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Faculty

Department Chair

  • David O. Brink

    David O. Brink

    dbrink@ucsd.edu

    UC Distinguished Professor and Interim Department Chair
    Valtz Family Endowed Chair in Philosophy
    Ph.D. Cornell University, 1985
    Ridge Walk Academic Complex - Bldg 1 - Arts & Humanities - Room 0480, Phone: (858) 534-4881

    Ethical theory, history of ethics, and jurisprudence; historical and systematic perspectives on practical reason, moral demands, and the normativity of ethics; nature of law and legal interpretation in substantive areas of constitutional and criminal jurisprudence

Faculty

  • Saba Bazargan-Forward

    Saba Bazargan-Forward

    sbazargan@ucsd.edu

    Associate Professor
    Ph.D. Rutgers University, 2009
    Ridge Walk Academic Complex - Bldg 1 - Arts & Humanities - Room 0458, Phone: (858) 822-2685

    Normative ethics; individual responsibility for collective action; complicity; war ethics; ethics of benefiting from injustice

  • Reuven Brandt

    Reuven Brandt

    rabrandt@ucsd.edu

    Assistant Professor
    Ph.D. University of Western Ontario, 2015

    Ridge Walk Academic Complex - Bldg 1 - Arts & Humanities - Room 0497, Tel: (858) 822-2806

    Applied ethics with a focus on human reproduction and responsibility

  • David O. Brink

    David O. Brink

    dbrink@ucsd.edu

    UC Distinguished Professor and Interim Department Chair
    Valtz Family Endowed Chair in Philosophy
    Ph.D. Cornell University, 1985
    Ridge Walk Academic Complex - Bldg 1 - Arts & Humanities - Room 0480, Phone: (858) 534-4881

    Ethical theory, history of ethics, and jurisprudence; historical and systematic perspectives on practical reason, moral demands, and the normativity of ethics; nature of law and legal interpretation in substantive areas of constitutional and criminal jurisprudence

  • Craig Callender

    Craig Callender

    ccallender@ucsd.edu

    Professor
    Ph.D. Rutgers University, 1997
    Ridge Walk Academic Complex - Bldg 1 - Arts & Humanities - Room 0456, Phone: (858) 822-4911

    Philosophy of physics, the metaphysics of science, and philosophy of science in general

  • Jennifer Carr

    Jennifer Carr

    j2carr@ucsd.edu

    Associate Professor
    Ph.D. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2013
    Ridge Walk Academic Complex - Bldg 1 - Arts & Humanities - Room 0466, Phone: (858) 246-2499

    Theoretical philosophy, including epistemology, logic, decision theory, and philosophy of language

  • Nancy Cartwright

    Nancy Cartwright

    ncartwright@ucsd.edu

    UC Distinguished Professor
    Ph.D. University of Illinois
    Ridge Walk Academic Complex - Bldg 1 - Arts & Humanities - Room 0449, Phone: (858) 793-1979

    Philosophy of the natural, social and policy sciences with specialization in physics and economics; questions of causality, objectivity in science, and evidence, especially for evidence-based policy

  • Eddy Keming Chen

    Eddy Keming Chen

    eddykemingchen@ucsd.edu

    Associate Professor
    Ph.D. Rutgers University, 2019
    Ridge Walk Academic Complex - Bldg 1 - Arts & Humanities - Room 0493, Phone: (858) 534-9281

    Philosophy of physics, philosophy of science, metaphysics, decision theory, Chinese philosophy
  • Jonathan Cohen

    Jonathan Cohen

    cohen@ucsd.edu

    Professor
    Ph.D. Rutgers University, 2000
    Ridge Walk Academic Complex - Bldg 1 - Arts & Humanities - Room 0453, Phone: (858) 534-6812

    Philosophy of mind, language, and perception, particularly as these are informed by the cognitive sciences; color and color vision

  • David Danks

    David Danks

    ddanks@ucsd.edu

    Professor
    Ph.D. University of California, San Diego, 2001
    Ridge Walk Academic Complex - Bldg 1 - Arts & Humanities - Room 0462, Phone: (858) 246-4549
    Ethics & technology, philosophy of science, causation, and cognitive science

  • Matthew Fulkerson

    Matthew Fulkerson

    mfulkerson@ucsd.edu

    Associate Professor
    Ph.D. University of Toronto, 2010
    Ridge Walk Academic Complex - Bldg 1 - Arts & Humanities - Room 0495, Phone: (858) 534-6643

    Philosophy of mind and philosophy of cognitive science; philosophical issues that arise from the investigation of human haptic touch; multisensory experience, spatial representation, the affective character of perception, and the relationship between perception and bodily awareness

  • Rick Grush

    Rick Grush

    rgrush@ucsd.edu

    Professor
    Ph.D. University of California, San Diego, 1995
    Ridge Walk Academic Complex - Bldg 1 - Arts & Humanities - Room 0457, Phone: (858) 822-4440

    Theoretical cognitive neuroscience and the metaphysics of mind and representation; interests in linguistics and early modern; emulation theory of representation, and spatial and temporal representation

  • Michael Hardimon

    Michael Hardimon

    mhardimon@ucsd.edu

    Professor
    Ph.D. University of Chicago, 1985
    Ridge Walk Academic Complex - Bldg 1 - Arts & Humanities - Room 0492, Phone: (858) 822-0473

    Critical philosophy of race, 19th century German philosophy (especially Hegel), role theory

  • Mara Harrell

    Mara Harrell

    mharrell@ucsd.edu

    Teaching Professor
    Ph.D. University of California, San Diego, 2000
    Ridge Walk Academic Complex - Bldg 1 - Arts & Humanities - Room 0464, Phone: (858) 246-4548

    Pedagogy, Philosophy of Physics, Ethics and Public Health, Epistemology & Metaphysics, Ethics and Social-Political Philosophy, Philosophy of Science

  • Monte Johnson

    Monte Johnson

    monte@ucsd.edu

    Professor
    Ph.D. University of Toronto, 2003
    Ridge Walk Academic Complex - Bldg 1 - Arts & Humanities - Room 0451, Phone: N/A

    Early Greek philosophy; Aristotle Studies; Hellenistic philosophy; the reception of Greco-Roman philosophy in modern philosophy and science; the reconstruction of lost and fragmentary works; and comparative ancient philosophy

  • Alexander (Arc) Kocurek

    Alexander (Arc) Kocurek

    akocurek@ucsd.edu

    Assistant Professor
    Ph.D. University of California, Berkeley, 2018
    Ridge Walk Academic Complex - Bldg 1 – Arts & Humanities - Room 0445, Phone: TBD

    Philosophical logic, philosophy of language, metaphysics & epistemology

  • Karen Kovaka

    Karen Kovaka

    kkovaka@ucsd.edu

    Assistant Professor 
    Ph.D. University of Pennsylvania, 2017
    Ridge Walk Academic Complex - Bldg 1 - Arts & Humanities - Room 0450, Phone: (858) 534-6802

    Conceptual foundations of evolutionary biology, public understanding of and participation in science, and philosophy of environmental conservation

  • Andy Lamey

    Andy Lamey

    alamey@ucsd.edu

    Teaching Professor
    Ph.D. University of Western Australia, 2011
    Ridge Walk Academic Complex - Bldg 1 - Arts & Humanities - Room 0491, Phone (858) 534-9111

    Applied ethics, normative ethics and political philosophy

  • Patricia Marechal

    Patricia Marechal

    pmarechal@ucsd.edu

    Assistant Professor
    Ph.D. Harvard University, 2018
    Ridge Walk Academic Complex - Bldg 1 - Arts & Humanities - Room 0498, Phone (858) 534-9190

    Ancient Greek philosophy, especially Plato and Aristotle's moral psychology and ethics. And Greco-Roman medicine, especially Galen

  • Kerry McKenzie

    Kerry McKenzie

    kmckenzie@ucsd.edu

    Associate Professor
    Ph.D. University of Leeds, England, 2012
    Ridge Walk Academic Complex - Bldg 1 - Arts & Humanities - Room 0499, Phone (858) 534-2566

    Metaphysics of science, especially modality, fundamentality, structuralism, naturalism, and realism

  • Dana Nelkin

    Dana Nelkin

    On Sabbatical Academic Year 2024-2025
    dnelkin@ucsd.edu

    Professor
    Ph.D. University of California, Los Angeles, 1995
    Ridge Walk Academic Complex - Bldg 1 - Arts & Humanities - Room 0479, Phone: (858) 822-3658

    Moral psychology, ethics, and philosophy of action

  • Samuel Rickless

    Samuel Rickless

    On Sabbatical Academic Year 2024-2025
    srickless@ucsd.edu

    Professor
    Ph.D. University of California, Los Angeles, 1996
    Ridge Walk Academic Complex - Bldg 1 - Arts & Humanities - Room 0494, Phone: (858) 822-4910

    Ancient philosophy (particularly Plato), early modern philosophy (particularly Locke and Berkeley), ethics, and jurisprudence

  • Rachel Rudolph

    Rachel Rudolph

    rrudolph@ucsd.edu

    Assistant Professor
    Ph.D. University of California, Berkeley, 2019
    Ridge Walk Academic Complex - Bldg 1 – Arts & Humanities - Room 443, Phone: TBD

    Philosophy of language and mind, especially their intersections with value theory and social philosophy; conceptual engineering; philosophy of artificial intelligence

  • Gila Sher

    Gila Sher

    gsher@ucsd.edu

    Professor
    Ph.D. Columbia University, 1989
    Ridge Walk Academic Complex - Bldg 1 - Arts & Humanities - Room 0482, Phone: (858) 534-8504

    Foundational issues involving knowledge, truth, and logic

  • Christopher Shields

    Christopher Shields

    cjshields@ucsd.edu

    UC Distinguished Professor
    Henry E. Allison Endowed Chair in the History of Philosophy
    Ph.D. Cornell University, 1986
    Ridge Walk Academic Complex - Bldg 1 - Arts & Humanities – Room 0447, Phone: (858) 534-3072

    Ancient Philosophy and Metaphysics

  • Clinton Tolley

    Clinton Tolley

    ctolley@ucsd.edu

    Professor
    Ph.D. University of Chicago, 2007
    Ridge Walk Academic Complex - Bldg 1 - Arts & Humanities - Room 0496, Phone: (858) 822-2686

    History of modern European philosophy, with focuses on Kant and German Idealism, early analytic philosophy, phenomenology, philosophical psychology, critical theory and the philosophy of culture (incl aesthetics); the reception-history of European philosophy in the Americas (esp the US and Mexico); Mexican philosophy

  • Manuel Vargas

    Manuel Vargas

    mrvargas@ucsd.edu

    Professor
    Ph.D. Stanford, 2001
    Ridge Walk Academic Complex - Bldg 1 - Arts & Humanities - Room 0468, Phone: (858) 534-8135

    Moral psychology, free will, moral responsibility, Latin American and Latinx philosophy

  • Eric Watkins

    Eric Watkins

    ewatkins@ucsd.edu

    UC Distinguished Professor
    Ph.D. University of Notre Dame, 1994
    Ridge Walk Academic Complex - Bldg 1 - Arts & Humanities - Room 0486, Phone: (858) 822-0082

    Kant's theoretical philosophy and its place within modern philosophy and science; early modern philosophy (especially Leibniz), German idealism and the history of philosophy of science

  • Yuan Yuan

    Yuan Yuan

    yuy100@ucsd.edu

    Assistant Professor
    Ph.D. Yale University, 2020
    Ridge Walk Academic Complex - Bldg 1 – Arts & Humanities - Room 0470, Phone: TBD

    Ethics, political philosophy, philosophy of law, and just war theory

Faculty Affiliates

  • Mary Devereaux

    Mary Devereaux

    mdevereaux@ucsd.edu 

    Chief of Bioethics, Rady Children’s Hospital
    Director, UCSD Biomedical Ethics Seminars
    Assistant Director, Research Ethics Program & San Diego Research Ethics Consortium
    Department of Pathology
    Ph.D. in Philosophy, University of Chicago, 1981
    Office: BSB 2092, Phone: (858)822-5764

    Bioethics, Clinical Ethics, Research Ethics, Stem Cell Ethics, Medical Humanities, Aesthetics

  • David Wiens

    David Wiens

    dwiens@ucsd.edu 

    Associate Professor, Political Science; Faculty Affiliate, Philosophy
    Ph.D. in Philosophy, University of Michigan, 2011
    Office: SSB 387

    Political philosophy, philosophy of social science, game theory and social choice theory, political economy.

Emeriti Faculty

  • Henry E. Allison

    Henry E. Allison

    hea@surewest.net

    Professor Emeritus

    Kant, Spinoza, German idealism, and eighteenth and nineteenth-century philosophy 

  • Georgios Anagnostopoulos

    Georgios Anagnostopoulos

    ganagnostopoulos@ucsd.edu

    Professor Emeritus
    Ph.D. Brandeis University, 1971

    Ancient philosophy centered around ethics, metaphysics, science, technology and human values

  • Richard Arneson

    Richard Arneson

    rarneson@ucsd.edu

    Professor Emeritus
    Ph.D. University of California, Berkeley, 1975
    Ridge Walk Academic Complex - Bldg 1 - Arts & Humanities - Room 0489, Phone: (858) 534-6810

    Political and moral philosophy, with an emphasis on theories of justice; some applied ethics 

  • William Bechtel

    William Bechtel

    bill@mechanism.ucsd.edu

    Professor Emeritus
    Ph.D. University of Chicago, 1977
    Ridge Walk Academic Complex - Bldg 1 - Arts & Humanities - Room 0455, Phone: (858) 822-4461

    History and philosophy of the life sciences with a special emphasis on the strategies of mechanistic explanation employed and the invocation of active mechanisms to explain how biological systems maintain themselves far from equilibrium
  • Patricia Churchland

    Patricia Churchland

    pschurchland@ucsd.edu

    Professor Emerita
    B.Phil. Oxford University, 1969

    Interface between neuroscience and philosophy; explores the impact of neuroscientific developments on our understanding of consciousness, the self, free will, decision making, ethics, learning, and religion

  • Paul Churchland

    Paul Churchland

    pchurchland@ucsd.edu

    Professor Emeritus
    Ph.D. University of Pittsburgh, 1969

    Philosophy of science (neurosciences, physics, astronomy); philosophy of mind (psychology); epistemology (cognitive science, artificial intelligence); philosophy of language; and the history of philosophy 

  • Gerald Doppelt

    Gerald Doppelt

    gdoppelt@ucsd.edu

    Professor Emeritus
    Ph.D. Johns Hopkins University, 1969

    Philosophy of science and political philosophy including theory of justice, Rawls work, political liberalism, multiculturalism, the role of self-respect in political theory, communitarianism, and issues of gender and race

  • Edward Lee

    Edward Lee

    enlee@ucsd.edu

    Professor Emeritus
    Ph.D. Princeton University

  • Donald Rutherford

    Donald Rutherford

    drutherford@ucsd.edu

    Professor Emeritus
    Ph.D. University of California, Berkeley, 1988

    Early modern philosophy and the reception of ancient philosophy in the early modern period; Kant's critical philosophy and its development, and Nietzsche