Juan J. Colomina-Almiñana
Lecturer
— Ph.D.,
University of La Laguna (Tenerife, Spain)
Biography
Juan J. Colomina received his PhD in Philosophy from the University of La Laguna (Tenerife, Spain) in 2009. He is a Lecturer at the Department of Philosophy at UT-Austin where he teaches Human Nature (PHL 303) and Three Views of Empiricism: Aristotle, Hume, and Carnap (PHL 306). His books include Los problemas de las teorías representacionales de la conciencia (Tenerife: Universidad de La Laguna, 2010) and Implicaciones de la teoría de los actos de habla (Madrid: EAE, 2011), and he has coedited (with V. Raga) La filosofía de Richard Rorty (Madrid: Biblioteca Nueva, 2010).
He has also published more than fifty articles in several collected books and international journals. His research areas of interest focus on the boundaries between Semantics and Pragmatics, Philosophy of Language, Philosophy of Mind and Consciousness, Philosophy of Science, and Logic. In 2012, he received the Young Researcher Award from the Spanish Society of Logic. He is a member of the Research Group for Logic, Language, Epistemology, Mind, and Action (LEMA) at the University of La Laguna in Spain, whose main project is “Points of View and Temporal Structures” (FII2011-
24549).
Interests
Philosophy of Language, Philosophy of Mind and Consciousness, Intensional and Inductive Logic, Philosophy of Science, Metaphysics (specially Time), Points of View and Perspectivism, and Carnap’s and Russell’s Legacies.
PHL 301L •
Early Modern Philosophy
42770 •
Fall 2013
Meets
TTH 1230pm-200pm WAG 201
show description
this course examines metaphysical and epistemological issues in early
modern philosophy from Descartes (1596–1650) to Kant (1724–1804)
specific topics include scepticism, the existence of the external world, the relation between mind
and body (between consciousness and matter), ‘realism’ and ‘idealism’, ‘empiricism’ and
‘rationalism’, perception, primary and secondary qualities (e.g. shape and color), personal
identity (the nature of the self or subject of experience), induction, causation, free will, Kant’s
deontological ethics (other possible topics include: substance, miracles, nature and existence of
God, a priori knowledge, the analytic-synthetic distinction, essence, possibility, the nature of
space)
PHL 303 •
Human Nature
42790 •
Fall 2013
Meets
TTH 800am-930am BEN 1.104
show description
This course examines theories of human nature, such as those of Plato, Aristotle,
Christianity, Hume, and Hobbes. Topics covered include the question whether there is a
distinctive human nature, freewill, and the problem of justice.
PHL 303 •
Human Nature
42390 •
Spring 2013
Meets
TTH 800am-930am GAR 0.128
show description
This course examines theories of human nature, such as those of Plato, Aristotle,
Christianity, Hume, and Hobbes. Topics covered include the question whether there is a
distinctive human nature, freewill, and the problem of justice.
PHL 303 •
Human Nature
42265 •
Fall 2012
Meets
TTH 800am-930am BEN 1.104
show description
This course examines theories of human nature, such as those of Plato, Aristotle,
Christianity, Hume, and Hobbes. Topics covered include the question whether there is a
distinctive human nature, freewill, and the problem of justice.
PHL 306 •
Three Views Of Empiricism
42433 •
Fall 2012
Meets
TTH 200pm-330pm BEN 1.108
show description
Empiricists claim that our knowledge is based on the sensory-perception experience. Rationalism defends a rational justification of our knowledge. Traditionally empiricists have constructed their arguments to explain the formation of ideas and concepts with different kinds of evidence, scientific observation, and experience. Rationalists have defended that we can explain concepts from notions such as innate ideas, a priori reasoning, or traditions. Beyond the epistemic considerations of these theses, we will also explore the logic, semantic and metaphysical implications of these polemics, attending specifically to questions such as the potential/actual distinction, the problematic of universal concepts, the existence of abstract objects and the inductive/deductive and analytic/synthetic dichotomies.
The main purpose of this course is to explore the basis and skeptical challenges postulated by Empiricism through the analysis of the works of three of its most representative thinkers: Aristotle, David Hume, and Rudolf Carnap. We will read various texts by these authors to understand what it means to be an empiricist, how the empiricist theses have been developed for centuries, and how their arguments challenge some common-sense intuitions. We will also attend to possible criticisms of the ideas by these particular empiricists.
