Eric Schwitzgebel

(photography by Trina Gonzales)

eschwitz at domain- ucr.edu

Professor of Philosophy (Ph.D., U.C. Berkeley, 1997)

Areas of interest: Philosophy of psychology, philosophy of mind, cognitive development,

philosophy of science, classical Chinese philosophy,

epistemology, perceptual and cognitive psychology, metaphilosophy.

My Blog:

is here.

Perplexities of Consciousness (working title of the book I'm currently drafting):

The chapters can all be read separately.

Chapter One: Recoloring the Dreamworld
Chapter Two: Do Things Look Flat?
Chapter Three: Galton's (Other) Disaster
Chapter Four: Human Echolocation (with Michael S. Gordon; in preparation)
Chapter Five: Titchener's Introspective Training Manual
Chapter Six: Do You Constantly Experience Your Feet in Your Shoes?
Chapter Seven: The Unreliability of Naive Introspection (in preparation)
Chapter Eight: When Your Eyes Are Closed, What Do You See?

My Book with Russell T. Hurlburt:

Describing Inner Experience? Proponent Meets Skeptic MIT Press (2007).

Essays Sorted by Theme:

Belief:

"Acting Contrary to Our Professed Beliefs" (in draft).
"Belief" (2006), entry for the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
"A Phenomenal, Dispositional Account of Belief" (2002), Nous, 36, 249-275. [This is my central essay on the topic.]
- "In-Between Believing" (2001), Philosophical Quarterly, 51, 76-82.
- "On Containers and Content, with a Cautionary Note to Philosophers of Mind" (not for print publication).
"Gradual Belief Change in Children" (1999), Human Development, 42, 283-296.

Our Poor Knowledge of Our Own Conscious Experience:

"Introspection" (in draft), entry for the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
"The Unreliability of Naive Introspection" (2008), Philosophical Review, 117, 245-273. [This is my central essay on the topic.]
- "No Unchallengeable Epistemic Authority, of Any Sort, Regarding Our Own Conscious Experience -- Contra Dennett?" (2007), Phenomenology and the Cognitive Sciences, 6, 107-113. (For further thoughts in response to an exchange with Dennett, see here.)
"Descartes Inverted" (2007), from Describing Inner Experience? Proponent Meets Skeptic (with Russell T. Hurlburt).
"Do You Have Constant Tactile Experience of Your Feet in Your Shoes? Or Is Experience Limited to What's in Attention?" (2007), Journal of Consciousness Studies, 14, no. 3, 5-35.
"Do Things Look Flat?" (2006), Philosophy & Phenomenological Research, 72, 589-599..
"Introspective Training Apprehensively Defended: Reflections on Titchener's Lab Manual" (2004), Journal of Consciousness Studies, 11, no. 7-8, 58-76..
- "Difference Tone Training: A Demonstration Adapted from Titchener's Experimental Psychology" (2005), Psyche, 11, no. 6.
"Why Did We Think We Dreamed in Black and White?" (2002), Studies in History and Philosophy of Science, 33, 649-660.
- "Do People Still Report Dreaming in Black and White? An Attempt to Replicate a Questionnaire from 1942" (2003), Perceptual & Motor Skills, 96, 25-29; and
- (with Changbing Huang and Zhou Yifeng) "Do We Dream in Color? Cultural Variations and Skepticism" (2006), Dreaming, 16, 36-42.
"How Well Do We Know Our Own Conscious Experience? The Case of Visual Imagery" (2002), Journal of Consciousness Studies, 9, no. 5-6, 35-53.
(with Michael S. Gordon) "How Well Do We Know Our Own Conscious Experience? The Case of Human Echolocation" (2000), Philosophical Topics, 28, 235-246.

The Relationship Between Moral Reflection and Moral Behavior:

(with Joshua Rust) "The Moral Behavior of Ethicists: Peer Opinion" (forthcoming) Mind.
"Do Ethicists Steal More Books?" (forthcoming) Philosophical Psychology.
(with Joshua Rust) "Do Ethicists and Political Philosophers Vote More Often Than Other Professors?" (forthcoming) European Review of Philosophy.
"Human Nature and Moral Education in Mencius, Xunzi, Hobbes, and Rousseau" (2007) History of Philosophy Quarterly. 24, 147-168.
(with Joshua Rust) "The Moral Behavior of Ethicists" (PowerPoint presentation: Australasian Association of Philosophy, June 2009).

Foundational Issues in Cognitive Development:

(with Victoria McGeer) "Disorder in the Representational Warehouse" (2006), Child Development, 77, 1557-1562. [This is a commentary on an essay by Jacqueline Woolley, but it is written so as to be comprehensible without knowledge of Woolley's paper.]
"Gradual Belief Change in Children" (1999), Human Development, 42, 283-296. [Also listed under "Belief" above.]
"A Difficulty for Simulation Theory Due to the Close Connection of Pretense and Action in Early Childhood" (2000, not for print publication)
"Children's Theories and the Drive to Explain" (1999), Science & Education, 8, 457-488.
- "Theories in Children and the Rest of Us" (1996), Philosophy of Science, Supplemental Issue, 63, s202-s210.
"Representation and Desire: A Philosophical Error with Consequences for Theory-of-Mind Research" (1999), Philosophical Psychology, 12, 157-180.
"Difficulties in Davidson's Arguments Against Belief Without Language" (1997, not for print publication)

Metaphilosophy:

(with Alison Gopnik) "Whose Concepts Are They, Anyway? The Role of Philosophical Intuition in Empirical Psychology" (1998), in M.R. DePaul and W. Ramsey (eds.), Rethinking Intuition (Lanham: Rowman and Littlefield).
"Zhuangzi's Attitude Toward Language and His Skepticism" (1996), in P. Kjellberg and P.J. Ivanhoe (eds.), Essays on Skepticism, Relativism, and Ethics in the Zhuangzi (SUNY Press).

Chinese Philosophy:

"Human Nature and Moral Development in Mencius, Xunzi, Hobbes, and Rousseau" (2007) History of Philosophy Quarterly, 24, 147-168. [Also listed under "The Relationship Between Moral Reflection and Moral Behavior" above.]
"Why Don't We Know Our Chinese Philosophy?" (2001), APA Newsletter on the Status of Asian & Asian-American Philosophers & Philosophies, 1, 26-27.
"Zhuangzi's Attitude Toward Language and His Skepticism" (1996), in P. Kjellberg and P.J. Ivanhoe (eds.), Essays on Skepticism, Relativism, and Ethics in the Zhuangzi (SUNY Press). [Also listed under "Metaphilosophy" above.]

Other:

(with Josh Dever) "The Two Envelope Paradox and Using Variables Within the Expectation Formula" (2008), Sorites, 20, 135-140 -- also see our Simple Explanation of the Two Envelope Paradox.

Dissertation:

Words about Young Minds: The Concepts of Theory, Representation, and Belief in Philosophy and Developmental Psychology (U.C. Berkeley, Philosophy Department, 1997).

General Description of My Main Research Themes:

Miscellaneous Thoughts:

Recent Courses:

Lower Division:

Evil (Spring 2007, Winter 2006, Winter 2005; Fall 2003)

Upper Division:

Classical Chinese Philosophy (Winter 2007, Fall 2005, Winter 2004)

Senior Seminar: Consciousness (Fall 2007); Chalmers on Consciousness (Fall 2006); Philosophy of Mind (Winter 2005)

Philosophy of Science (Fall 2005, Winter 2002)

Philosophy of Mind (Fall 2004, Spring 2003)

Sophomore-Junior Seminar (Winter 2004)

Graduate Seminars:

Perplexities of Consciousness (Spring 2009)

Visual Consciousness (Winter 2008)

Workshop: Moral Psychology (Winter 2008)

Moral Reflection and Moral Behavior (Winter 2007)

Self-Knowledge (Spring 2006)

Moral Sentiments (Spring 2005)

Introspected Experience (Spring 2004)

Consciousness (Spring 2003)

Click here for more detailed information on my courses.

Dissertations completed under my direction:

Nick Baiamonte (2008): On The Possibility of Being Virtuous in a Wicked World: The Nature, Character, and Power of Genuine Moral Reflection.
Joshua Rust (2005): John Searle's Ideal Type: Max Weber and the Construction of Social Reality.
Ted M. Preston (2005): Bridging the Gap Between Normative Beliefs and Actions.

Click here to see pictures of my wife and son and for non-academic information about me. The pictures of my son are out of date now, I'm afraid. But they're still cute!

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