HIGHER EDUCATION DEGREES:
* PhD in Philosophy, University of Reading, England, December 1994. Thesis: Descartes on the Substantial Union of Mind and Body (supervisors: John Cottingham and Tom Sorell; external examiner: Desmond Clarke).
* MA in Philosophy, University of Reading, 1991. Thesis: Triptych On the Soul: Aristotle; Descartes; Nagel (supervisor: John Cottingham).
* BSc in Mathematics, University of Texas at El Paso, 1990.
* BSc in Computer Science, University of Texas at El Paso, 1987.
PUBLICATIONS:
BOOK:
* Triptych On the Soul: Aristotle; Descartes; Nagel (Monterey:
Monterey Press,
1993).
EDITOR OF BOOK:
* Descartes: Key Philosophical Writings (Ware, England: Wordsworth,
1997), xxiv +
407 pp.
ARTICLES:
* ‘The Principle of Causality in the Third Meditation’, Sapientia 49
(1994),
pp. 357-64.
* ‘Descartes’ Concept of Sense-Perception’, Cogito 10.1 (1996), pp. 15-21.
* ‘Descartes’ Interactionism and his Principle of Causality’, The
European Legacy 2.7 (1997), pp. 959-976. (Journal published
by MIT Press.)
* ‘Descartes’ Life and the Evolution of His Philosophy’, in E.
Chávez-
Arvizo (ed.), Descartes: Key Philosophical Writings (Ware, England:
Wordsworth, 1997), pp. vii-xxiv.
· ‘The Utrecht Controversy and the Descartes-Regius Affair’,
The British Society for
the History of Philosophy Newsletter 3.1 (March 1998), pp. 1-5.
BOOK REVIEWS:
* ‘Review of D. L. Sepper’s Descartes’s Imagination: Proportion, Images,
and the
Activity of Thinking (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1996)’,
Isis 88.1
(1997).
* ‘Review of S. Gaukroger’s Descartes: An Intellectual History (Oxford:
Oxford
University [Clarendon] Press, 1995)’, Journal of the History
of Philosophy
(1997).
EDITOR OF SCHOLARLY NEWSLETTER:
* Newsletter of The British Society for the History of Philosophy,
since 1995.
Recent contributors include Stuart Brown. Vere C. Chappell, Stephen
Gaukroger,
Tad M. Schmaltz, Steven Wagner, and Richard A. Watson.
ISSN 0951-5151.
New Series: Vol. 1, No. 1, March 1996, pp. 1-49.
New Series: Vol. 1, No. 2, October 1996, pp. 1-35.
New Series: Vol. 2, No. 1, March 1997, pp. 1-39.
New Series: Vol. 2, No. 2, October 1997, pp. 1-39.
New Series: Vol. 3, No. 1, March 1998, pp. 1-43.
New Series: Vol. 3, No. 2, October 1998, pp. 1-43.
New Series: Vol. 4, forthcoming 1999.
OTHERS:
* ‘Analytical Index’ and ‘Bibliography’ commissioned for J. G. Cottingham,
A
Descartes Dictionary (Oxford: Blackwell, 1993).
* ‘Analytical Index’, ‘Bibliography’, and ‘Table of Citations’ commissioned
for
J. G. Cottingham (ed.), Reason, Will, and Sensation (Oxford:
Oxford University
[Clarendon] Press, 1994).
* ‘Analytical Index’ commissioned for J. G. Cottingham (ed.), Western
Philosophy: An Anthology (Oxford: Blackwell, 1996).
* ‘Cosmos and Daimón: Unifying Aspects of Empedocles’ Philosophy’
translation
of an article by M. R. Wright, commissioned for A. Vargas (ed.),
Presocratic Philosophy (Mexico City: Autonomous-Metropolitan
University
Press, forthcoming, 1999).
PAPERS DELIVERED:
· ‘Le Sentiment des Animaux et le Corps Machine’, delivered
at the Sorbonne (in September 1996) at a conference on L’esprit Cartésien.
· ‘Descartes’ Interactionism and his Principle of Causality’,
delivered at San Diego State University, Union College, and Villanova University
(all in 1997).
WORK IN PROGRESS:
Recently, I have submitted a paper – ‘Descartes on Mind-Body Interaction
and Free Will’ --, to a philosophy journal. I am waiting for a response.
Also, I am working on a paper on ‘Descartes’ Doctrine of the Three Primitive
Notions’ which I hope to submit for publication in the near future. My
current long-term project is to rework and extend much of the material
which went to make up my doctoral thesis into a full-length book on Descartes’
philosophy of mind.
GRANT ACTIVITY:
· Union College Faculty Travel award to travel to Paris to deliver
paper at the Sorbonne, at a conference on L’esprit Cartésien, 1996.
· PSC-CUNY Annual Award to fund work on ‘Descartes on Animal Sentience’, 1998.
· PSC-CUNY Annual Award to fund travel to the Bibliotèque Nationale de France and continuation of work on ‘Descartes on Animal Sentience’, 1999.
· Recently, I have applied to the Rockefeller Foundation for a one-month residency at its Bellagio Center (in Italy) award to continue, in the summer of 2000, work on my Descartes’ philosophy of mind book project. I am waiting for a response.
TEACHING EXPERIENCE:
Assistant Professor in Philosophy (tenure-track), Department of Art,
Music, and Philosophy, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, The City University
of New York, 899 Tenth Avenue, New York, NY 10019, since September 1997
to present.
At John Jay College of Criminal Justice I teach seven courses per academic
year. I teach Introduction to Philosophy (Philosophy 231) and an intermediate
course on Ethics and Law (Philosophy/Law 310). I have full responsibility
for teaching and examining these courses.
Visiting Assistant Professor in Philosophy, Department of Philosophy,
Union College, Schenectady, NY 12308, from July 1996 to August 1997.
At Union I taught two courses per quarter, six courses in all. I taught
Applied Ethics, Ancient to Medieval, and Enlightenment to Kant, at introductory
level, and Philosophy of Mind, Epistemology, and Leibniz to Kant, at advanced
level. I had full responsibility for teaching and examining these courses.
Adjunct Professor in Philosophy, Department of Philosophy, University
of Hertfordshire, Watford WD2 8AT, England, from February 1995 to February
1996.
At Hertfordshire I taught a course and two seminars on Philosophy of
Mind to advanced philosophy students. Also, I taught a course and two seminars
on Philosophy of Cognition to advanced Cognitive Science students. I had
full responsibility for teaching and examining these courses.
Adjunct Professor in Philosophy, Department of Philosophy, The University
of Reading, Whiteknights, Reading RG6 2AA, England, from October 1992 to
July 1996.
At Reading I taught undergraduate seminars on Plato, Descartes, Mill,
Applied Ethics, and Philosophy of Mind. I also taught Plato and Aristotle,
Locke to Kant, and Epistemology within tutorials -- the Oxford system of
teaching -- on a one-to-one basis. As part of my responsibilities, I evaluated
and graded students’ essays, tests, and examinations.
Adjunct Professor in Mathematics, Superior School of Psychology at the
Autonomous University of Juárez, Mexico, from January 1988 to May
1990.
In this university I taught over a period of two years on Formal Logic,
Sets and Relations, and Descriptive and Inferential Statistics. I had full
responsibility for teaching and examining these courses.
Voluntary Open Secondary School Teacher, National Institute of Adult
Education, Juárez, Mexico, from September 1986 to June 1988.
My work here was to teach secondary level mathematics to adults in
shanty towns in Juárez. My duties involved two two-hour lectures
per week, evaluating and marking tests and examinations.
OTHER INFORMATION:
AREAS OF SPECIALIZATION WITHIN PHILOSOPHY: Descartes, Early Modern Philosophy, and Philosophy of Mind.
AREAS OF COMPETENCE WITHIN PHILOSOPHY: Ancient Philosophy, Medieval Philosophy, Mill, Applied Ethics, Epistemology, Philosophy of Law, and Formal Logic.
PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS: I am a member of the British Society for the History of Philosophy (England, since 1991), the Seventeenth Century Research Group (London, since 1991), the Aristotelian Society (London, since 1994) and the American Philosophical Association (USA, since 1994).
KNOWLEDGE OF LANGUAGES: Native Spanish speaker. English as a second language.
VOLUNTARY WORK: Amnesty International (AI), Juárez, Mexico, from
May 1987 until May 1990.
General Secretary of AI in Juárez (1987-90). President of the
National Advisory Committee for AI’s Mexican Section (1987-8). Mexican
Representative to AI’s International Council, Aguas de Lindoia, Brazil
(1987). International Guest to the Annual General Meeting of AI’s U.S.A.
Section, San Francisco. Mexican Representative to AI’s International Meeting
of Campaign Co-ordination, London (1987). Mexican Representative to AI’s
International Meeting on the Death Penalty, London (1987).
REFEREES: John Cottingham (The University of Reading, England).
Tom Sorell (The University of Essex, England).
Alan Gabbey (Barnard College, Columbia University, USA).
John Preston (The University of Reading, England).