Craig Callender

Professor of Philosophy



Philosophy Department, 0119
University of California, San Diego
9500 Gilman Drive
La Jolla, CA 92093-0119

Office phone: 858-822-4911

Office: 8077

Email: ccallenderREMOVE@ucsd.REMOVEedu


I've been a member of the UCSD Philosophy Department since Jan 2001.  From 1996-2000 I was Lecturer and then Senior Lecturer in the Department of Philosophy, Logic & Scientific Method at the London School of Economics.  I obtained my PhD from Rutgers University in 1997. 

My main areas of research are:

            • Philosophy of Science                                                                                                                      

• Philosophy of Physics

• Metaphysics                                                                                                  

I also have teaching interests in environmental ethics. I’ve published in philosophy, physics and law journals--a (probably out-of-date) CV can be found by clicking here.  I’m particularly interested in the intersection of time and modern science, the interpretation of quantum mechanics (especially Bohm’s theory), the foundations of statistical mechanics, Humean metaphysics, and various issues about spacetime.  Lately I’ve been working on (a) the difference between time and space, (b) the psycho-physics of time perception and the metaphysics of time, (c) laws of nature and natural kinds, and (d) the relation between thermodynamics and gravity.  

This year I'll be on sabbatical in Fall 08 and Winter 09. In Spring 09 I'll teach two classes, the Philosophical Methods Seminar (Phil 115) on the topic of Happiness and Environmental Issues: Social Science (ENVR 130).

I'm an active participant in the Southern California Philosophy of Physics Reading Group, the UCSD Philosophy of Physics Research Group and the UCSD Philosophy of Science Reading Group.



    "The reciprocal relationship of epistemology and science is of noteworthy kind. They are dependent upon
     each other. Epistemology without contact with science becomes an empty scheme. Science without
     epistemology is—insofar as it is thinkable at all—primitive and muddled."  Einstein

Publications/Preprints                            

 

Chapters/Entries in Books:

 

Book Reviews



Other
:

Work in Progress (please do not cite/quote without permission, though comments are welcome)
  1.          “Time’s Ontic Voltage
  2.         “Time is the Simplest (and Strongest) Thing” (extremely rough draft)
  3.      "A Better Best System Theory of Laws" (with Jonathan Cohen)

Books 

Philosophy Meets Physics at the Planck Length, CUP,2001, edited with Nick Huggett

Time, Reality & Experience, CUP, 2002

Introducing Time, 2001,2004, Totem Books, (Croatian edition, 2003; French edition, Flammarion 2004) 

Oxford Handbook on Time, in preparation

         Software: Microsoft Office    Software: Microsoft Office       Software: Microsoft Office         Software: Microsoft Office croatian cover


Teaching

Below are some of the courses I have taught or will teach. Links lead to class webpages, where available:

  1.  Philosophy 14: Introduction to Philosophy: Metaphysics (Winter 2008)
  2. Environmental Studies 102 with Naomi Oreskes (Winter 2008)
  3. Philosophy 131: Topics in Metaphysics
  4. Philosophy 146: Philosophy of Physics (Spring 2003: Foundations of Spacetime Physics
  5. Philosophy 146: Philosophy of Physics (Fall 2004: Quantum Mechanics)
  6. Freshman Seminar 87: Geometry, Philosophy & the Fourth Dimension (Spring 2003)
  7. Freshman Seminar 87: The Nature of Time (Spring 2004)
  8. Philosophy 245: The Metaphysics of the Quantum World (Spring 2004)
  9.  Philosophy 148: Philosophy and the Environment (Fall 2003)
  10. Philosophy 87: Philosophy Through Science Fiction (Fall 2005)
  11. Philosophy 146: Philosophy of Physics (Fall 2005: Foundations of Spacetime Physics)
  12. Philosophy 245: The Fundamental Structure of the World (Spring 2006)
  13. Phil 146: Philosophy of Physics  Fall 2006: Locality and Determinism in Classical and Quantum Physics
  14. Philosophy 115: Philosophical Methods Seminar: Happiness (Fall 2007)
  15. Heat, Time and Roulette Wheels, with Chris Wuthrich (Spring 2008)

Some of the topics on which I have given graduate seminars include: Direction of Time, Philosophy of Physics, the First Year Pro-Seminar, Scientific Realism and the Value of Knowledge, The Metaphysics of the Quantum World, and Humean Supervenience. 


Conferences

Society for Exact Philosophy Annual Conference: UCSD, May 18-21, 2006, organized with Jonathan Cohen.

Philosophy of Science Workshop: UCSD, June 6-7, 2003 Click here.