As the we shift from September to October, it is once again time for a changing of the tides here at Flickers of Freedom. Last month, we were fortunate to have some interesting food for philosophical thought from Heidi Maibom. In a series of insightful posts about how we can and should conceive of actions (rightly or wrongly), Heidi provided us with the opportunity to visit some issues that are especially timely given the state of our field--e.g., sexism, sexual harassment, and discrimination. So, I wanted to thank her once again for agreeing to be a Featured Author here at Flickers--a tradition which has spanned three years and which has included 32 philosophers and scientists. During this time, these authors have provided the blog with an embarrassment of philosophical and empirical riches. I remain eternally grateful for their collective time and effort.
That said, it is now time to pass the torch to Natalia Washington--this month's Featured Author. Here is a brief excerpt from her bio:
I am a McDonnell postdoctoral scholar in the Philosophy Neuroscience and Psychology program at Washington University in St. Louis, and a member of the Moral Psychology Research Group.
Originally from Chicago’s south side, I completed my B.A. in Philosophy with honors in the major at the University of Wisconsin – Madison in 2010, and earned my PhD in philosophy at Purdue University in 2015 under the direction of Daniel Kelly. I’m interested in externalist perspectives in philosophy of mind, psychology, and cognitive science, with the over-arching goal of understanding the ways in which minds and environments interact. Sometimes I like to think about Philosophical Taoism.
My dissertation research, entitled ‘Mental Health and Human Minds: Some Theoretical Criteria for Clinical Psychiatry’, investigates the theoretic and conceptual foundations of psychiatry as a science, and how mental health can be used as a lens through which to view human psychological nature. I have also worked on projects on implicit bias and implicit cognition.
Given my own interests in moral psychology and the philosophy of psychiatry, I am especially excited to see what Natalia comes up with this month. As we wait on her first post (which may be a few more days in the making), please take the opportunity to join the discussion thread from Heidi's last post!
p.s. Natalia is the last Featured Author I have lined up through next summer--when Patricia Greenspan will doing a stint. So, let's make a collective effort to be especially active in the discussion threads this month. We'll have plenty of time to catch up on our other work in the months ahead!
Hello, Eddy and Thomas!
I wanted to pass on this article to you guys. It just came out and is an interesting way of looking at Free Will.
http://aeon.co/magazine/philosophy/free-will-is-back-and-maybe-we-can-measure-it/
Posted by: Jeff Johnson | 10/21/2015 at 12:44 PM