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Degrees:
Ph.D., Indiana Univ., Bloomington
M.A., Indiana Univ., Bloomington
B.S., Univ. of Cincinnati
B.A., Univ. of Cincinnati
Kari L. Theurer graduated from the University of Cincinnati in 2005 with a B.A. in philosophy and a B.S. in biology. She earned her Ph.D. in philosophy from Indiana University in 2012, with a minor in history and philosophy of science. Her research is at the intersection of philosophy of science and philosophy of mind, where she focuses primarily on issues surrounding explanation and reduction in the mind and brain sciences. Her current research can be divided into three projects. The first is dedicated to articulating and defending an account of mechanistic reduction in neuroscience. The second focuses on the nature of explanation in psychiatry. The third is concerned with the evolution of cognition and consciousness, and the ways in which biological facts about the brain should constrain theorizing in the philosophy of mind. She finds teaching philosophy valuable not only because philosophy is intrinsically interesting but also because it helps students acquire a skill set integral to success in most careers. Kari’s students learn to think on their feet, reason critically, write clearly, think imaginatively, and read actively.
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Philosophy of Science
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Philosophy of Mind
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Philosophy of Neuroscience
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Philosophy of Biology
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Metaphysics
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History of Analytic Philosophy
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Philosophy of Sport
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Psychiatric disorder
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Evolution of cognition and consciousness
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Scientific explanation
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Reductionism in science
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Mechanistic explanation
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Metaphysics of science
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Emergence
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Physicalism
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Unity of science
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History of philosophy of science
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Publications:
- Hartner, D. and K. Theurer. 2018. Why Psychiatry Should Not Seek Mechanisms of Disorder. Journal of Theoretical and Philosophical Psychology. Advance online publication. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/teo0000095
- Theurer, K. 2018. Looking Up and Looking Down: On the Dual Character of Mechanistic Explanations. Journal for General Philosophy of Science, 49(3): 371-392.
- Theurer, K. and T. Polger. 2018. Is Consciousness an Adaptation? In The Routledge Handbook of Evolution and Philosophy. R. Joyce (Ed.) London: Routledge.
- Theurer, Kari L. 2014. Complexity-Based Theories of Emergence: Criticisms and Constraints. International Studies in the Philosophy of Science, 28(3): 277-301.
- Theurer, Kari L. and John Bickle. 2013. What’s Old Is New Again: Kemeny-Oppenheim Reduction in Current Molecular Neuroscience. Philosophia Scientiae, 17(2): 89-113.
- Theurer, Kari L. 2013. Seventeenth-Century Mechanism: An Alternative Framework for Reductionism. Philosophy of Science, 80(5): 907-918.
- Theurer, Kari L. 2013. Compositional Explanatory Relations and Mechanistic Reduction. Minds and Machines, 23(3): 287-307.
Selected Presentations:
- “Why Psychiatry Shouldn’t Seek Mechanisms of Disorder” (with Daniel F. Hartner). Pathologizing Body and Mind: Leuven Philosophy of Medicine Conference. Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Leuven, Belgium, 16 October 2015.
- “More Information, Better Explanations: Reductionism in Biological Psychiatry.” Explanations of Cognition Workshop, University of Stirling, Stirling, Scotland, UK, 22 July 2015.
- “The Mechanisms of Psychiatric Disorders: Are We Looking in the Wrong Direction?” (with Daniel F. Hartner) Society for Philosophy and Psychology, Duke University, Durham, NC, 04 June 2015.
- “The Mechanisms of Psychiatric Disorder: Hope for a Unified Science of Mind and Brain?” Invited keynote address, Southern Utah University Undergraduate Philosophy Conference, Cedar City, UT, 07 February 2015
- “More Information, Better Explanations: Reductionism in Biological Psychiatry.” Philosophy of Science Association 24th Biennial Meeting, Chicago, IL, 07 November 2014.
- “Ambitious Hypotheses: Pain, Homology, and Multiple Realization.” University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT, 09 April 2014.
- "More Information, Better Explanations: Reductionism in Biological Psychiatry." Southern Society for Philosophy and Psychology, Austin, TX, 28 February 2013.
- “When Is a Mechanism More Than the Sum of Its Parts?” American Philosophical Association, Eastern Division Meeting, Atlanta, GA, 28 December 2012.
- “Compositional Explanatory Relations and Mechanistic Reduction.” Society for Philosophy and Psychology, Boulder, CO, 22 June 2012.
- “Ruthless Reduction: From Molecular Mechanisms to Mental Illness.” “Complexity: Its Theoretical Foundations and Consequences in Diverse Applications,” Altonaer Stiftung für philosophische Grundlagenforschung, Hamburg, Germany, 26 August 2011.
- “Emergence and Biological Complexity.” “Complexity: Its Theoretical Foundations and Consequences in Diverse Applications,”Altonaer Stiftung für philosophische Grundlagenforschung, Hamburg, Germany, 24 August 2011.
- “Seventeenth-Century Mechanism: An Alternative Framework for Reductionism.” International Society for the History, Philosophy, and Social Studies of Biology, Salt Lake City, UT, 14 July 2011.
- “Mechanism, Reduction, and Contextual Explanation.” Southern Society for Philosophy and Psychology, New Orleans, LA, 11 March 2011.
- “Emergence, Reduction, and Mechanism: Lessons from the 17th Century.” Brand Lecture, Indiana University, Department of Philosophy, Bloomington, IN, 17 April 2010.
- “On the Prospects for ‘Real’ Emergence.” Philosophical Foundations of Systems Biology (PSBio), “Biological Explanation: Systems, Levels, and Causes.” University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway, 11 December 2009.
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- College of Arts and Sciences Dissertation Year Research Fellowship, Indiana University, Academic Year 2010-2011.
- Myles and Peg Brand Graduate Fellowship in Philosophy, Indiana University, Academic Year 2009-2010.
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