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Contact Information

maherc@dickinson.edu

East College Room 201
717-245-1791

Bio

I have written two books on philosophical issues about “the mind.” In **The Pittsburgh School**, I introduce some ideas of three influential philosophers from the University of Pittsburgh: Wilfrid Sellars, Robert Brandom, and John McDowell. They disagree with each other about many important things, but they agree that we humans are unlike other creatures because we are responsive to norms, to what should or should not be so, to what is right or wrong, to what is a good or bad reason. They contend that genuine conceptual thinking requires being governed by and responsive to norms. They contend further that being responsive to norms requires being able to speak a language. These claims are provocative in part because they suggest that nonhuman animals don’t think conceptually, which puts these Pittsburgh philosophers at odds with many cognitive scientists. In **Plant Minds**, I turn away from humans to organisms that are allegedly much simpler and less sophisticated. I clarify and evaluate the suggestion, made by a small but vocal minority of plant biologists, that plants have minds or are “cognitive systems.” I canvass some evidence in favor of thinking that plants perceive, remember, feel, and act. Most contemporary cognitive scientists and philosophers of mind hold that these mental abilities require inner representations of the external environment. But, so far, there is not good reason to think plant behaviors involve such representations. Despite this, in the end I contend that there is a good reason to think that plants do have minds. They are self-creating and self-maintaining in the face of scarce resources and variably threatening conditions. I regularly teach Logic (PHIL103) and Ancient Philosophy (PHIL201). Intermittently, I teach courses on: free will and moral responsibility; philosophy of language; and philosophical logic. In spring 2022, in collaboration with our Data Analytics majors, I launched a new course, Philosophy of Data (PHIL258), introducing students to some of the philosophical aspects of data sciences. You can find fuller descriptions of my research and teaching on my webpage.

Education

• B.A., University of Maryland, 2001
• M.A., University of Chicago, 2002
• Ph.D., Georgetown University, 2008