecturer.

Please contact me if you are interested in tutorials or supervision.

My Former Students

Here are students I've supervised through the end of their doctorates (I've supervised some others on a temporary basis):

Graduate Classes

In spring 2025 I intend to co-teach the graduate class ‘Topics in Political Philosophy’ with Hilary Greaves.

In autumn 2020 I co-taught the graduate class ‘Topics in Moral Philosophy’ with Andreas Mogensen.
Canvas page >

In winter 2019 I co-taught the graduate class ‘Fundamentals of Decision Theory’ with Andreas Mogensen.
Canvas page >

In autumn 2017 I co-taught the graduate class ‘Topics in Ethics’ with Hilary Greaves.
Reading lists and notes >

In winter 2017 I lectured on ‘Degrees of Belief’, a short introduction to Bayesian epistemology and decision theory.
Hand-outs >

Research Topics

Here is a list of some philosophical topics I have worked on, or am thinking about working on. Please feel free to contact me for more information.

Population ethics (especially in the person-affecting and utilitarian traditions)
Aggregation and uncertainty
Small probabilities in decision theory
Time-relative interests and personal identity
Self-locating credences and anthropic reasoning
Philosophy of AI, especially artificial agents/patients
Awareness and conceptual change
Vagueness and contingency of value
Mathematical structuralism
Symmetries in physics

Here is the research agenda of the Global Priorities Institute.

Assorted Notes

PHILOSOPHY

MATHEMATICS

Notes on QFT and Geometric Quantization
Seminars at Edinburgh, c. 2012 >

Hecke Theory in the Language of Vector Bundles
Master’s thesis, 2003 >

Structure Constants of the Global Hecke Algebra
Research proposal, c. 2006 >

Structure Constants Formulary
Note on tamely ramified automorphic forms on the projective line, c. 2007 >

Cobordisms, Categories, and Quadratic Forms
Talk for Oxford Topology Seminar, 2008 >

Edinburgh Maslov Index Seminar
Lecture notes thanks to Thomas Koeppe, 2010 >

External Profiles

ORCID — Web of Science — PhilPapers — Bluesky