I am a philosophy professor who interprets the social world and seeks to change it, too. I study the nature and meaning of social categories—things like race, gender, and sexual orientation.
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My current research question is: how do social categories operate in a diverse, fragmented, and ambiguous social world? In a series of papers, I argue that social categories are often indeterminate and scalar (viz., come in degrees).

I received my PhD in Philosophy from MIT in 2017. I received my BA in Philosophy from UNC Chapel Hill in 2012. I specialize in metaphysics and philosophy of language.

Office Phone: (919) 660-3050
Email Address:
Web Page: http://www.kevinrichardson.org/

Education:
Ph.D., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2017

Teaching (Fall 2025):

• PHIL 209.01, Philosophy of language Synopsis

  East Duke 108, MW 10:05 AM-11:20 AM

• PHIL 590S.01, Special fields seminar (top) Synopsis

  West Duke 204, M 01:25 PM-03:55 PM

Recent Publications   (More Publications)

• Richardson, K. "Derivative Indeterminacy." Erkenntnis 90.1 (January, 2025): 169-185. [doi]  [abs]
• Richardson, K. "Value Magnetism: Why Conceptual Engineering Requires Objective Values." Global Philosophy 34.1-6 (December, 2024). [doi]  [abs]
• Richardson, K. "Social Reasons." Journal of Applied Philosophy 41.5 (November, 2024): 863-879. [doi]  [abs]
• Richardson, K. "Social construction and indeterminacy." Analytic Philosophy 65.1 (March, 2024): 37-52. [doi]  [abs]
• Richardson, K. "The Metaphysics of gender is (Relatively) substantial." Philosophy and Phenomenological Research 107.1 (July, 2023): 192-207. [doi]  [abs]