tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-70039870794315240722024-02-08T04:01:59.795-08:00Drinking Saké with GodA Philosopher and His Mental EpisodesTonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11161968832078307328noreply@blogger.comBlogger34125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7003987079431524072.post-28008057353596773872015-12-30T07:56:00.002-08:002015-12-30T07:56:53.087-08:00From Late 2014 to the End of 2015<span style="color: #38761d;">Many things have happened during this period, mostly good things. The visiting to U.C. Berkeley was great - as before I am always very productive there. I have restarted to submit papers for publication, and there have been some success. A paper on the Molyneux's question is out on <i>i-Perception</i>, and another one on Kripkenstein is out on <i>Philosophical Investigations</i>. Both were written at Berkeley, though in different years. There are more to come.</span><br />
<span style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #38761d;">At Berkeley, I visited several labs, including visual space lab led by Marty Banks and Alison Gopnik's developmental lab. In 2015, the visit to UCL's Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience with Patrick Haggard has been very fruitful: the first half of it I was part of the team exploring thermal grill illusion without touch, and the second half we wrote a paper together for <i>The Body and the Self, Revisited</i>. The part-time psychology course at Birkbeck is almost done. The engagement of science has been the main theme of 2015 for me.</span><br />
<span style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #38761d;">The main thing I will need to focus on from now on is the dissertation. The main themes have been objectivity, space and perception, but the exact shape is unstable. I am not sure how much I will need to worry about this. Every year I meet with my supervisor ten times or more, and we have good discussions. But most materials written for supervisions cannot be used in the draft. I don't know what to do. But I guess there is no way out of this. I simply need to carry on (and hopefully keep calm).</span>Tonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11161968832078307328noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7003987079431524072.post-62678776373440832872014-08-23T12:52:00.001-07:002014-08-23T12:52:54.809-07:00Progresses at UCL<span style="color: #38761d;">Since the last note, lots of things have happened and I am never in the mood to update. Even now I feel a bit lazy, but just for my own record, here are several lines.</span><br />
<span style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #38761d;">The part-time course at Birkbeck is going fine: I will do research methods I and II, and developmental psychology, and that would fulfill the basic requirement. Other than that, I seek to gain practical experiences by participating experimental works. Earlier this year I joined the "Rethinking the Senses" project" run by the CenSes under University of London, and will be part of it throughout. From January 2015 I will join the Action and Body lab run by Patrick Haggard at Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience for a year. At the same time I attend lab meetings of Matt Longo's BodyLab on regular basis. All these are very exciting, but I do not pretend that I am doing well now, and I am not even sure how far I can go down this route. Whenever I hear academic conversations from people in sciences I still feel quite lost. But in any case this is what I feel like doing now so will carry on and see how it goes.</span><br />
<span style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #38761d;">As for philosophy, I just finished the MPhil. Stud. with a thesis on visual attention and discrimination. It's continuous with my thesis at CUNY, but now I approach it with a different angle, namely perception of magnitude and related notions. This is something that I will keep working on in the future, but after submitting the thesis I will take a break from it and move on to other areas within philosophy of perception.</span><br />
<span style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #38761d;">At this point I am sitting on a desk I used to work at U. C. Berkeley. Next time when I update it will be my adventure here.</span><br />
<span style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span>Tonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11161968832078307328noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7003987079431524072.post-49224108573245308282013-09-22T14:06:00.001-07:002013-09-22T14:07:34.339-07:00A part-time psychologist<span style="color: #38761d;">I don't really know how to start describing all these.</span><br />
<span style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #38761d;">Since ASSC in 2008, I have been very impressed by empirically-informed philosophy.</span><br />
<span style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #38761d;">However, given many reasons and excuses, many of them cultural, I stayed in my comfort zone. I did very traditional philosophy of mind and epistemology. There is nothing wrong with them. I had fun, and I still like them. Still, I feel that something is missing; something I do not know how to even begin to learn.</span><br />
<span style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #38761d;">When I moved to CUNY in 2010, I have been entirely converted. One single most important thing the western world taught me is that it is never too late - people around me are keen to learn new things, including those are already in their seventies. Why can't I learn new knowledge in unfamiliar areas, even if I was already 30 or so?</span><br />
<span style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #38761d;">The question is how. I had been surveying many ways to learn psychology and neuroscience. I audited classes, studied text books, read papers, attended talks, spent time with scientists. I did learn much from all these, but nothing systematic; nothing good enough to help my research. I felt that I have been doing this for several years but it did not work</span><br />
<span style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #38761d;">During a trip to Berkeley in 2011, I had much time to rethink my approach. At that time I was pretty sure that I will move to London after 2012, so I checked resources in London. I discovered that at Birkbeck there are flexible courses for those who do not have background. Other schools have similar resources too, though many of them are MSc that might be too challenging for me. Basically, I will not get in most of them. But since then I have borne this information in mind.</span><br />
<span style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #38761d;">And I moved to London. Now it has been one year. Lots of things happened during this year, and I have been considering how to start this adventure. Last week, I finally figured out what I should do and all the details. I am starting a certificate course at Birkbeck from this term. It consists of 6 courses that roughly cover the first 1.5 years in undergrad. This is exactly what I need. At the same time, I will seek to apply for MSc for next year's entry. It might not work, but in that case I will simply complete the certificate course. It sounds humble or even boring, but nothing better I can do. I will start from scratch.</span><br />
<span style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #38761d;">The story has been cut down very short, but it should be enough for those who care about my progress. So far I have only got the student ID and nothing has started. But from next week the new adventure will begin. No matter whether this is silly, I am definitely doing it.</span><br />
<span style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span>Tonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11161968832078307328noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7003987079431524072.post-54416307418937260572013-09-22T13:52:00.002-07:002013-09-22T14:09:44.895-07:00So Long, Fred<div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 15.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #38761d; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">To my
memory I met Fred Dretske twice. The first time was at Rutgers Epistemology
Conference 2011. During one long coffee break (30 mins or so), he was left
alone in the middle of the crowds by random. I was not going to talk to him,
since although my thesis back then was related to his hyper OVERFLOW view about
the content of consciousness (i.e., an extreme version of Ned Block's relevant
view), at that moment I was not ready to ask questions about it. But in any
case he had been left alone for a while (which is not normal given who he is),
so I made a move and brought up the issues I'd like to talk about. He was keen
to discuss it and found a table for us, which was unexpected - I thought he
might have simply said something quickly and tried to leave. As a result we
discussed relevant issues for at least 20 minutes. The overall message is that
he was provoked by Daniel Dennett's extreme sparse view and attempted to count
against it, and my position was that Fred's view is an overreaction and is not
well supported by his arguments. I still hold this verdict today.</span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #333333; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 15.0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 15.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #38761d; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The
second time we came across was at Pacific APA 2012, where he presented his
critic of Susanna Siegel's book on the content of visual experience. My view
was different from both, but I learned something important from Fred's
comments. I was surprised by the fact that he not only showed up at conferences
given his age, but also presented something for us. During that conference I
did not have a chance to further talk to him, but both of us attended a session
where Josh Weisberg and Adrienne Prettyman were presenters and Richard Brown
was a commentator. Fred asked helpful questions during the session. He saw me
in the audience and waved to me. I believe he might not recall my name but it
does not matter. That was a nice farewell.</span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #333333; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 15.0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 15.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #38761d; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Given
that Fred was still active last year, I presume his last days were not too
painful. I might be wrong, but that is my wishful thinking.</span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #333333; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 15.0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 15.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #38761d; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Like
many philosophers in my generation, I have not had a chance to study his
classic works carefully. But I will. My thesis at CUNY has the title
"Consciousness and the Flow of Attention," which was unabashedly
inspired by Fred's seminal work. I am glad that as a philosopher in this
generation I overlapped with this great philosopher.</span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #333333; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 15.0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 15.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #38761d; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">So
long, Fred. We will miss you.</span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #333333; font-family: "Helvetica Neue"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Tonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11161968832078307328noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7003987079431524072.post-24070374481734467662012-11-27T12:49:00.000-08:002012-11-27T12:50:46.444-08:00Midterm Reports<span style="color: #38761d;">Three papers need to be turned in couple of weeks. For metaphysics, I am going to defend a version the necessity of origin thesis; for epistemology, a hybrid view of rational entitlement (i.e., externalism for non-inferential knowledge and internalism for inferential knowledge); for later Wittgenstein, some interpretations of his "immunity to error through misidentification," and whether it is defensible in the face of putative neuropsychological counterexamples such as somatoparaphrenia. Now I feel much better about everything around, but still, many challenges to be overcome.</span><br />
<span style="color: #38761d;"><br />
As for conferences, this weekend will be MindGrad at Warwick. In December, there will be the Sperber week in Paris and a symposium on <i>Philosophy without Intuition</i> by Herman Cappelen and his critics. Life has become more and more exciting towards the end of 2012!</span><br />
<br />Tonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11161968832078307328noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7003987079431524072.post-63156413643263289332012-10-22T12:27:00.000-07:002012-10-22T12:28:19.560-07:00Autumn 2012, London, and Why I Miss NYC<span style="color: #38761d;">Now I have again become a first-year student in yet another program. Being new is not always fun, in general. I am still struggling with many things, including coursework, friends, mobile phone, etc. Without wasting too much time complaining, I shall list the classes I am doing for the record.</span><br />
<span style="color: #38761d;"><br />
1. 'Epistemology' by Jose Zalabardo</span><br />
<span style="color: #38761d;">2. 'Practical Criticism' (first-year seminar) by Mark Kalderon</span><br />
<span style="color: #38761d;">3. 'Recent Philosophical Writings' (first-year seminar) by Rory Madden</span><br />
<span style="color: #38761d;">4. 'Metaphysics' by Ian Phillips</span><br />
<span style="color: #38761d;">5. 'Wittgenstein's Later Philosophy' by Paul Snowdon</span><br />
<span style="color: #38761d;"><br />
For auditing, there are:</span><br />
<span style="color: #38761d;">1. '<i>A Priori</i> Knowledge' by Marcus Giaquinto</span><br />
<span style="color: #38761d;">2. 'Empiricism' by Paul Snowdon</span><br />
<span style="color: #38761d;">3. 'Philosophy of Mind and Cognitive Science' by Ian Phillips</span><br />
<span style="color: #38761d;">4. 'Experience' by Mark Kalderon</span><br />
<span style="color: #38761d;"><br />
As you can see, I am taking five, and this is quasi-mandatory, to my surprise. I have to do two first-year seminars for more than one term, and two to three optional ones, for several terms. This is really much heavier than any coursework in the U.S.I have heard of. Given that coursework is not even a rule in the U.K., this is even more surprising. Although I am personally fond of coursework, this is obviously too much. I am chased by readings everyday and in many cases I fail to do readings carefully.</span><br />
<span style="color: #38761d;">--</span><br />
<span style="color: #38761d;"><br />
Some remarks about life: I live with my wife now and that's a huge difference, fortunately by and large positive. I find it harder to make friends here, and this is also to my surprise. I would have expected that after two years in NYC, having my English and social skills improved, I should find it easier. But it's the other way around. Maybe it's partly due to wrong expectations. But I suspect other factors play significant roles. First of all, philosophers here do go out for drinks and so on, but there are much fewer get-togethers among philosophers, as far as I know. Maybe it's because I am new to here so have no access to relevant information, but when I was in NYC, I always got many invitations about this and that, without spending to much time trying to know what's happening around me. Anyway, there are fewer chances to hang out with colleagues, at least for now.</span><br />
<span style="color: #38761d;"><br />
This might not be a bad thing, since a worry about NYC is that there are always too many fun events, including philosophical ones, and people find it hard to sit down and do real works. It's easier in London - no doubt that we have Institute of Philosophy, Aristotelian Society, Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, to name just a few, but overall it's fewer. There is nothing like the Cogsci group organized by David Rosenthal, the Consciousness project led by Dave Chalmers, and Qualia Fest by Richard Brown et al., among many others. It's just different. Again I am not in a position to complain, since London is really great enough, and probably even better in certain respects, but I cannot deny that I miss NYC a lot since nothing like Cogsci group etc. can be found here.</span><br />
<span style="color: #38761d;"><br />
Let me end with a positive thought. I believe it's overall better for me, intellectually, to stay away from NYC for a while. It's too happy there, intellectually. I spent so much time with people from CUNY, NYU, Columbia, Rutgers, Princeton, MIT, Harvard, and so on. They are all great. I mean, really great. But I failed to sit down and do more serious works myself. If I were to stay there for my Ph.D., I would be very happy, since I would be able to hang out with those great people, on daily basis. There is no denying that London in particular and the U.K. in general are great as well, but people here are generally more reserved and calm - they are great, but it's harder to access. Again there are Institute of Philosophy etc. and they are wonderful, but the degree of activeness is simply incomparable. I suspect that very few people would understand my feelings. After all, who can be so lucky to do philosophy in both cities for substantial periods? Maybe I should shut up and do works now.</span><br />
<span style="color: #38761d;"><br />
In terms of daily life, I prefer London, strongly. I am not going to elaborate this since I just want to write on philosophy-related matters here. When it comes to intellectual life, my feelings are as above. In a sentence, in NYC I had more fun but less time to work, while in London I have less fun but more time to work. Given this, I still regard my choice for Ph.D. in London as good, since in dissertating one probably needs more time to sit down and do works. But NYC is a place I would like to go back again and again, even I really hate many things there, for example the subway.</span><br />
<span style="color: #38761d;"><br />
By the way, I miss Berkeley a lot too, but in a very different way. That's an entire different story.</span><br />
<span style="color: #38761d;"><br />
Okay, time to work.</span><br />
<span style="color: #6aa84f;"><br /></span>Tonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11161968832078307328noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7003987079431524072.post-61422889512027973432012-07-19T05:06:00.000-07:002012-07-19T05:09:07.781-07:00Evolution and Function of Consciousness<span style="color: #274e13;">Just for a record; too busy to write anything.</span><br />
<span style="color: #274e13;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="color: #274e13;">http://users.ecs.soton.ac.uk/harnad/TuringEvolutionConsciousness.htm</span><br />
<span style="color: #274e13;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="color: #274e13;">Cheers,</span>Tonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11161968832078307328noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7003987079431524072.post-71057395509710052662012-01-28T19:57:00.001-08:002012-01-28T20:09:58.335-08:00Spring 2012 So Far<span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);">Although the semester just started for two weeks, I have done lots of stuffs (the semester for CUNY has not even started). I need to take only one class in this final semester, and that one is Jesse Prinz's "Morality and the Self." Though I am not especially interested in moral philosophy, I am still excited about it.</span><br style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);"><br style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);"><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);">Other attended classes include:</span><br style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);"><br style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);"><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);">Philosophy:</span><br style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);"><br style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);"><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);">1. "Naturalizing Conceptual Content" by Jerry Fodor and Zenon Pylyshyn</span><br style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);"><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);">2. "Descriptions" by Gary Ostertag</span><br style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);"><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);">3. "Persons" by Carol Rovane</span><br style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);"><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);">4. "The Particularity of Perceptual Experience" by Susanna Shellenberg</span><br style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);"><br style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);"><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);">Psychology:</span><br style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);"><br style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);"><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);">1. Behavioral Neuroscience</span><br style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);"><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);">2. Attention and Perception</span><br style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);"><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);">3. Cognition and the Brain</span><br style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);"><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);">4. Consciousness and Attention (all at Columbia)</span><br style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);"><br style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);"><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);">Those in psychology are mainly undergrad lectures, so they are not especially challenging. I try to learn as much as possible and to improve English listening by the way. It's always an issue for non-native speakers.</span><br style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);"><br style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);"><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);">As for philosophy, I am pretty happy about the options this semester. I also need much time for the M.A. Thesis, but since I started pretty early on, I am not too worried about it. At this point I have finished the introduction and chapter 1. The first draft should be done by the end of February, and then I will have plenty of time revising it.</span><br style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);"><br style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);"><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);">I will also have many academic trips this semesters; some records will be posted in due course (for my own records, at least).</span><br style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);"><br style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);"><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);">New York is great, at least for philosophy, and I will come back again and again. Maybe it's a bit odd to say this at the beginning of the semester, but I just feel like saying it.</span><br style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);"><br style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);">Tonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11161968832078307328noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7003987079431524072.post-62277356286054133582011-11-27T18:34:00.000-08:002011-11-27T18:41:04.454-08:00Tentative Contents of the M.A. Thesis<span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);"> </span> <style> <!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:Cambria; panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:3 0 0 0 1 0;} @font-face {font-family:Garamond; panose-1:2 2 4 4 3 3 1 1 8 3; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:3 0 0 0 1 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0cm; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; 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line-height: 150%; color: rgb(51, 102, 102);" align="center"><span style="font-size:16.0pt;mso-bidi-line-height:150%; font-family:Garamond;font-size:12.0pt;" lang="EN-US" >C</span><span style="font-size:14.0pt; mso-bidi-line-height:150%;font-family:Garamond;font-size:12.0pt;" lang="EN-US" >ONSCIOUSNESS</span><span style="font-size:16.0pt;mso-bidi-line-height:150%; font-family:Garamond;font-size:12.0pt;" lang="EN-US" > </span><span style="font-size:14.0pt; mso-bidi-line-height:150%;font-family:Garamond;font-size:12.0pt;" lang="EN-US" >AND</span><span style="font-size:16.0pt;mso-bidi-line-height:150%; font-family:Garamond;font-size:12.0pt;" lang="EN-US" > </span><span style="font-size:14.0pt; mso-bidi-line-height:150%;font-family:Garamond;font-size:12.0pt;" lang="EN-US" >THE</span><span style="font-size:16.0pt;mso-bidi-line-height:150%; font-family:Garamond;font-size:12.0pt;" lang="EN-US" > F</span><span style="font-size:14.0pt; mso-bidi-line-height:150%;font-family:Garamond;font-size:12.0pt;" lang="EN-US" >LOW</span><span style="font-size:16.0pt;mso-bidi-line-height:150%; font-family:Garamond;font-size:12.0pt;" lang="EN-US" > </span><span style="font-size:14.0pt; mso-bidi-line-height:150%;font-family:Garamond;font-size:12.0pt;" lang="EN-US" >OF</span><span style="font-size:16.0pt;mso-bidi-line-height:150%; font-family:Garamond;font-size:12.0pt;" lang="EN-US" > A</span><span style="font-size:14.0pt; mso-bidi-line-height:150%;font-family:Garamond;font-size:12.0pt;" lang="EN-US" >TTENTION</span></p><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);"> </span><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center; line-height: 150%; color: rgb(51, 102, 102);" align="center"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family:Garamond;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center; line-height: 150%; color: rgb(51, 102, 102);" align="center"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family:Garamond;">Tony H. Y. Cheng</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center; line-height: 150%; color: rgb(51, 102, 102);" align="center"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family:Garamond;"><br /></span></p><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);"> </span><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center; line-height: 150%; color: rgb(51, 102, 102);" align="center"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family:Garamond;"> </span></p><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);"> </span><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center; line-height: 150%; color: rgb(51, 102, 102);" align="center"><u><span style="font-size:14.0pt;mso-bidi-line-height:150%; font-family:Garamond;font-size:12.0pt;" lang="EN-US" >Table of Contents</span></u></p><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);"> </span><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 150%; color: rgb(51, 102, 102);"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family:Garamond;">Introduction<span style="mso-tab-count:1"> </span>Facing up to Some ‘Easy’ Problems of Consciousness</span></b></p><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);"></span><span style="font-family:Garamond;mso-fareast-font-family:Garamond; mso-bidi-font-family:Garamond;" lang="EN-US"><span style="mso-list:Ignore">0.1<span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman""> </span></span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family:Garamond;">Chalmers’ Reservation</span><span style="font-family:Garamond;mso-fareast-font-family:Garamond; mso-bidi-font-family:Garamond;" lang="EN-US"><span style="mso-list:Ignore"><br />0.2<span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman""> </span></span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family:Garamond;">Block’s Puzzle about Conscious Phenomenology</span><span style="font-family:Garamond;mso-fareast-font-family:Garamond; mso-bidi-font-family:Garamond;" lang="EN-US"><span style="mso-list:Ignore"><br />0.3<span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman""> </span></span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family:Garamond;">What Overflows What? P-Consciousness, A-Consciousness, Accessibility, Access, Attention, Working Memory, and Reportability<br /><br /></span><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);"> </span><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 150%; color: rgb(51, 102, 102);"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family:Garamond;"> </span></p><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);"> </span><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 150%; color: rgb(51, 102, 102);"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family:Garamond;">Ch. 1<span style="mso-tab-count:1"> </span>Informational AND Phenomenal Persistence? Sperling Revisited</span></b></p><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);"></span><span style="font-family:Garamond;mso-fareast-font-family:Garamond; mso-bidi-font-family:Garamond;" lang="EN-US"><span style="mso-list:Ignore">1.1<span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman""> </span></span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family:Garamond;">The Sperling Paradigm and Its Interpretations</span><span style="font-family:Garamond;mso-fareast-font-family:Garamond; mso-bidi-font-family:Garamond;" lang="EN-US"><span style="mso-list:Ignore"><br />1.2<span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman""> </span></span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family:Garamond;">Block’s Case for OVERFLOW</span><span style="font-size:11.0pt;mso-bidi-line-height:150%;font-family:Garamond;font-size:12.0pt;" lang="EN-US" > </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family:Garamond;">and Its Critics</span><span style="font-family:Garamond;mso-fareast-font-family:Garamond; mso-bidi-font-family:Garamond;" lang="EN-US"><span style="mso-list:Ignore"><br />1.3<span style="font:7.0pt "Times New Roman""> </span></span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family:Garamond;">COVARIANCE</span><span style="font-size:11.0pt;mso-bidi-line-height:150%; font-family:Garamond;font-size:12.0pt;" lang="EN-US" ></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family:Garamond;">: A Hypothesis Introduced and Defended<br /><br /></span><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);"> </span><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 150%; color: rgb(51, 102, 102);"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family:Garamond;"> </span></p><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);"> </span><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 150%; color: rgb(51, 102, 102);"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family:Garamond;">Ch. 2<span style="mso-tab-count:1"> </span>Change Blindness OR Inaccessibility? Speckled Hen Revisited</span></b></p><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);"></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family:Garamond;">2.1<span style="mso-tab-count:1"> </span>Change ‘Blindness’ and Its Interpretations</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family:Garamond;"><br />2.2<span style="mso-tab-count:1"> </span>Dretske’s Case for RICHNESS</span><span style="font-size:11.0pt;mso-bidi-line-height:150%;font-family:Garamond;font-size:12.0pt;" lang="EN-US" ></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family:Garamond;"> versus Tye’s Case for SPARSENESS</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family:Garamond;"><br />2.3<span style="mso-tab-count:1"> </span>COVARIANCE</span><span style="font-size:11.0pt; mso-bidi-line-height:150%;font-family:Garamond;font-size:12.0pt;" lang="EN-US" ></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family:Garamond;">: Extending the Analysis<br /><br /></span><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);"> </span><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 150%; color: rgb(51, 102, 102);"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family:Garamond;"> </span></p><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);"> </span><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 150%; color: rgb(51, 102, 102);"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family:Garamond;">Ch. 3<span style="mso-tab-count:1"> </span>Larger Contexts: Theories of Consciousness</span></b></p><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);"></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family:Garamond;">3.1<span style="mso-tab-count:1"> </span>What HOT, AIR, and Other Theories Have to Say</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family:Garamond;"><br />3.2<span style="mso-tab-count:1"> </span>Do Chimps Beat Humans in Memory Test?</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family:Garamond;"><br />3.3 A Grand Illusion, an Unsolvable Puzzle, or Let’s Go out of Our Heads? Skepticisms from Dennett, Schwitzgebel, and Noë Reconsidered<br /><br /></span><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);"> </span><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 150%; color: rgb(51, 102, 102);"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family:Garamond;"> </span></p><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);"> </span><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 150%; color: rgb(51, 102, 102);"><b style=""><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family:Garamond;">Appendix 1<span style="mso-tab-count:1"> </span>Empirical Substances for a Transcendental Story</span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 150%; color: rgb(51, 102, 102);"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family:Garamond;"><br /></span></b></p><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);"> </span><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 150%; color: rgb(51, 102, 102);"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family:Garamond;"> </span></p><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);"> </span><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 150%; color: rgb(51, 102, 102);"><b style=""><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family:Garamond;">Appendix 2<span style="mso-tab-count:1"> </span>Historical Roots: Rationalism, Empiricism, and Phenomenology</span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 150%; color: rgb(51, 102, 102);"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family:Garamond;"><br /></span></b></p><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);"> </span>Tonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11161968832078307328noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7003987079431524072.post-74106494150801477482011-10-09T09:22:00.000-07:002011-10-09T09:46:01.269-07:00Copenhagen, Tübingen, Vermont<span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);">My recent three conference presentations (including a forthcoming one) illustrate my converging interests in psychology, old-school philosophy of mind, and phenomenology. A brief record is as follows.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);">The recent project is to understand the relations between cognitive access and conscious phenomenology. In August the presentation was in Copenhagen for "Phenomenology and Philosophy of Mind." In that one, I tried to relate empirically-informed philosophy of mind to traditional phenomenology, including its contemporary descendants such as Dan <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Zahavi</span>. In September the presentation was in <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Tübingen</span> for "<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">Operationalization</span> of Mental States," where I focused more on the interface between philosophy and psychology. And soon in Vermont, I will try to relate my current project to my old interest, John McDowell's philosophy. Now I think to engage his philosophy alone is not truth-conducive at all, but it does not mean that the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">McDowellian</span> philosophy itself is not illuminating. In this forthcoming talk I will try to relate my position concerning Ned Block's access/phenomenology distinction to McDowell's relatively recent view that experiential contents are <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">intuitional</span>, not propositional. And I will try to show how this view can avoid the Myth of the Given; truly old-school analytic philosophy.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);">Again, all of them are not big deals. The literature concerning Block's distinction is huge, especially if we include those from psychology and neuroscience. I am only starting, and most of the time they simply blow my mind. Moreover, those conferences are good but not especially hard to get a slot, so I am not under the illusion that I have made significant progress. No. Struggles continue, and I am still ignorant and lame. But this is me; I will take it and keep going.</span>Tonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11161968832078307328noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7003987079431524072.post-87816780054293599472011-07-30T07:51:00.000-07:002011-07-30T08:30:53.258-07:00Consciousness, Content, and Credence: Some Long-Term Projects<span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);">I planned to spend much time on philosophy this summer, but due to some family affairs I was not able to do so. But I do come up with some thoughts about the following years, so it might be nice to put them down at this point.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);">Now I am pretty sure that I will move to University College, London in Fall 2012. CUNY Graduate Center is a wonderful place for philosophy, and people there are generally nice to me. It is just that my topics and approaches do not fit very well with them. And for both philosophical and non-philosophical reasons I would like to spend more time in Europe. I can keep going forever in listing reasons for this decision, but anyway I have made it.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);">I will spend another year at CUNY to get the M.A. degree, and for this purpose I will need to write a Master thesis. The topic will be the relations between phenomenology and cognitive accessibility, and the main target is Ned Block's 2007 BBS paper. I have come up with a significant part of that project, temporarily named "How Attention Shapes Phenomenology," and it will be presented at the summer school held by The Center for Subjectivity Research of the University of Copenhagen. I have also submitted the paper to other occasions, but it is hard to expect too much. In that paper, I propose a specific understanding of cognitive accessibility, "weak identification," which is between Block's sense of identification (being able to pick out the identity of the stimuli) and Michael Tye's demonstration (being able to ask "what is it?" in relation to given stimuli). I then argue that the degree of weak identification co-varies with the degree of phenomenology. The motivation of this proposal is to capture the fact that both cognitive accessibility and phenomenology come in degrees.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);">Maybe I will change my mind about the position or the way to conceive the debate, but I am pretty sure that I like the topic and I believe it is a good one: it is philosophically significant, and it is a good starting point for many interesting further inquiries.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);">At UCL, I will start with M.Phil and pursue Ph.D later, so I will need to write two more big things for my student career. Although it is almost impossible to predict what will happen, it is fun to do some daydreaming. For M.Phil, I would like to pursue further the project I developed at CUNY, since it is very rich and convoluted and I do not believe one or two years are enough for that. However, I will focus on different aspect of the debate. At CUNY (i.e., now), I am basically working within Block's framework, and the main theme is consciousness. In M.Phil, I would like to focus more on content, if possible. I believe there are strong connections between consciousness and content, and Block's Overflow debate is a nice entry point to show how contents are shaped by consciousness. Details are impossible to be spelled out here, but anyway I have some ideas about it. At UCL, I hope to be able to work with Dr. Ian Phillips on this topic. He has a wonderful paper on Block's debate ("Perception and Iconic Memory"), and he has many interesting things to say about experiential content. It will be really nice if I can pursue this line during M.Phil.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);">For Ph.D, it is even harder to predict, but if possible it is good to further extend the above project. I would like to think more about epistemological issues then. I am interested in both philosophy of mind and epistemology, and my current position is that the former should constrain the latter, not the other way around. A one-sentence argument is that our minds are not evolved to refute skepticism. Anyway, after establishing some views in consciousness and content, it seems natural to extend the whole thing to epistemological issues. Epistemological disjunctivism should be highly relevant, and self-knowledge should be interesting too. But at this point it is really to difficult to predict the details.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);">If feasible, I also hope to pursue a MSc in psychology in London. In the year at CUNY I have been converted into a naturalistic philosopher (at least methodologically), and I become more and more interested in psychology itself. Although there is no denying that I find it hard to study science, I will try my best to dive into it.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);">That's it for now. Let's look forward the Copenhagen summer school and other adventures in the world!</span>Tonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11161968832078307328noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7003987079431524072.post-46990514074860655102011-06-04T13:21:00.000-07:002011-06-04T18:42:23.236-07:00Philosophy in an Age of Science<span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);">This is the title of the conference in honor of Hilary Putnam's 85<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">th</span> birthday. I think it is a nice gloss of contemporary philosophy as well. This is true in a trivial sense: natural sciences have been well established for at least two hundred and fifty years, and philosophy during this time is automatically qualified as "philosophy in an age of science." However, this title has a deeper connotation.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);">Philosophy is a weird subject. One can virtually do almost whatever one likes in this field, and this implies that one can disregard sciences and say whatever they like in philosophy. Of course this does not mean that people like that can all succeed in their professions, but at least there is no principal reason they will fail.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);">I do not think that philosophy is parasitic on sciences. However, I believe the interactions with sciences should be taken more seriously. There are so many branches in philosophy that are closely related to sciences: philosophy of science (obviously), of physics, of biology, of psychology, of mind, of language, and so on. Some kinds of metaphysics and ethics are like that too. Philosophers in these branches have no good excuse to avoid sciences. As Putnam remarked at the conference, philosophers of science should learn quantum mechanics, as opposed to pretending that they can work with Newtonian physics exclusively. This remark, together with my general suggestion above, might seem trivially true. And I agree. The trouble is that in practice it is difficult for philosophers - including myself - to follow the truism.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);">Before coming to the U.S., I always thought that it has been too late for me to learn psychology. And though I attended a lot events in psychology and tried to learn a bit, I found lots of excuses to not take it more seriously. To be sure, I have always respected the subject and taken it seriously theoretically speaking, but in practice I refused to engage it in more direct ways.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);">That was silly, and now I finally overcome it. After this year in NYC, I have totally changed my mind. The seminar on attention and perception by Ned Block and David Carmel in particular blew my mind, in a good way. And this conference for Putnam reinforced my new conviction: I want to do philosophy in an age of science, in a much more serious way. And Putnam is such a good paradigm for that.</span>Tonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11161968832078307328noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7003987079431524072.post-45062269037344712752011-05-05T19:45:00.000-07:002011-05-05T20:18:34.654-07:00Fall 2011 Schedule: Epistemology and Biology (and Much More)<span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);">Spring has been extremely busy, given that I attend totally eight classes, and many many events around. I went to Harvard four times this semester so far, and there will be another one at the end of this month; Putnam's birthday, you know. And I started to spend more time at Rutgers. Hopefully next semester I can do even more, and perhaps Princeton as well.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);">Now, fall 2011. Of course I haven't made the final decision, but it will be even crazier; that's for sure. Officially I will take this three:</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);">Epistemology, Michael Levin</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);">Philosophy of Biology, Peter Godfrey-Smith</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);">Theory of Mind in Animals and Infants, Robert Lurz</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);">They fit perfectly with my future project: philosophy of mind informed by <span style="font-style: italic;">psychology, biology, and epistemology.</span> In the spring I have spent considerable time in psychology, and I will spend more during the summer, and of course, throughout my career. In the fall, I will concentrate on epistemology and biology. Again, it is not as though I can manage them quickly, but at least I need to start, and those three classes fit my purpose perfectly.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);">Now for those I might sit in on:</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);">Epistemology, Alvin Goldman</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);">Carnap's </span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(51, 102, 102);">Aufbau</span><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);">, Ralf Bader</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);">Kripke's Philosophy of Semantics, Nathan Salmon</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);">Materialism, Mark Johnston and Frank Jackson</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);">Metaphysics, Carol Rovane</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);">Metaethics, Sharon Street</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);">Quine and Sellars on Thought and Language, David Rosenthal</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);">Okay, I am insane, and I know that. I must admit that this is extremely tiring, and I sometimes cannot really focus during classes. But I still learn a lot from this kind of schedule. I don't care how people look at me about this. I mean, most of them do not understand my background, and I don't blame them. The simple story is that in my home country western philosophy is not good enough, so in the past my education did not help me too much (let alone high schools and elementary school). On top of that, it is highly possible that I will need to have my career back there, and I will not have this kind of stimulating environment there. So I have to get as much as possible when I study abroad. There are much more details about this miserable story, of course.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);">Tell you what, Yu Guo, possibly the best Asian student in this ballpark (apart from native English speaker Asians, of course), works much harder than myself, though in a very different way; he often concentrates on his work virtually by himself. I take it as only a matter of style, reflecting our different personalities. At one point I will need to do something like he is doing now, but as a first-year (OK, second-year soon), I still want to learn to philosophize by attending a lot. It's hard to say what the balance is, but I will keep trying and at the mean time find the best way for me.</span>Tonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11161968832078307328noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7003987079431524072.post-37021076742570150602011-04-10T18:21:00.000-07:002011-04-10T18:40:15.804-07:00Okay, Now What?<span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);">There have been two months that no update appears. The graduate applications are all dead, and the conference submissions are almost all dead - I do not have time to attend the only one I got. And I spent some time recovering for all those defeats. But I do not stop, not even a day. The past two months are the most productive period in recent years. I just simply don't feel that there is anything worthy of posting; I just keep learning.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);">Now I need to worry about the term papers for </span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(51, 102, 102);">The First Critique</span><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);">, Aesthetic Psychology, and Consciousness. I will write on spatial orientation for Kant, attention and aesthetic experience for psychology, and cognitive accessibility for consciousness. I try to deveop more positive, substantial theses this time.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);">And there will be the Rutgers Epistemology Conference in May, and the Putnam one in late May/early June; good things for one to look forward to. Two workshops on attention at Harvard are great too.</span>Tonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11161968832078307328noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7003987079431524072.post-84971672102717149682011-01-26T15:34:00.000-08:002011-02-05T09:46:59.609-08:00Spring Schedule Determined<span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);">I give up attending any undergrad lectures, and dropped Plato and Hume. But I am happy with my decisions. This PHILOSOPHY OF MIND semester demands me to do so. The most exciting thing is that I plan to go for a psychology seminar entitled "Consciousness and Attention" taught by </span><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);">Hakwan</span><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);"> </span><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);">Lau</span><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);"> at Columbia. I am lucky enough to notice this one in the last minute.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);">It is not clear to me that I am able to understand many things in this one, but I am happy to try. I need to know how far I can go in the empirical direction.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);">And in order to retain my secondary interest in philosophy of language, I will attend "Propositions" by Gary </span><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);">Ostertag</span><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);">. Who knows; maybe I will come back to language in the future, provided that I have suitable environment.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);">And I am still waiting for the results of all those graduate applications and conference submissions.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);">And although I have many ideas, I decide not to put them in the blog recently. This is not because I am aware that no one really reads them, but because I want to spend more time reading. So many things to learn.</span>Tonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11161968832078307328noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7003987079431524072.post-210619784898971612010-12-20T19:36:00.000-08:002010-12-20T19:42:53.614-08:00Important Graduate Conferences CFP Due Dates<style>@font-face { font-family: "Cambria"; }p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal { margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman"; }div.Section1 { page: Section1; }</style> <p style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102); font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:85%;"> </span></p> <p style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102); font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:85%;">Oxford: Mid Aug.</span></p> <p style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102); font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:85%;">MindGrad: Early Sep.</span></p> <p style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102); font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:85%;">USC/UCLA: Late Oct.</span></p> <p style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102); font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:85%;">Pitts/CMU: Late Dec.</span></p> <p style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102); font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:85%;">Austin: Early Jan.</span></p> <p style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102); font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:85%;">Harvard/MIT: Early Jan.</span></p> <p style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102); font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:85%;">NYU/Columbia: Mid Jan.</span></p> <p style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102); font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:85%;">Princeton/Rutgers: Mid Jan.</span></p> <p style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102); font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:85%;">CUNY: Late Jan.</span></p><p style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102); font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /></span></p><p style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102); font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:85%;">I hope I can do at least one or two of them during the Ph.D.; it's very hard, I know.<br /></span></p>Tonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11161968832078307328noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7003987079431524072.post-48811739933301647732010-12-17T18:17:00.000-08:002010-12-17T18:38:39.527-08:00Spring 2011 Schedule: Kant, Consciousness, and Aesthetics (and Much More)<span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);">So I finally finished the difficult semester for philosophy of language. Next semester will be even busier, given that so many courses I want to sit in on. But let me start with the official three.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);">There is one on Kant's </span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(51, 102, 102);">First Critique</span><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);">. This time I really want to focus more on the text itself; in the past I relied on secondary literature too much. And there will be Jesse Prinz's "Aesthetic Psychology"; this might be the most challenging one for me, since I have never touched on aesthetics in the past. And there will be David </span><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);" class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Rosenthal's</span><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);"> "The Function of Consciousness." Philosophy of mind, </span><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);" class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Ich</span><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);"> </span><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);" class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">comme</span><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);">!</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);">I might want to sit in on some undergrad classes at NYU, but I suspect that I won't be able to do so. As for seminars, two "must go" are Ned Block's one on perception and Christopher </span><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);" class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">Peacocke's</span><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);"> one on self-consciousness. Again, even if I restrict myself to this two, it is already too much indeed. But this is New York. And there will be Ernest Sosa's epistemology. Some other possibilities include one on Plato's </span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(51, 102, 102);">Republic</span><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);"> and one on Hume's </span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(51, 102, 102);">Treatise</span><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);">. I will do my best. Since I suspect I will move to somewhere else to write the dissertation, I need to maximize what I can learn here.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);">By the way, I just submitted 10 graduate applications and 5 conference proposals; I expect all of them will be turned down, though. Philosophy, so competitive!</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);">And now I have to work on the review of </span><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);" class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">Chalmers's</span><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);"> new book. It's way too big!</span>Tonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11161968832078307328noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7003987079431524072.post-63279688061536408902010-12-12T17:43:00.000-08:002010-12-12T17:54:56.274-08:00Graduate Application, Round II<span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);">That's what I have been doing for this entire semester, or at least some time slices of it. Actually there is nothing really worthy recording. Just to write down some random thoughts.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);">I was going to apply for 20+ places again, but later I decided to go for only 10. The main reason is that I am pretty sure about what I want to study in the following years, and that's a very narrow topic, at least in the U.S. to my observation. So there is no good philosophical reason for me to insist on staying in this country. To be sure, there are still some places I would like to go; that's why I still apply. But now they are very few (i.e., 10 or so). If shut out, I will go to the U.K. or Australia. No hesitation now.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);">And if shut out, staying in NYC for a M.A. thesis is not a bad idea as well. I want to write about proprioception, and there is at least one professor around who can help me with this. That said. I still try my best in applying. It is just that I am not as obsessed as I was last year.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);">A lot to say, as usual, but since no one cares, I shall keep my non-philosophical posts minimal.</span>Tonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11161968832078307328noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7003987079431524072.post-31894896437151439232010-11-19T18:08:00.000-08:002010-11-19T18:23:46.550-08:00Time and the Unity of Consciousness<span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);">It is not that I have anything interesting to say about these tough stuffs; it is a conference again, and at Harvard again. One thing NYC is so great academically is that places such as Harvard, MIT, Rutgers, and Princeton are all within reach. Of course it is not as if I can <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">incorporate</span> most resources from them. Philosophy is very different from parties; it takes a lot of time, and showing up in many events does not mean one learns much. That said, I still think it is good to reach these resources, especially in my first year.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);">So I will meet Sean Kelly and Susanna <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Siegel</span> again, and I look forward to meeting Adam <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">Pautz</span>, Fiona <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">Macpherson</span>, Ian Phillips, Geoffrey Lee (again), L. A. Paul, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">Berit</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">Brogaard</span>, among others. Again, philosophy is not like fasion shows; to talk to <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">philosophers</span> one admires does not mean that one learns much, especially at a one-day conference. But still I will try my best to learn. So far the most important message from this semester is that I still have a very long way to go. Philosophy is so damn hard.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);">In addition to this exciting event and other ones, I am finishing two term papers entitled "On Believing That" and "Meaning, Communication, and Minimal Propositions." As I wrote in the previous reminder, I do not believe one seminar can turn anyone into an expert or anything like that in an area. They are just term papers; no matter how hard I work, they look just amateur.</span>Tonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11161968832078307328noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7003987079431524072.post-14623410244190255372010-10-24T17:09:00.000-07:002010-10-24T17:55:34.325-07:00New Project: Reviewing THE CHARACTER OF CONSCIOUSNESS<span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);">David Chalmers, a highly systematic philosopher, recently compiled his works concerning consciousness into a huge book. By huge here I mean around 600 pages. It can be roughly divided into the problems, the science, the metaphysics, the concepts, the contents, and the unity of consciousness. It is hard to imagine that in this era a single philosopher can manage to cover all these grounds, especially given that he also has big theories in semantics and metaphysics.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);">I am lucky enough to have a chance to write a review for this "<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">monsterpiece"</span> (Bill <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Lycan</span> uses this term to describe <span style="font-style: italic;">Making It Explicit</span>), though the journal is far from first-rate. But it is good enough for me at this stage. My tentative plan is to situate the book into larger contexts: the first will be the relations between mind, language, and metaphysics, and the second will be the debate between empiricists and rationalists.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);">Chalmers has developed a sophisticated version of two-dimensional semantics since more than a decade ago, and he systematically applies it to his views on consciousness and metaphysics. This is extraordinary. He sometimes postulates a third kind of content, for example the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">Edenic</span> content in perception. This is related to his commitment of "semantic pluralism."</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);">I think it is even more interesting if we place Chalmers into the empiricist-rationalist debate. This debate has lasted for several centuries, so it is impossible to do justice to all aspects of it when talking about it, but roughly, we can say that typical rationalists defend innateness in mind, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">analyticity</span> in language, necessity in metaphysics, and <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">apriority</span> in epistemology. Empiricists tend to deny one or more of them. Representatives for this debate in the twentieth century are Quine (empiricist) and <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">Kripke</span> (rationalist). In the long run, it seems that it is <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">Kripke</span> who wins the game: in particular, his revival of modality animates tons of projects in later analytic philosophy. Contemporary rationalists, including <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">Brandom</span>, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">Peacocke</span>, and many others, have successfully and fruitfully developed their projects based on modality. Now I propose that Chalmers is one among them. He is often classified as a philosopher of mind specializing in consciousness, but I think this conception of his projects is far too narrow. I think a correct conception of his projects is to view him as a rationalist, who theorizes about modality and related notions, with an emphasis on issues concerning consciousness.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);">Do I believe in rationalism broadly construed? I don't know. This question is too big for someone like me to answer. All I can say is that to understand more about the empiricist-rationalist debate will be my main life project. In the past few years, I was educated in the empiricist tradition: I started with Quine, and spent some time on Davidson, and ended up writing a long thesis on McDowell. For now, I am still a minimal empiricist. However, in the course of this education, I have been thinking about whether we can really do without necessity and <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">apriority</span>, or even <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10">analyticity</span>. Now I am in the East Coast, and here is definitely rationalistic, at least by my own judgment (and contemporary empiricism is pretty weak anyway; Davidson attempts to kill empiricism in his dismantling of scheme-content dualism, and though McDowell insists on empiricism, he is too often to be dismissed by the main stream analytic philosophy). I treasure this environment, since it forces me to take rationalists more seriously: in the past, I did not dismiss them (I am not that arrogant), but I simply did not have a chance to study them more. Now I am able to do that. The first step is to study Chalmers more, and I do so by forcing myself with a deadline: a deadline for the review.</span>Tonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11161968832078307328noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7003987079431524072.post-60351860599091065502010-10-17T14:33:00.000-07:002010-10-17T15:55:14.460-07:00The Self and Spatial Perception<span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);">They are not necessarily (in the epistemic sense) related, but they are the themes of the two conferences interesting me most in this semester. The former is the topic of the 62nd Northwest Philosophy Conference, with Galen Strawson and Richard Moran as keynote speakers. I presented a paper on self-identification and somatoparaphrenia there, and now it is also accepted as a poster by the Pacific APA 2011. I defend a minimal version of "immunity to error through misidentification" in that paper, but now I am not sure I like it. As for the keynote addresses, they are far too difficult and abstract for me to summarize here.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);">I look forward even more to the Harvard conference on spatial perception. Philosophers I would like to meet there including Michael Tye, Brad Thompson, Robin Jeshion, Sean Kelly, and Susanna Siegel, among others. This topic is not very available in my current intellectual niche, so I am really excited about it. I will post the afterthought later, since the conference is on Halloween!</span>Tonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11161968832078307328noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7003987079431524072.post-44933347492260435382010-09-18T15:50:00.000-07:002010-09-18T15:53:54.690-07:00Reminders<span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);">Don't think that you can become an expert of something through one or two seminars.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);">Don't be hurried; philosophy just can't be.</span>Tonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11161968832078307328noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7003987079431524072.post-44340354783722699712010-09-14T05:28:00.000-07:002010-09-14T05:51:25.240-07:00Desperate, So Far<span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);">I cease to attend <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Kripke's</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Frege</span> and Pryor's Lambda seminar, as expected. I will keep <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">Longuenesse's</span> </span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(51, 102, 102);">Third Critique</span><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);">; it is even better than I expected. And Mind&Language is fantastic as well, especially they have a preparation seminar for students.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);">Still, I am even more desperate about applications. First about the letters. Last year I really thought my letters were going to help me, but that was a big mistake. Now I even suspect that they hurt my applications. But what can I do? For one thing, I have no way to confirm my hypothesis, and secondly, even if we assume it is correct, how can I repair the situation? Before this round I only have one complete semester or less, and that will not help me too much as far as the letters are concerned.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);">And I am worried about the sample as well. My best try is to use the term paper for "Linguistic Pragmatism" (<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">Devitt</span>), but the time is just not enough. Worse still, recently I am reading </span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(51, 102, 102);">Insensitive Semantics</span><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);"> by <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">Cappelen</span> and <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">Lepore</span>, and try to meet some of their challenges. They are tough. These days I finally came up with some ideas, with a tentative title "Context Sensitivity and Indirect Discourse." Unfortunately, when I randomly browse</span><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);"> the latest </span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(51, 102, 102);">PPR</span><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);"> I found there is an article "Context Sensitivity and Indirect Reports," and the author is also arguing against C&L at exactly the same point. What an unhappy coincidence for me.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);">The only thing I can be happy about is that I thereby avoid a possible plagiarism accusation.</span>Tonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11161968832078307328noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7003987079431524072.post-59454341932063189542010-08-28T16:25:00.000-07:002010-10-17T17:24:21.874-07:00Fall 2010 Schedule: Language, language, and Language<span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);">So finally I pick the following three:</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);">The Nature of Semantic Content, Nathan Salmon</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);">Linguistic Pragmatism, Michael <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Devitt</span></span><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);">Modal Logic, Melvin Fitting and Richard <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Mendelsohn</span></span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);">I am determined to force myself into philosophy of language this whole term. These days I started to read/re-read some materials, and still find them hard. Philosophy of language always makes me like a novice, no matter when I come back to it. This time, however, I will be more strict to myself.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);">I might want to sit in <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">Kripke's</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">Frege</span> seminar, and I will definitely attend the Mind & Language seminar at NYU by Ted <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">Sider</span> and David Chalmers. Also, I will attend the Cognitive Science Symposium led by David <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">Rosenthal</span>. Maybe too much, but I really want them all.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);">There are two I will go for the first week, but probably the first week only. They are Beatrice <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">Longuenesse's</span> Kant (<span style="font-style: italic;">Third Critique</span>), and Jim Pryor's Lambda seminar, co-taught with Chris Barker (http://lambda.jimpryor.net/). The former is only remotely related to my interests, and the latter is too advanced. Another one I really want to attend is <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">Akeel</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">Bilgrami's</span> seminar on self-knowledge. Time just doesn't allow me to do so.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);">And at the beginning of Oct., I will present a paper at the 62<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">nd</span> Northwest Philosophy Conference, with "The Self" as the annual theme (http://www.willamette.edu/cla/philosophy/nwpc/). I am not sure whether I can be accepted by more conferences, but we will see.</span>Tonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11161968832078307328noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7003987079431524072.post-11577427883439431862010-08-03T20:51:00.000-07:002010-08-03T21:14:55.097-07:00Hard-Core Philosophy of Language<span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);">I need it, but I am also afraid of it. In this coming semester, I might take Professor Nathan Salmon's "Topics in the Nature of Semantic Content" and Professor Michael </span><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);" class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Devitt's</span><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);"> "Linguistic </span><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);" class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Pragmatism</span><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);">." The former will concentrate on the various puzzles about substitution and belief ascription made popular by </span><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);" class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">Frege</span><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);">, Putnam, Church, </span><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);" class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">Kripke</span><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);">, </span><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);" class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">Soames</span><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);">, and Salmon himself. The latter will concentrate on another strand in philosophical studies in language, namely the </span><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);" class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">Grice</span><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);">-Austin tradition. These two can give me quite </span><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);" class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">balanced</span><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);"> education, I believe.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);">But I am afraid of philosophy of language, narrowly construed. To be sure, it was philosophy of language that led me to academic philosophy in the first place (another urge was provided by Kant's first </span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(51, 102, 102);">Critique</span><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);">). However, whenever it goes to certain level of complexity, I get lost. I hope this only shows I have not wrought hard enough, but I am not sure. I am interested in those puzzles, but I am quite content with the solutions provided by the transparent/opaque readings distinction. I guess this is out of my naivete. This coming semester is crucial to me, since I want to know how far I can go, and I need </span><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);" class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">guidance</span><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);">.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);">And I also need it anyway. My primary interest has always been philosophy of mind, and after these years I have come to believe that deep ideas concerning philosophy of mind have to come from either philosophy of language or natural sciences. I might be wrong. But assuming its truth, then I have no choice. I am too old to start doing serious sciences, so all there left is philosophy of language. I don't know how much I will need, but I know what I understand is so far from the goal. Without deep understandings and commitments in certain issues in philosophy of language (or sciences), it is practically impossible to have deep thoughts in philosophy of mind, or so I believe.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);">I will try hard. I am not very young, so I do not have much time running away from the truth. I need to be more sophisticated in philosophy of language. And I need to be quick.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);">I still need to register another seminar for the status of full-time student. Professor </span><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);" class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">Kripke's</span><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);"> one on </span><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);" class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">Frege</span><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);"> would be suitable for my purpose, but I don't know.</span>Tonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11161968832078307328noreply@blogger.com0