Personal page of Felix Kopecky
Contact
E-Mail: firstname.lastname@kit.edu (PGP key)
Research
Current work
There are very recent calls to explore applications of computer models and
simulations in philosophy, particularly in social epistemology (e.g.,
Grim 2019;
Mayo-Wilson & Zollman
2021). Within this line of research, I study disagreement and polarisation
in agent-based models built on the theory of dialectical structures (Betz
2009;
2013).
My focus is on argumentation and the effects that argumentative features have on
epistemological processes.
Areas of specialisation
- Argumentation theory, and in particular:
-
- computational argumentation theory
- debate typology
- Social epistemology, and in particular:
-
- disagreement
- polarisation
- Computational philosophy, particularly:
-
- agent-based models of opinion dynamics
Publications
- 2025
- Inconsistent belief aggregation in diverse and polarised groups
(with Gregor Betz). Philosophy of Science 92(1).
DOI: 10.1017/psa.2024.29.
- 2024
- Argumentation-induced rational issue polarisation.
Philosophical Studies 181(1).
DOI: 10.1007/s11098-023-02059-6.
- 2022
- Arguments as drivers of issue polarisation in debates among artificial agents.
Journal of Artificial Societies and Social Simulation 25(1).
DOI: 10.18564/jasss.4767.
Presentations
List of presentations
-
Tracking divergent debates in dialectical structures, 3rd European Conference on Argumentation, Groningen, 27 June 2019. (Slides)
-
Introduction to debate analysis with the theory of dialectical structures and Argdown (in German), Marburg, 5 December 2020 (invited).
-
Rational issue polarisation among agents with perfect memory: How argumentation shapes multi-agent epistemic processes, GAP.11, Berlin, 15 September 2022. (Handout)
-
Belief polarisation in agent-based debate models, Workshop on agent-based models of epistemic communities, Bochum, 23 February 2023 (invited).
-
Inconsistent belief aggregation in diverse and polarised groups: A computational study
- At the Institutional Epistemology Workshop 2023, Helsinki, 20 June 2023.
- At a workshop on reasoning with imperfect information in social settings, Pisa, 27 October 2023
-
On the benefit of symbolic and generative AI for philosophical research (in German), DKPHIL XXVI, Münster, 23 September 2024.
-
Diversity in dialectical structures, Computational Social Philosophy Seminar (online), 7 October 2024 (invited).
- Epistemic effects of biased argumentation in artificial societies.
- At Heinrich-Heine-Universität Düsseldorf, 30 January 2025 (invited).
- At EPSA 25, Groningen, August 2025 (Poster)
- At GAP.12, Düsseldorf, September 2025
Teaching
- Computational models in sociology and epistemology (with Michael Mäs and Gregor Betz)
Software
- taupy
- A Python package to study the theory of dialectical structures.
(Documentation;
Source code;
PyPI)
- argdown-l3
-
An Argdown parser for LaTeX. (Source code)
Academic CV
- 2020–2023
- Wissenschaftlicher Mitarbeiter (part-time) in
Gregor Betz's group
- 2020–2021
- Wissenschaftlicher Mitarbeiter (part-time) in
André Bächtiger's group
- 2019
- MA in Philosophy, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin
- 2015
- BA in Philosophy, Freie Universität Berlin
Professional CV
- since 2025
- Freelance consultant for academic publication projects in the
humanities and social scienes
- 2023–2025
- Philosophy and the Mind Sciences
- 2015–2025
- Language Science Press gUG, Berlin (in various positions)