About

I am an Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Binghamton University, State University of New York. Before this, I completed my PhD in Philosophy at the University of Michigan. I am originally from near Melbourne in Australia.

I have broad-ranging research and teaching interests in the philosophy of language; social and political philosophy; feminist philosophy; the philosophy of race, gender, and sexuality; epistemology; and action theory.

My primary research program investigates the many ways power and oppression shape our agency as language users. Much of my research examines how we perform speech acts—including promises, apologies, jokes, orders, threats, and compliments. I am particularly interested in how we negotiate and disagree about what we do with words and how we should navigate questions of responsibility in situations where a speaker’s intention and the impact of their speech come apart. The theory of speech acts I develop aims to show that the speech acts we perform are not wholly under our control—speakers can sometimes be made to perform unintended speech acts, both justly and unjustly—and builds on efforts to identify and counter forms of speech-based injustice.

Some key positions I argue for include: 1) that speakers can unintentionally perform certain speech acts (like orders and threats) and be held accountable for these unintended acts, 2) that audience uptake can determine which speech act a speaker performs (in both just and unjust ways), and 3) that performing a speech act (like an apology) is a temporally extended process, like building a house or baking bread.

A second thread of my research is concerned with how power shapes our practices of knowing. I explore whether, and under what conditions, suspending judgment is an appropriate epistemic response to a sexual violence claim and examine how participating in social movements can generate moral learning.

You can find more information about my research, teaching, and outreach interests on the other pages of this website. My CV is available here.

Contact

Email: rharrison[at]binghamton[dot]edu
Pronouns: she or they
PhilPeople

Note: There is another Rebecca Harrison in philosophy! She is based at Vassar College and her research focuses on phenomenology (particularly Merleau Ponty). You can find her here.

Upcoming Talks

“How To Unintentionally Do Things with Words” at APA Eastern Division Meeting, January 8-11, 2025, NYC.

“Discursive Alienation, Agency, and Resistance” at APA Pacific Division Meeting, April 16-19, San Francisco.