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Philosophy Faculty Members

Paul Thagard
Professor, University Research Chair

PhD, University of Toronto
MS, University of Michigan
MA, University of Toronto
BA, University of Saskatchewan, University of Cambridge

Office: HH 368
Ext. 33594
Email: pthagard@uwaterloo.ca
Webpage:http://cogsci.uwaterloo.ca/

Cross-appointed to Computer Science and Psychology

Areas of Interest
Philosophy of Science and Medicine, Cognitive Science, and Philosophy of Mind

Academic Biography
My research areas are philosophy of science and medicine, cognitive science, and philosophy of mind. Specific topics include analogy, coherence, decision making, conceptual change, explanatory reasoning, theoretical neuroscience, discovery and innovation, emotions and consciousness, moral psychology, and theories and explanations in biomedicine.

Honours include election as a fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and of the Cognitive Science Society, and the 2007 Canada Council Molson Prize for Social Sciences and Humanities. I mostly teach courses relevant to Waterloo's undergraduate and graduate programs in cognitive science.

Selected Publications

Books:

  • Thagard, P. (2005). Mind: Introduction to cognitive science, second edition. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
  • Thagard, P. (2006). Hot thought: Mechanisms and applications of emotional cognition. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. Paperback edition, 2008.
  • Thagard, P. (2010). The brain and the meaning of life. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

Articles:

  • Thagard, P. (2008). Conceptual change in the history of science: Life, mind, and disease. In S. Vosniadou (Ed.), International handbook of research on conceptual change (pp. 374-387). London: Routledge.
  • Thagard, P. (2009). Why cognitive science needs philosophy and vice versa. Topics in Cognitive Science, 1, 237-254.
  • Thagard, P., & Stewart, T. C. (forthcoming). The Aha! experience:   Creativity through emergent binding  in neural networks. Cognitive Science. 

Selected Grants, Fellowships & Awards

  • 2010-2015:
    Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada. Title: Cognitive and Neural Mechanisms for Goal Revision and Emotional Change.

Current Research
I am working on a book on applying the cognitive sciences to the social sciences. Smaller projects include the nature of the self and intention.  

Recent Graduate Supervision and Teaching

MA Theses:

  • Conceptual Change: Gods, Elements, and Water
  • The Social Dimension of the Self: Self-formation as Revealed by Depersonalization

PhD Theses:

  • Philosophy of Bioinformatics: Extended Cognition, Analogies, and Mechanisms
  • The Conative Mind: Volition and Action