Alexander (Sasha) Zouev

Profile

I am a third-year (part-time) PhD candidate in the School of Philosophy, Religion, and History of Science, supervised by Professor Darren Bradley and Dr Juha Saatsi. During my first year, I was also supervised by Professor Edward Elliott.

Prior to joining Leeds, I completed an MRes in Philosophy at Birkbeck, University of London, and an MA in Philosophy at Northeastern University London. I also hold an MSc in Financial Mathematics from Bayes Business School and a BA in Economics from the University of Oxford.

Research interests

My current research focuses on the metaphysical implications of the Simulation Argument. I aim to develop my own formulation of the argument, improving upon existing versions proposed by Nick Bostrom and David Chalmers. In addition, I defend a novel metaphysical thesis concerning simulated reality, which I call simulationism. The overarching objective of my PhD is to show how simulationism can help bridge the gap between competing forms of structural realism in the scientific realism debate, namely ontic structural realism and epistemic structural realism. My previous MRes dissertation developed an original solution to the Doomsday Argument.

Beyond my primary research in the philosophy of science, I have strong interests in epistemology, particularly global Cartesian scepticism, as well as in philosophy of mind, especially radical new theories of consciousness.

Qualifications

• MRes Philosophy (Birkbeck, University of London), with Distinction
• MA Philosophy (Northeaster University London) with Distinction
• MSc Financial Mathematics (Bayes Business School) with Distinction
• BA Economics and Management (University of Oxford)

Research groups and institutes

• Centre for Theoretical Philosophy
• Philosophy