Don Dcruz is an assistant professor of philosophy in the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, IIT Delhi. Formerly, he was a full time faculty member at IIT Gandhinagar and IIIT Hyderabad. After graduating in Electrical Engineering from University of Kerala, he moved on to do his postgraduation and doctoral research in Philosophy from the University of Hyderabad. He specializes in epistemology and philosophy of science, cognition and AI. His areas of competence include logic, metaphysics and ethics. He has published papers in international journals like American Philosophical Quarterly, LNCS, and APA. He was the principal investigator of a research project titled ‘Normativity Grounding problem in the Sciences of Intelligent Systems’ from 2020 to 2022. He is a resource person for FDP workshops in various south Indian universities. Prior to his academic career, he has worked as a management trainee in ABB Ltd. and as an assistant engineer in Kerala State Electricity Board.
Contact Information
don[at]iitd.ac.in
011-2654-8750
Research Areas
Epistemology, Philosophy of Science, Cognition and Artificial Intelligence, Metaphysics, Ethics
My philosophical sensibilities are primarily shaped in the analytic tradition with inclinations towards naturalistic and empirically informed developments. I specialise in the domains of philosophy of science and epistemology with a focus on foundational issues in the sciences of intelligent systems. This covers topics in philosophy of cognitive science and artificial intelligence that intersect in closely related ways. On the one hand I inquire into aspects of intentionality and the nature of mental processes to analyze cognitive abilities. On the other hand, I investigate problems related to knowledge, explanation and understanding when building machines with human-like abilities. Questions in these topics are pursued to advance an overarching research agenda of philosophically evaluating principles of intelligent behaviour. This includes assessing the scope and limits of our endeavours to engineer artificial general intelligence. Apart from the classical philosophical views that underlie this agenda, my research work draws from contemporary debates concerning epistemic states and properties, theories of knowing, rationality of belief and action, and conditions for agency and responsibility.
Academic Background
2013-2019: Ph.D in Philosophy from University of Hyderabad
2011-2013: MA in Philosophy from University of Hyderabad
2003-2007: B.Tech in Electrical Engineering from University of Kerala (College of Engineering Trivandrum)
Employment History
Jul 2022 - present: Assistant Professor (full time), Dept of Humanities & Social Sciences, IIT Delhi
Jun 2022 - Jul 2022: Assistant Professor (full time), Dept of Humanities & Social Sciences, IIT Gandhinagar
Dec 2019 - Apr 2022: Assistant Professor (full time), Human Sciences Research Center, IIIT Hyderabad
Jan 2011 - Jul 2011: Assistant Engineer, Transmission Circle, Kerala State Electricity Board
Jul 2007 - Jun 2008: Management Trainee, ABB Ltd.