Email: zacthorn@live.unc.edu

Pronouns: He/him/his

Zach Thornton

I am a PhD candidate at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Before coming to UNC, I completed my BA at Michigan State University. I am a graduate fellow in the Applied Epistemology Project at UNC. During the fall of 2022, I will be a visiting scholar at the University of Virginia.


I work primarily in metaphysics, particularly on issues those related to the metaphysics of identity and distinctness. In my dissertation, I defend two main claims: (1) that identity and distinctness play a special and indispensable role in systematic metaphysics, and (2) that there is a general constitutive explanation of identity and distinctness facts.


In addition to my work in metaphysics, I also have projects in social epistemology and social philosophy of language. One of these projects is on speaking up to covert evil speech, and another is about the epistemic preconditions of interpersonal relationships.