Sean Coughlin Curriculum Vitae Department of Philosophy University of Western Ontario London, Ontario, N6A 5B8 Phone: 647-975-6900 / E-mail: scoughl@uwo.ca Website: http://publish.uwo.ca/~scoughli/ Home Address 88 York St., Apt. 202 London, Ontario, Canada N6A 1A6 PERSONAL DATA Born 27 May 1982 in Hamilton (Canada) Citizen of Canada, the United States of America, and the United Kingdom Area of Specialization: Ancient Philosophy, especially Ancient natural science Area of Competence: Medieval Philosophy, Early Modern Philosophy EDUCATION Ph.D., University of Western Ontario (Philosophy), 2013 Dissertation: Method and Metaphor in Aristotle s Science of Nature Committee: Devin Henry, Henrik Lagerlund, John Thorp, Mariska Leunissen (external examiner) A dissertation abstract has been appended to the end of this document. M.A., University of Western Ontario (Philosophy), 2007 Special Student, University of Western Ontario (Classics), 2006 B.A. (Honours), McGill University (Philosophy, Classics minor), 2005 Thesis: The Joy of Cooking: Pepsis and hypothetical necessity in the biology of Aristotle and Theophrastus Supervisors: Stephen Menn and Marguerite Deslauriers HONORS AND AWARDS [7] 2012 Certificate of Excellence in Teaching, University of Western Ontario Student s Council [6] 2011 Mary Routledge Travel Fellowship, University of Western Ontario
[5] 2009-11 Doctoral Fellowship, Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada [4] 2009 Ontario Graduate Scholarship (declined) [3] 2008 Ontario Graduate Scholarship [2] 2007 Faculty of Arts and Humanities Scholarship, University of Western Ontario [1] 2007 Distinction, History Competency Exam, Department of Philosophy PUBLICATIONS 2011 Review of On Simplicius On the Heavens 3.17, tr. Ian Mueller. Aestimatio 8 (2011) pp.34-40 CONFERENCES AND PRESENTATIONS [15] 8/2013 Method and Metaphor in Aristotle s Science of Nature, Department of Philosophy, August 14, 2013 [14] 10/2012 The Authors of Evil: On Witches, Witchcraft and the Irrational, Department of English, University of Western Ontario, October 24, 2012 [13] 6/2011 On Aristotle s Argument for the Separation of the Sexes: GA II I 732a1-10, Canadian Philosophical Association Congress, The University of New Brunswick [12] 6/2011 Comments on Professor Byrne, Aristotle on the Dual Nature of Natural Substances, Canadian Philosophical Association Congress, the University of New Brunswick [11] 3/2011 The Principle of Separation in Aristotle s Biology. 34 th Annual Workshop in Ancient Philosophy. Washington University, St. Louis [10] 6/2010 Philoponus Bright Idea, Canadian Philosophical Association Congress, Concordia University [9] 5/2010 Inferences from the Better and Aristotle s Argument for the Separation of the Sexes, Fifth Pittsburgh-London Workshop on Aristotle s Generation of Animals, University of Western Ontario [8] 9/2009 The Physiological Character of Aristotelian Psychological States, Upper Canada Society for Ancient and Medieval Philosophy [7] 5/2009 The Breath of Life in Aristotle, Canadian Philosophical Association Congress, Carleton University [6] 4/2008 Aristotle on the Mechanisms of Vision in GA 5.1-2, Fourth Pittsburgh- London Workshop on Aristotle's Generation of Animals, University of Pittsburgh 2
[5] 11/2007 Philoponus Bright Idea, Philosophy Graduate Students Association Colloquium, University of Western Ontario [4] 10/2007 Reason from Without: Some Comments on De generatione animalium 2.3. Second Ancient and Medieval Colloquium: The materiality and immateriality of Soul, University of Western Ontario [3] 9/2007 The Propagation of Light According to Philoponus, Upper Canada Society for Ancient and Medieval Philosophy, London, Ontario [2] 5/2007 Teleology in Theophrastus De Causis Plantarum I, Canadian Philosophical Association Congress, University of Saskatchewan [1] 10/2006 Comments on Professor Nielsen s The Private Parts of Animals, First Ancient and Medieval Colloquium: Ancient Teleologies, University of Western Ontario EMPLOYMENT 2013- University of Western Ontario, Research Assistant and Lecturer 2012 Huron University College, Lecturer 2006-12 University of Western Ontario, Teaching Assistant, Research Assistant, and Lecturer TEACHING EXPERIENCE Courses taught (sole responsibility) [4] 2014 Philosophy 2006: The Metaphysics & Epistemology of Witchcraft, University of Western Ontario, undergraduate level (Winter term) [3] 2012 Philosophy 2200F: Ancient Philosophy, Huron University College, undergraduate level (Fall term) [2] 2011-12 Philosophy 2006: The Metaphysics & Epistemology of Witchcraft, University of Western Ontario, undergraduate level (Fall/Winter terms) [1] 2008-09 Philosophy 1300E: Introduction to Philosophy, University of Western Ontario, undergraduate level (Fall/Winter terms) Courses assistant-taught (partial responsibility) [3] 2007-8 Teaching Assistant, Philosophy 212: Introduction to Logic, University of Western Ontario (Fall/Winter terms) 3
[2] 2007 Teaching Assistant, Philosophy 023G: Questions of the Day, undergraduate level, University of Western Ontario (Winter term) [1] 2006 Teaching Assistant, Philosophy 153F: Death, University of Western Ontario (Fall term) PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES AND GRANTS [6] 2013-14 Co-organizer, with Dr. R. Sirkel (UVM) and Dr. M. Griffin (UBC), Second Canadian Colloquium for Ancient Philosophy, University of British Columbia, May 2-4, 2014 [5] 2011-12 Co-organizer, with Dr. R. Sirkel (U of Alberta) and Dr. M. Griffin (UBC), Canadian Colloquium for Ancient Philosophy, University of Alberta, May 4-6, 2012 [4] 2012 Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council Conference Grant, $13 743, with Michael Griffin and Riin Sirkel and for the Canadian Colloquium for Ancient Philosophy [3] 2012 University of Alberta Faculty of Arts Conference Grant, $1 290, with Michael Griffin and Riin Sirkel and for the Canadian Colloquium for Ancient Philosophy [2] 2011 American Philosophical Association Conference Grant, $2 900, with Michael Griffin and Riin Sirkel and for the Canadian Colloquium for Ancient Philosophy [1] 2006-7 Graduate Colloquium Coordinator, Philosophy Graduate Student Association, University of Western Ontario Professional Associations [3] Member, Upper Canada Society for Ancient and Medieval Philosophy [2] Member, Canadian Philosophical Association [1] Member, American Philosophical Association, Central Division OTHER PERTINENT EXPERIENCE Further Education [8] 12/2013 Participant, Conference on Teleology and Necessity in Aristotle, Princeton University 4
[7] 4/2012 Participant, Ancient Philosophy Workshop, University of Toronto [6] 2011 Visiting Graduate Student, University of Oxford, England, Hilary term [5] 9/2010 London Workshop on Aristotle s Biology, University of Western Ontario [4] 2007-10 Participant, Second through Fifth Pittsburgh-London Generation of Animals Workshops, Departments of Philosophy, University of Pittsburgh and Western Ontario [3] 4/2009 Participant, Workshop Bridging the Gap Between Aristotle s Science and Ethics, University of Western Ontario [2] 2008 Participant, Latin Reading Group, University of Western Ontario [1] 2007 Participant, Greek Reading Group, University of Western Ontario Further Employment [1] 1998-2007 Laboratory Assistant, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Neurosciences, McMaster University LANGUAGES Spoken: Reading: English, French Ancient Greek, Latin GRADUATE COURSEWORK Advanced Research Seminar (William Harper), UWO, Winter 2008 Ancient Greek Poetry: Euripides Alcestis (Bonnie McLachlan), UWO, Winter 2006 Aristotelian Logic (John Thorp), UWO, Winter 2007* Aristotle s De Anima (John Thorp), UWO, Fall 2008 Aristotle s Metaphysics (Stephen Menn), McGill University, Winter 2004 Aristotle s Philosophy of Science (Devin Henry), UWO, Winter 2009* Aristotle s Poetics (Stephen Menn), McGill University, Winter 2009* Aristotle s Worst Idea (John Thorp), UWO, Winter 2007 Berkeley (Thomas Lennon), UWO, Fall 2008 Contemporary Analytic Philosophy (William Demopoulos), Fall-Winter 2006-7 Descartes on the Passions (Benjamin Hill), UWO, Fall 2007 History of Emotions from Plato to Descartes (Henrik Lagerlund), UWO, Winter 2008 John Buridan on Metaphysics, Mind, and Language (Henrik Lagerlund and Calvin Normore), UWO, Fall 2008 Kinds and Categories in Plato and Aristotle (Christopher Shields), Oxford, Hilary Term 2011* Late Medieval Philosophical Psychology (Henrik Lagerlund), UWO, Fall 2006 5
Philosophy of Perception (John Nicholas), UWO, Winter 2009 Plato s Epistemology (Devin Henry), UWO, Winter 2007 Prospectus Course (Devin Henry), UWO, Winter 2009 Reading / Translation Course on Michael of Ephesus (John Thorp), UWO, Fall 2007 Science in the Commentary Tradition (Devin Henry), UWO, Winter 2007 Varieties of Practical Reasoning in Ancient Philosophy (Karen M. Nielsen), UWO, Fall 2006 ( * designates audited course) Competency Exams (UWO): History of Philosophy (August 2006), with distinction; Logic (September 2010) Comprehensive Exam: History of Philosophy (August 2010) REFERENCES Professor Devin Henry Department of Philosophy, Stevenson Hall 4150 The University of Western Ontario 1151 Richmond St., London, ON CANADA N6A 5B8 Phone: 519-661-2111 ext. 85876 / Email: dhenry3@uwo.ca Professor Henrik Lagerlund Department of Philosophy, Stevenson Hall 3145 The University of Western Ontario 1151 Richmond St., London, ON CANADA N6A 5B8 Phone: 519-661-2111 ext. 80508 / Email: hlagerlu@uwo.ca Professor Mariska Leunissen Department of Philosophy 207F Caldwell Hall The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill 240 East Cameron Chapel Hill, NC 27599-3125 Phone: 919-962-2280 / Email: mleunissen@unc.edu 6
DISSERTATION ABSTRACT Richard Lewontin writes, It is not possible to do the work of science without using a language that is filled with metaphor (The Triple Helix, 3). Here, Lewontin is emphasising the danger, commonly felt, that metaphor in science can mislead. As he goes on to say, there is a great risk of confusing the metaphor with the thing of real interest, so that we cease to see world as if it were like a machine, and take it to be a machine (The Triple Helix, 4). Metaphors in science can mislead, therefore, because the distinction between using metaphor as a way of thinking about the world, and using metaphor as a way of describing the world, is not always clear. My dissertation, Method and Metaphor in Aristotle s Science of Nature, looks at Aristotle s method of investigating the natural world and the role of metaphor in those investigations. One puzzle about Aristotle s use of metaphor in science is that it seems to violate his own standards for proper scientific explanation. The common approach of scholars to this puzzle can be expressed as a dilemma: either Aristotle is aware he is using metaphor and is contradicting himself, or he does not and has, in Lewontin s words, confused metaphor for the thing of real interest. The approach I take in my dissertation avoids this puzzle by distinguishing between Aristotle s method of explanation and his method of scientific inquiry. I show that Aristotle uses metaphors not as explanations, but as heuristic strategies for approaching problems in natural science. This approach provides a better sense of how Aristotle can use metaphor to refine scientific questions, critique the questions posed by his predecessors, and express conditions that a solution to a given scientific problem must satisfy to count as an adequate explanation. In the first chapter of the dissertation, I defend an interpretation of metaphor as a type of heuristic reasoning. I claim that Aristotle uses metaphor to express the conditions he thinks a scientific explanation must meet if it is going to explain the world of regular, ordered change. These conditions specify the kinds of causes particularly unmoved efficient causes which the inquirer into nature is seeking. In the second essay, I look to Aristotle s use of endoxa (common beliefs) as explanatory principles in science, and show how his use of these principles resembles his use of metaphor: they both express conditions an explanation must meet in order to explain natural change. In the final essay, I present a study of the analogy of art and nature. I suggest that by looking at how the Greeks understood the role of inquiry in the arts, especially the role of inquiry in ancient medicine, we can shed some light on Aristotle s views concerning the method of inquiry he thinks the natural scientist should adopt. My dissertation is one of the first studies to look at Aristotle s actual use of metaphor in science, rather than his theories about metaphor in the Poetics and Rhetoric. The study suggests that Aristotle s use of metaphor in science is richer than what is suggested by his more literary theories, and opens up ways for thinking about the role of metaphor in scientific inquiry. The study also contributes to our understanding of the history and problems concerning scientific inquiry in the ancient world, providing a new argument for the close relationship of ideas among Aristotle and the ancient Greek medical tradition. 7