Associate Professor of Philosophy
Program in Cognitive Science
Cycling team coach
Williams College
Harper House, Williamstown, MA 01267

e-mail: jcruz at williams dot edu
Office: Harper 9  .| ..(413) 597-2484

BA Williams College (in Philosophy), Williamstown, MA, 1991

Ph.D. University of Arizona (in Philosophy and Cognitive Science), Tucson, AZ, 1999.

r e s e a r c h

t e a c h i n g

p u b l i c ..l e c t u r e s

"Knowing One's Mind" - Campus faculty lecture, Spring 2007. Podcast, transcript, and Powerpoint presentation

p u b l i c a t i o n s

— "Is There Reason for Skepticism?" - Forthcoming in Knowledge and Skepticism (O'Rourke and Campbell, eds.). PDF (Powerpoint presentation here)

— "The Chimerical Appeal of Epistemic Externalism" (2004, with John Pollock) - In The Externalist Challenge (Richard Schantz, ed.). PDF

— "Epistemology" and "Simulation Theory" (2003) - Entries in the Nature Encyclopedia of Cognitive Science (the latter written with Bob Gordon). PDF

— "Mindreading: Mental State Ascription & Cognitive Architecture" (Mind & Language, 13(3), 1998) - An argument for the simulation theory of mental state ascription based on connectionism. PDF

— "Simulation and the Psychology of Sociopathy"(Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 20(3), 1997). PDF

c u r r e n t ..c o u r s e s

On leave '07-'08

r e s o u r c e s ..f o r ..s t u d e n t s

— Introduction to metaphysics and epistemology writing tutor
— Introduction to moral philosophy writing tutor
— My Williams philosophy blog

p r e v i o u s ..c o u r s e s

– Winter Study in Morocco
– Introduction to Moral & Political Philosophy (PHIL 101)
– Introduction to Metaphysics & Epistemology (PHIL 102)
– Philosophy of Language & Philosophy of Mind
– Minds, Brains & Intelligent Behavior - An Introduction to Cognitive Science
– Tutorial on David Hume
– Contemporary Epistemology
– Tutorial on Consciousness
– Concepts
– Philosophical Naturalism
– Philosophy of Psychology
– Connectionism
– Relativism & Truth
– History of Modern Philosophy
– Foundations & Methods of Cognitive Science
– A History of Psychology




a d v a n c e d ..s t u d e n t s

John Morrison '01 (NYU Department of Philosophy). Thesis - "Contextualism and the Neglected Question of Context" PDF

Katharine Baker '02 (Cambridge University History and Philosophy of Science)

Ezra Goldschlager '02 (Yale Law)

Laura Zuckerwise '04 (Rutgers Department of Philosophy and NYU Law)

Paul Sonenthal '05 (Johns Hopkins Medical School). Thesis - "The Role of the Observer in Interpretations of Quantum Mechanics" PDF

Julianne Shelby '06 (Cambridge University Cognitive Neuroscience). Thesis - "Theories Naturalized"

Anna Edmonds '07. Thesis - "Abandoning the Truth Aim: A reevaluation of the the aim of belief and the goal of cognition" PDF

Joanna Korman '07 (Cambridge University History and Philosophy of Science). Independent project - "A Distinctive Epistemology of Social Contents"

— Contemporary Theories of Knowledge, a book co-authored with sometimes whimsical John Pollock (Rowman & Littlefield, 1999) - This is a treatise on our own positive view as well as an epistemology primer. This second edition contains substantial new sections on the methodology of epistemology, epistemic naturalism, normativity, and cognitive science.
Précis
Table of Contents & Preface PDF

d r a f t s

— "Epistemic Norms and the Sellarsian Dilemma for Foundationalism" PDF

c o n f e r e n c e . c o m m e n t s

— Comments on work by Justin Fisher, prepared for the SPP meeting 2006. PDF

— Comments on work by Cummins et al., delivered at the SPP meeting 2005. PDF

— Comments on work by Whit Schonbein, delivered at the SPP meeting 2001. PDF

— Comments on work by Karsten Stueber, delivered at the Central APA Meeting 2001. PDF

— Comments on work by Paul Churchland, delivered at a conference in honor of Alvin Goldman, 2001. PDF

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c y c l i n g

Road and cyclocross racing with North Atlantic Velo
Factory team racer for Soul Cycles
My bicycles (like you'd care)
My recipes
24 Hours at Holiday Farm, Dalton, MA, 2003
Williamstown rides

t r a v e l

Photo albums
Where to stay in the Pyrenees

Contributor to The Public Humanist, a blog project by the Massachusetts Foundation for the Humanities

Past Secretary/Treasurer and ex-officio executive committee member for The Society for Philosophy & Psychology

Past Board member of the Massachusetts Foundation for the Humanities

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