Addresses

 

Department of Philosophy Trinity University One Trinity Place San Antonio, TX 78212-7200 (210) 999-8306 (secretary: 8305) e-mail: cbrown@trinity.edu

15702 Partridge Trail San Antonio, TX 78232 (210) 545-0329

Education

Ph.D., Princeton University, 1982
B.A., St. Olaf College, 1978

Employment

Professor of Philosophy, Trinity University, 1994 - present
Associate Professor of Philosophy, Trinity University, 1988 - 94
Assistant Professor of Philosophy, Trinity University, 1982-88

Offices Held

Chair, Trinity University Department of Philosophy, 1994 - 99
Chair, Trinity University Interdisciplinary Minor in Cognitive Science, 1988-95; 2005 - present
Acting Chair, Trinity University Department of Philosophy, Spring 1991

Grants and Awards

Trinity University Academic Leave, Fall 2004, for work on the topic “Computation and Cognition.”

Trinity University Academic Leave, fall 1999, for work on "Computational Theories of Mental Content."

Trinity University Academic Leave, fall 1994, for work in the philosophy of mind on the topic "Narrow Content."

Trinity University Summer Stipend, summer 1992, for work in the philosophy of language on the topic "Transparent Prose."

Trinity University Academic Leave, academic year 1989-90, for work in the philosophy of mind on the topic "Beliefs and Their Objects."

Trinity University Summer Stipend, Summer 1988, for work in the philosophy of mind on the topic "How To Believe The Impossible."

National Endowment for the Humanities Summer Seminar on the Philosophy of Science, taught by Arthur Fine at Northwestern University, summer 1987.

Summer stipend, summer 1986, funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities as part of "Central Themes in Philosophy" course development project, for work on course in Idealism.

Trinity University Summer Stipend, summer 1985, for work in ethics on the topic "Rules or Virtues?"

National Endowment for the Humanities Summer Stipend, summer 1983, for work on the topic "Are Mental States Intrinsic?"

Phi Beta Kappa, 1977.

National Merit Scholarship, St. Olaf College, 1974-1978.

Publications: Articles

"Functionalism," forthcoming in William A. Darity, ed., International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences, 2nd Edition (Farmington Hills, MI: Macmillan Reference USA, 2007).

"Implementation and Indeterminacy," in J. Weckert and Y. Al-Saggaf, eds., Conferences in Research and Practice in Information Technology 37 (2004): 27-31.

"Narrow Mental Content," in Edward N. Zalta, ed., Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Stanford, CA: Center for the Study of Language and Information, Stanford University), 2002; revised and updated version, 2007.

"Art, Oppression, and the Autonomy of Aesthetics," in Alex Neill and Aaron Ridley, eds., Arguing About Art: Contemporary Philosophical Debates (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1995), pp. 295-317; Second Edition (London: Routledge, 2002), pp. 399-421.

"Belief States and Narrow Content," Mind and Language 8 (1993): 343-67.

"Direct and Indirect Belief," Philosophy and Phenomenological Research 52 (1992): 289-316.

"Believing the Impossible," Synthese 89 (1991): 353-64.

"Belief and Rationality" (with Steven Luper-Foy), Synthese 89 (1991): 323-29. (Introduction to special issue on Belief and Rationality.)

"How to Believe the Impossible," Philosophical Studies 58 (1990): 271-85.

"Internal Realism: Transcendental Idealism?" Midwest Studies in Philosophy 12 (1988): 145-55.

"Overriding Reasons and Reasons to be Moral," The Southern Journal of Philosophy 24 (1986): 173-87.

"What is a Belief State?" Midwest Studies in Philosophy 10 (1986): 357-78.

"The Necessary A Posteriori: A Response to Tichy," Philosophical Studies 45 (1984): 379-97.

Publications: Books

Steven Luper-Foy and Curtis Brown, ed., Drugs, Morality and the Law. New York: Garland, 1994.

Steven Luper-Foy and Curtis Brown, ed., The Moral Life. Fort Worth: Harcourt, Brace, Jovanovich, 1992. Pp. xiv + 585. Second edition: Steven Luper and Curtis Brown, ed., The Moral Life, Second Edition. Fort Worth: Harcourt Brace College Publishers, 1999. Pp. xiv + 661.

Peter A. French and Curtis Brown, ed., Puzzles, Paradoxes, and Problems: An Introductory Reader for Philosophy. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1987. Pp. xv + 537.

Publications: Edited Journal Issue

Curtis Brown and Steven Luper-Foy, ed., Belief and Rationality. Special Issue of Synthese (89 no. 3, December 1991).

Publications: Reviews

Review of Gilbert Harman and Judith Jarvis Thomson, Moral Relativism and Moral Objectivity. Philosophical Quarterly, vol. 48, no. 192 (1998): 387-390.

Review of Mark Johnson, Moral Imagination: Implications of Cognitive Science for Ethics. Philosophical Psychology, vol. 8 no. 1 (1995).

Review of Charles Crittenden, Unreality: The Metaphysics of Fictional Objects. Canadian Philosophical Reviews 12 (1992): 177-79.

Talks and Papers

"Computation, Representation, and Teleology," Computers and Philosophy Conference, Trondheim, Norway, June, 2006.

"Implementation and Indeterminacy," Computers and Philosophy Conference, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia, October 2003.

Invited response to Mark Phelan, "Expanding the Higher-Order Representational Account to Perceptual Consciousness," University of Texas at San Antonio Philosophy Symposium, November 2002.

Invited Response to Mikko Salmela, "Cognitive Determinants of Emotional Feeling," University of Texas at San Antonio Philosophy Symposium, November 2001.

"Narrow Content and Computational States," Computers and Philosophy Conference, Oregon State University, January, 2001.

Invited response to Dean Graham, paper on modularity and the perception of music, University of Texas at San Antonio Philosophy Symposium, November 1999.

"Transparent Prose, Realistic Painting, and Narrow Content." Invited keynote address, University of Texas at San Antonio Philosophy Symposium, November 1998.

Invited response to Richard Schoenig, "The Free Will Defense Revisited," University of Texas at San Antonio Philosophy Symposium, November 1997.

Invited response to Andrew Cortens, "Can an Anti-Realist About Semantics be a Realist about Anything?", Pacific Division meeting of the American Philosophical Association, March 1997.

Invited response to Todd Hughes, "Phenomenal Know-How," University of Texas at San Antonio Philosophy Conference, November 2, 1996.

"Transparent Prose," Mountain Plains Philosophical Association meeting, Santa Fe, New Mexico, October 1995.

Invited response to Noa Latham, "Psychophysical Laws," Pacific Division meeting of the American Philosophical Association, March 1993.

"What Narrow Content is Not," Pacific Division meeting of the American Philosophical Association, March 1992.

Invited response to Randolph Clarke, "A Principle of Rational Explanation?", Central Division Meeting of the American Philosophical Association, April 1992.

"Moral Truths and Moral Principles," Central Division meeting of the American Philosophical Association, April 1991.

"Believing the Impossible," Central Division meeting of the American Philosophical Association, April 1990.

"Bell's Theorem," Trinity University Physics Department Seminar, July 23, 1989.

"How to Believe the Impossible," Philosophy Department Colloquium, University of Texas at Austin, October 28, 1988.

"I Wish I Had Never Existed," Pacific Division meeting of the American Philosophical Association, March 1987.

"Metaphors for Morality: A Response to John Waide," A Conference on The Virtues, University of San Diego, February 1986.

"Central Themes in Philosophy," NEH-sponsored panel at the Western Division meeting of the American Philosophical Association, April 1985.

Other Professional Activities

Director, Philosophy Department Stieren Lectures in Aesthetics, a component of the University's Stieren Arts Enrichment Series, 1987-90. This involved arranging and supervising week-long visits to campus by prominent philosophers of art, including: 1988: Arthur Danto and Stanley Cavell; 1989: Roger Scruton and Karsten Harries; 1990: Richard Wollheim and Francis Sparshott.

Principal Investigator, "Central Themes in Philosophy," a curriculum development project in the history of philosophy, funded by the Division of Education Programs of the National Endowment for the Humanities, January 1985-December 1986.

Director, "Matchette Lectures in Ethics," a series of lectures on character ethics funded by the Matchette Foundation, 1984-85. Involved public lectures by Martha Nussbaum, Gilbert Harman, Robert Paul Wolff, and Stanley Hauerwas.

Assistant Director, "Persons, Responsibility, and the Law," a lecture and discussion series funded by the Texas Committee for the Humanities, 1983-84. Included lectures by Philippa Foot, Derek Parfit, Bernard Williams, Charles Fried, and Herbert Fingarette.

Referee of books, book manuscripts, articles, or grant proposals for: Philosophy and Phenomenological Research; Mind and Language; Nous; Canadian Journal of Philosophy; Cognitive Science Society annual meeting; Cambridge University Press; Routledge; Wadsworth Publishing Company; Prentice-Hall; St. Martin’s Press; National Endowment for the Humanities, Division of Education Programs; Department of Education, Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE).

University Committees

Major Committees:

Commission on Promotion and Tenure, 1991-92
Faculty Senate, 1993-96 (Secretary, 1993), 2005 -
University Curriculum Council, 1986-89, 1990-1991, 1993 - 97 (Vice Chair 1995-96; Chair 1996-97)

Other Committees:

Ad Hoc Committee on Academic Load, Fall 2005; Academic Standing Committee, 2005 - ; Investigating Committee, 2003 - 2005; Major Scholarships and Fellowships Committee, 2002 - present; Faculty Development Committee, Fall, 2001; Employee Benefits Committee, 2000-2003; Ad Hoc Committee on the Academic Calendar, 2000-2001; General Education Committee, 1997-????; Teaching and Learning Committee, 1997-99 (Chair, 1998-99); Common Curriculum Outcomes Assessment Committee, 1995 - 97; Lecturers and Visiting Scholars Committee, 1991-92; United Way Committee, 1991; Library Activities Committee, 1991-93; Committee to Evaluate the Library Director, Spring 1989; Commission on Honors Studies, 1987-89; Academic Standing Committee, 1987-88; Pre-Law Committee, 1984 - present; Traffic and Parking Committee, 1983-85; General Education Task Force on Aesthetic Experience, 1985; General Education Task Force on Knowing About Knowing, 1984; Phi Beta Kappa, 1982- present (Vice President, 1983-85; President, 1985-87).

Professional Memberships

American Philosophical Association; International Association for Computing and Philosophy; Cognitive Science Society