Areas of Specialization: Epistemology, Metaethics
Since 09/2025
SNSF Ambizione Fellow (Project: "Relational Epistemology")
University of Zurich
12/2020 – 08/2025
Postdoctoral Researcher
University of Zurich
09/2021– present
Research Associate, African Centre for Epistemology and Philosophy of Science (ACEPS)
University of Johannesburg; Visits: 02-03/2022; 04-05/2025; 01/2026 (in planning)
09/2022-08/2023
SNSF Postdoc Mobility
University of Southern California & University of Glasgow
10/2015 – 11/2020
Ph.D. in Philosophy; Dissertation: The Problem of Mental Responsibility (summa cum laude)
FAU Erlangen-Nuremberg; funded by German Academic Foundation (Studienstiftung)
04/2019 – 11/2020
Research Assistant (Wissenschaftlicher Mitarbeiter & Assistent)
FAU Erlangen-Nuremberg & Universität Zürich
2015 – 2019
Visiting Graduate Student
University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), City University of New York (CUNY), University of Reading
04/2011 – 09/2015
M.A. in Philosophy, B.A. in Philosophy and German Studies
FAU-Erlangen-Nuremberg
University of Zurich
Schmidt, S. (2025). Responsibility for Rationality: Foundations of an Ethics of Mind. Routledge. (external link).
Kiesel, D., Schmidt, S., and Smettan, T. (eds.) (2024). Altruismus. Interdisziplinäre Perspektiven. Metzler. (external link).
van Loon, M., Schmidt, S., and Meylan, A. (eds.) (2023). Beyond Evidence in Epistemology. Special Issue of Philosophical Topics. (external link).
Schmidt, S. and Ernst, G. (eds.) (2020). The Ethics of Belief and Beyond. Understanding Mental Normativity. Routledge. (external link).
Schmidt, S., Mitova, V., Meylan, A. (forthcoming). The Ethics of Belief in Conspiracy Theory. In Tsapos, M., Coady, D. (Ed.). Conspiracy Theory and Society Research Handbook. Edward Elgar Publishing. .
Schmidt, S. (2025). Should We Respond Correctly to Our Reasons?. Episteme. (external link).
Schmidt, S. (2025). Review of Cameron Boult: Epistemic Blame. The Nature and Norms of Epistemic Relationships. Ethics, 135, 773-778. (external link).
Schmidt, S. (2025). Review of Nadja El Kassar. How Should We Rationally Deal with Ignorance?. Deutsche Zeitschrift für Philosophie, 73 (4), 548–553. (external link).
Schmidt, S. (2025). Précis (zu Responsibility for Rationality) und Repliken zu den Kommentaren von Sanja Dembić und Benjamin Kiesewetter. Zeitschrift für Philosophische Forschung, 79 (3), 393-397, 411-416. (external link).
Schmidt, S. (2025). Individuelle Verantwortung für Genozidleugnung. Ein Kommentar zu Melanie Altanians The Epistemic Injustice of Genocide Denialism. Zeitschrift für Philosophische Forschung, 79 (2), 265-269.. (external link).
Schmidt, S. (2025). The Ubiquity of Higher-Order Defeat. Pacific Philosophical Quarterly. (external link).
Schmidt, S. (2024). Blameworthiness for Non-Culpable Attitudes. Australasian Journal of Philosophy, 102, 48-64. (external link).
Schmidt, S. (2024). Epistemic Blame and the Normativity of Evidence. Erkenntnis, 89, 1-24. (external link).
Schmidt, S. (2024). Doxastic Dilemmas and Epistemic Blame. Philosophical Issues, 34, 132-149. (external link).
Schmidt, S. (2024). Ist es erlaubt zu philosophieren? Altruismus und das gute Leben. In Kiesel, D., Schmidt, S., and Smettan, T. (Ed.). Altruismus. Interdisziplinäre Perspektiven. Metzler. .
Meylan, A. and Schmidt, S. (2023). Refusing the COVID-19 vaccine: what’s wrong with that?. Philosophical Psychology, 36, 1102-1124. (external link).
Schmidt, S. (2023). Incoherence and the Balance of Evidential Reasons. Asian Journal of Philosophy, 2 (50), 1-10. (external link).
Schmidt, S. (2023). The Ethics of Belief in a Burning World. Australasian Philosophical Review, 7, 404-410. (external link).
van Loon, M., Schmidt, S., and Meylan, A. (2023). Introduction: Beyond Evidence in Epistemology. Philosophical Topics, 51, 1-8. (external link).
Schmidt, S. (2022). On Believing Indirectly for Practical Reasons. Philosophical Studies, 179, 1795-1819. (external link).
Schmidt, S. (2021). Wie vernünftig sind Verschwörungstheoretiker? Corona und intellektuelles Vertrauen. In Jaster, R. and Keil, G. (Ed.). Nachdenken über Corona. Philosophische Essays über die Pandemie und ihre Folgen. Reclam, 98-109. .
Schmidt, S. (2020). Introduction: Towards an Ethics of Mind. In Schmidt, S. and Ernst, G. (Ed.). The Ethics of Belief and Beyond. Understanding Mental Normativity. Routledge, 1-20. .
Schmidt, S. (2020). Rationality and Responsibility. Australasian Philosophical Review, 4, 379-385. (external link).
Schmidt, S. (2020). Responsibility for Attitudes, Object-Given Reasons, and Blame. In Schmidt, S. and Ernst, G. (Ed.). The Ethics of Belief and Beyond. Understanding Mental Normativity. Routledge, 149-175. .
Kiesel, D. and Schmidt, S. (2019). Freier Wille, Personale Identität und epistemische Ungewissheit. In Dagmar Kiesel and Cleophea Ferrari (Ed.). Willensfreiheit. Klostermann, 221-258. .
Schmidt, S. (2017). Why We Should Promote Irrationality. Grazer Philosophische Studien, 94, 605-615. (external link).
Schmidt, S. (2016). Können wir uns entscheiden, etwas zu glauben? Zur Möglichkeit und Unmöglichkeit eines doxastischen Willens. Grazer Philosophische Studien, 93, 571-582. (external link).
Schmidt, S. (2015). Wittgensteins Antirelativismus in Über Gewissheit. In Kanzian, C., Mitterer, J., and Neges, K. (Ed.). Realismus – Relativismus – Konstruktivismus. Beiträge des 38. Internationalen Wittgenstein Symposiums. Austrian Ludwig Wittgenstein Society, 268-270. .