Department of Philosophy

Curriculum Vitae

Eric Hochstein

University of Waterloo
200 University Ave. West
Waterloo, Ontario,
Canada N2L 3G1

Languages: English, French

Education:

Ph.D., Philosophy (Philosophy of Mind) - University of Waterloo
Degree in Progress. Expected graduation date: May 2010.

Graduate Diploma in Cognitive Science - University of Waterloo
Diploma in Progress. Expected graduation date: May 2010.

M.A., Philosophy - University of British Columbia
Graduate May 2005

B.A., Journalism and Philosophy - Concordia Unviersity
Graduated May 2003

D.E.C., Commerce - Marianopolis College
Graduate May 1999

Publications, Conference Papers and Academic Talks:

"Scope Problems for Anomalous Monism" (November 2006) University of Waterloo Philosophy Graduate Colloquium, Waterloo, ON

 “Can Clark and Chalmers Presuppose a Coherence Model of Belief Retrieval?” (October 2006) 43^rd Annual Conference of the Western Canadian Philosophical Association, Vancouver, BC

“Endorsing Non-Occurrent Beliefs: Why Standard Belief Functioning is Problematic for the Extended Mind.” (August 2006) Cognitio 2006 – Beyond the Brain: Embodied, Situated & Distributed Cognition, Montreal, QC.

“Problems of Automatic Endorsement for the Extended Mind.” (April 2006) University of British Columbia Philosophy Graduate Conference, Vancouver, BC.

 “Beliefs as Judgments: A Functional Theory of Belief-Storage” (September 2005) Séminaire Dans La Campagne, Ottawa, ON.

“Can Zombies Survive in a Physicalist Universe?” (March 2004) University of British Columbia Philosophy Graduate Colloquium, Vancouver, BC.

Work in Progress:

“Does a Cognitive Account of Inference Leave us Cognitively Closed?” If our ability to form inferences evolved in order to help creatures with our particular genetic makeup deal with practical problems, then it may be ill-equipped to accurately or correctly deal with abstract theoretical problems. If this is the case, then justification may completely break down when dealing with abstract philosophical or scientific theories.

“Against a Pragmatic Theory of Rationality: Why Truth and Convention Matter” In his book The Fragmentation of Reason, Stephen Stich argues that we have no reason to accept the conventional view that a good cognitive system is a rational (or truth-producing) one.  Instead, we should choose our cognitive systems based on how they can help us achieve our own ends. In this paper, I argue that there are multiple problems with Stich’s position.

“Cleaning Up Qualia: Separating the Wheat From the Chaff in the Consciousness Debate” In this paper, I show that much of the philosophical debate concerning qualia is focusing on the wrong issues. Much of the debate is concerned not with the explanation of human experience, but with somewhat tangential metaphysical or ontological claims about qualia that are badly supported, or questionable at best. Here I show that the best way to study qualia and human experience is to rid ourselves of the bad metaphysical arguments and to proceed with caution.

Past Projects:

“On The possibility of Extended Emotions” This paper examines the compatibility of Clark and Chalmers’s extended mind theory with recent cognitive theories of emotion. If emotions have a cognitive component to them, and our cognitive processes can extend into the world around us, then by extension so could our emotions.

“The Law of Non-Contradiction and The Primacy of Inference” Robert Brandom’s theory of Inferentialism may be able to shed light on the answer to the classic philosophical question of whether we are capable of thinking logical contradictions.

Future Projects:

“The Repercussions of Embodied Cognition on Ethical Realism”
“Panpsychism and the identity of persons”
“The Mereological Reduction of Qualia”
“Mirror-neurons as Evidence for Non-Cognitive Accounts of Emotion”

Relevant Volunteer Experience:

2006-2007:      PhD Representative for the University of Waterloo Philosophy Graduate Student Association.

2006-2007:      Organizer for the 2007 University of Waterloo Philosophy Graduate Conference.

Professional Affiliations:

Analytic Tradition Reading Group (University of Ottawa)                               2006

Social Cognition Reading Group (University of Waterloo)                              2006-present

University of Waterloo Philosophy Graduate Student Association                   2006-present