Bob Fischer

Bob Fischer is an American philosopher who specializes in epistemology (especially modal epistemology) and ethics (especially animal ethics). He is a Professor of Philosophy at Texas State University and a Senior Research Manager at Rethink Priorities. His books include Modal Justification via Theories (in which he defends his account of "Theory-Based Epistemology of Modality"), The Ethics of Eating Animals, and Weighing Animal Welfare.

Education and career Fischer earned a Bachelor of Arts in philosophy and English at State University of New York at Geneseo from 2001 to 2004.

Research Fischer's philosophical work spans epistemology and animal ethics.

Fischer's first monograph was Modal Justification via Theories, which collects the research that he and his team did from 2021-2023 on interspecies welfare comparisons. Interspecies welfare comparisons involve estimating the relative well-being levels of members of different species. For instance, if someone judges that a chicken in a battery cage is worse off than a human living a normal life, that person is making an interspecies welfare comparison. The book shows how it may be possible to make such comparisons by finding a mix of behavioral and physiological proxies for possible differences in the intensities of valenced experiences (like pleasure and pain). It then reports the results of applying that methodology.

Fischer has also conducted research on insect sentience and welfare, examining whether insects can feel pain and the ethical implications for their treatment.

Selected publications Monographs Fischer, Bob (2017). Modal Justification via Theories. Springer. Fischer, Bob (2020). The Ethics of Eating Animals: Usually Bad, Sometimes Wrong, Often Permissible. Routledge.