Antonio Freiles

Home Talks Teaching Research

Antonio Freiles

I am currently a PhD Candidate in Philosophy at Syracuse University, where I have also completed an MA in Linguistics. Before completing my BA (2020) and MA (2022) in Philosophy at the University of Italian Switzerland, I grew up in Gaeta, Italy.

I mainly focus on metaphysics, the philosophy of language, and ethics.

Recent Talks

"Material Plenitude for Fineans"
2026 UT-Austin Graduate Philosophy Conference, ATX, February 27 - 28, 2026.
Abstract

Material Plenitude is the view that, for every material object, there exists a myriad of objects coinciding with it that differ only in which properties they have essentially and which they have accidentally. Metaphysicians have formulated several versions of Material Plenitude, relying primarily on modal characterizations of essences and accidents. In this paper, I first motivate the need for a version of Material Plenitude that is compatible with a Finean understanding of essential and accidental properties, and then develop such a view, Finean Plenitude. Along the way, I highlight its most significant features.

"Does Who Speaks Matter?"
Fifth Annual Formal and Experimental Philosophy Workshop, Lake Forest College, March 20 - 21, 2026.
Abstract • Handout

I present evidence against the view that certain sociolinguistic variants lead audiences to be more likely to successfully interpret an utterance when it is produced by a speaker belonging to privileged social groups. The experiments I designed and executed yield results that falsify this view. I conclude the paper by exploring the implications of the experimental findings for uptake failure and the broader theoretical debate about discursive injustice. In particular, I suggest that social personae, the constellation of character traits one aims to project through language, instead of group membership, are sometimes the source of uptake failure.

PHI 107: Theories of Knowledge & Reality. Spring 2026. Primary Instructor: Syllabus.
PHI 192: Introduction to Moral Theory. Fall 2025. Primary Instructor: Syllabus & Evaluations.
PHI 191: The Meaning of Life. Online Asynchronous, Summer 2025. Primary Instructor: Syllabus.

A paper defending an account of ontological dependence with the tools of truthmaker semantics.
A paper defending a formulation of Material Plenitude based on a hyperintensional notion of essence.
A paper raising some general issues for accounts of grounding formulated with the tools of truthmaker semantics.
A paper investigating whether uptake failure varies depending on the social identity of the speaker.
What Are the Normative Implications of Social Identities?
Abstract

A plausible view about identities such as being a professor, a citizen, or a member of the same community is that they bring with them certain duties and rights. A professor must care for their students' learning and has the right to be respected by them; a citizen should abide by the laws of their country and expect their safety to be cared for; a member of the community is obligated to offer support in times of need and has the right to expect help. Call this the normative view of social identities. Such a view has been popularized for how it provides a way to give an account of duties synchronic and diachronic to self and others. However, several objections have recently undermined its plausibility. I show that there is a way to formulate the view that evades the objections at the cost of accepting that duties are not inescapable.