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University Hall 5004
(205) 934-4805

Pronouns: he/him

Research and Teaching Interests: Philosophy of Science, Philosophy of Biology, Philosophy of Probability, Philosophy of Social Science, Philosophy of Cognitive Science, Philosophy of Mind, Metaphysics, Epistemology, Symbolic Logic

Office Hours: Wednesdays, 1:30-2:30 p.m., or by appointment

Education:

• AB, University of California Davis, Ontology and Cognition
• PhD, University of Chicago, Philosophy

I grew up on the South Side and North Side of the City of Chicago, with a warm family life that led me to an interest in exploration—exploration of ideas, places, people, work, and social issues. I didn’t go straight to college after high school, and I didn’t go straight through college—my undergraduate studies were at three different universities—because of that exploratory interest. In college, I eventually I decided that I would develop an individual major so that I could continue exploring courses in different disciplines. But to do that, I had to figure out what questions were most important to me, so that I could organize the major around those questions. That’s when I realized what interested me most were philosophical questions about reality, evolution, mind, and culture. And that’s what led me to my current interests in philosophy of biology, philosophy of probability, and philosophy of cognitive science and culture. Later, in graduate school, I worked as a professional computer system administrator and programmer, and that led to my interest in computer modeling, both as a philosophical topic and as a tool for doing philosophy.

I love thinking about philosophy of science and other areas of philosophy. Philosophy of science is the area of philosophy that investigates how scientific knowledge depends on the ways that scientists design and perform experiments, observe nature, formulate their ideas, and use mathematical models and computers. Even though science is woven into our lives, few people stop to think about the deep philosophical questions that it raises.

Philosophy of science overlaps with other philosophical areas, including epistemology (the study of knowledge and justification), metaphysics (the study of the nature of reality), and ethics (because science can depend on choices that involve ethical issues). Although philosophy of science is one of the core areas of philosophy, it's also fundamentally interdisciplinary: In addition to studying philosophy, philosophers of science study sciences. History and other social sciences also play an important role in philosophy of science.

By the way, my courses usually don't assume that you already know about any of the things mentioned above! All that you need is an interest in philosophy — or in science. I teach courses on general philosophy of science, philosophy of biology, philosophy of mind and artificial intelligence, philosophy of social science. I also teach interdisciplinary courses that integrate philosophy with other areas of study.

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