Barry Loewer Professor II Contact Information Office: Davison Hall 39 Email: Phone: (732) 932-9861 x125

Education

B.A., Amherst College; Ph.D., Stanford University

Speciality

Phil. of Science, Phil. of Physics, Phil. of Mind, Metaphysics, Phil. Logic

Research

My research is mostly in the metaphysical foundations of science,philosophy of physics, philosophical logic, and philosophy of mind. I am writing a book defending a broadly Lewisian conception of laws, chances, counterfactuals and causation. I am also working on the foundations of quantum mechanics and statistical mechanics, specifically on how objective probability figures in these theories. In philosophical logic I am working out probabilistic accounts of subjunctive and indicative conditionals. In philosophy of mind I have applied my somewhat deflated accounts of causation to the problem of mental causation.

Publications

"Freedom From Physics" in Philosophical Topics 1997 "Humean Supervenience" in Philosophical Topics 1996 "Lockwood's Many Minds" British Journal for the Philosophy of Science Summer 1996 "Tails of Schroedinger's Cat" with D. Albert, 1995 Perspectives on Quantum Theory ed., R. Clifton Kluwer. "Probability and Quantum Theory" in the Patrick Suppes Feschrift, ed. by P. Humphries, 1994, Reidel. "Two No-Collapse Interpretations of Quantum Mechanics" with D.Albert, Nous, March 1989. "Interpreting the Many-Worlds Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics" with D. Albert, Synthese, 12, 1988. "Naturalizing Semantics" in The Companion to the Philosophy of Language ed. by Wright and Hale, 1996. Meaning in Mind with Georges Rey Blackwells 1993. "An Argument for Strong Supervenience" in a collection on Supervenience, ed. E. Savellos, 1994, Oxford University. "More On Making Mind Matter" with E.Lepore in Philosophical Topics XVIII 1989, 175-191. "From Information to Intentionality" - Synthese, Vol. 70, No.4 (Also edited this issue). Reprinted in Mental Representation, ed. Stich and Warfield. "Mind Matters" with E. Lepore, The Journal of Philosophy, Nov. 1987. Reprinted The Mind Body Problem, ed. Ludlow 1994. "The Value of Truth" Information and Content, ed. E. Villanueva 1994, Ridgeview. "Putnam's Progress" with E. Lepore, in Midwest Studies, XII, 1988 pp.459- 473. "Semantics for Propositional Attitudes", with E.Lepore in Essays in Honor of W.V.O. Quine, ed. by P. Leonardo. Cambridge Press 1992. "Dual Aspect Semantics" with E. Lepore - in New Directions in Semantics, ed. Lepore, Academic Press 1986. "Solipsistic Semantics" with E. Lepore - Midwest Studies in Philosophy, 1985. "Formalizing Defeasible Deontic Reasoning" with M. Belzer, to appear in Defeasible Reasoning, ed. D. Nute Kluwer. "Hector Meets 3-D" with M. Belzer, Philosophical Perspectives, ed. J. Tomberlin, 1994. Recent Papers Help For the Good Samaritan Dyadic Deontic Detachment Descartes' Skeptical and Anti-Skeptical Arguments Leibniz and the Ontological Argument Cotenability and Counterfactual Logics From Information to Intentionality David Lewis' Account of Objective Chance Philosophy of Physics Discussion of Hartry Field's Truth and the Absence of Fact Why is There Anything Except Physics Why There is Anything Except Physics Counterfactuals and the Second Law David Lewis' Humean Theory of Objective Chance Determinism and Chance Time and Law Humean Supervenience From Physics to Physicalism Tails of Schroedinger's Cat Laws and Induction Abstract for Non Ideal Measurements Laws and Properties