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Dr. Brandon Beasley

Pronouns: he/him

Positions

Sessional Instructor

Faculty of Arts, Department of Philosophy

Contact information

Email

bbeasley@ucalgary.ca

Web presence

Brandon's website

Background

Educational Background

PhD Philosophy, University of Calgary, 2024

MA Philosophy, Dalhousie University, 2010

BA (Honours, First Class) Philosophy, University of Calgary, 2009

Biography

I work on pragmatist approaches to intentionality, meaning, and normativity, animated by the question of the place of mind and agency in the natural world. My dissertation argues that such a pragmatist view must avoid a problem which is, roughly, a naturalistic and pragmatist analogue of Descartes' interaction problem, except between 'meaning' and 'habit' instead of between mind-stuff and body-stuff. I also work on Kant and Hegel, cognitive science, artificial intelligence, and, in general, the intersections between German Idealism, pragmatism, and analytic philosophy.

Research

Areas of Research

Pragmatism, Philosophy of Mind, Philosophy of Language, Hegel, Normativity and Naturalism, Intentionality, Meaning, and Content

Courses

Course number Course title Semester
PHIL 201 Mind, Matter, and God Winter 2025
PHIL 335 Asian Philosophy Winter 2025
PHIL 399.26 Special Topics: Reason and Nature Spring 2025

Awards

  • Joseph-Armand Bombardier Canada Graduate Scholarship, SSHRC. 2015
  • Michael Smith Foreign Study Supplement, SSHRC. 2017
  • Graduate Student Essay Award, UCalgary Department of Philosophy. 2020

Publications