CV
NYU Shanghai
567 West Yangsi Road
Pudong, Shanghai
China 200126
brad.weslake@nyu.edu
http://bweslake.org/
Areas of speciality
Philosophy of Science • Metaphysics
Areas of competence
Philosophy of Mind
Positions
2015–
Associate Professor of Philosophy, NYU Shanghai
2015–
Global Network Associate Professor of Philosophy, NYU
2014
Visiting Associate Professor of Philosophy, NYU
2007–2014
Assistant Professor of Philosophy, University of Rochester
Education
2003–2007
phd in Philosophy, University of Sydney
2002
ba with Class I Honours in Philosophy, University of Newcastle
1997–2001
bcompsci and ba in Philosophy, University of Wollongong
Publications
books
2023
Barry Loewer, Eric Winsberg and Brad Weslake (Eds), The Probability Map of the Universe: Essays on David Albert’s Time and Chance, Harvard University Press, Cambridge MA. [uri] [review in mind]
2020
Shamik Dasgupta, Ravit Dotan and Brad Weslake (Eds), Current Controversies in Philosophy of Science, Routledge, London. [uri]
papers
2024
“Exclusion Excluded”, in Alastair Wilson and Katie Robertson (Eds), Levels of Explanation, Oxford University Press, Oxford, pp. 101–135. [uri] [pdf]
2017
“Difference-Making, Closure and Exclusion”, in Helen Beebee, Chris Hitchcock and Huw Price (Eds), Making a Difference, Oxford University Press, Oxford, pp. 215–231. [uri] [pdf]
2014
“Statistical Mechanical Imperialism”, in Alastair Wilson (Ed), Chance and Temporal Asymmetry, Oxford University Press, Oxford, pp. 241–257. [uri] [pdf]
2013
“Proportionality, Contrast and Explanation”, in Australasian Journal of Philosophy, vol. 91, no. 4, pp. 785–797. [uri] [pdf]
2013
McCain, Kevin and Weslake, Brad. “Evolutionary Theory and the Epistemology of Science”, in Kostas Kampourakis (Ed), The Philosophy of Biology: A Companion for Educators, Springer, Dordrecht, pp. 101–119. [uri] [pdf]
2010
“Explanatory Depth”, in Philosophy of Science,
vol. 77, no. 2, apr 2010, pp. 273–294. [uri] [pdf]
2009
Price, Huw and Weslake, Brad. “The Time-Asymmetry of Causation”,
in Helen Beebee, Chris Hitchcock and Peter Menzies (Eds), The Oxford Handbook of Causation, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2009, pp.
414–443. [uri] [pdf]
2006
“Common Causes and The Direction of Causation”, in
Minds and Machines, Rolf Haenni and Stephan Hartmann (Eds), Special Issue on Causality, Uncertainty and Ignorance, vol. 16, no. 3, aug
2006, pp. 239–257. [uri] [pdf]
papers in progress
“A Partial Theory of Actual Causation” [pdf]
“The Problem of Disjunctive Explanations” [pdf]
encyclopædia entries
2014 [2010]
“Causation”, in Graham Oppy and Nick Trakakis (Eds), A Companion to Philosophy in Australia and New Zealand, Monash University Publishing, Melbourne, 2nd Ed, 2014, pp. 107–110. [pdf]
2006
“Causation” in Martin Cohen (Ed), Essentials of Philosophy and Ethics, Hodder Arnold, London, 2006, pp. 44–45. [pdf]
2006
“Time”, in Martin Cohen (Ed), Essentials of Philosophy and Ethics, Hodder Arnold, London, 2006, 283–284. [pdf]
reviews
2006
“James Woodward, Making Things Happen”, in Australasian Journal of Philosophy, vol. 84, no. 1, mar 2006, pp. 136-140. [uri] [pdf]
2004
“William Robinson, Understanding Phenomenal Consciousness”, in Metapsychology Online Reviews, vol. 8, no. 49, 29 nov 2004. [uri] [pdf]
Grants & Collaborations
2013–2015
Invited collaborator for project Causation and Explanation, hosted by Philosophisches Seminar der Universität zu Köln and funded by Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft.
2015–2016
Principal Investigator (with Tim Byrnes, NYU Shanghai) on Shanghai Research Challenge Fund grant Origins of Randomness in Quantum Mechanics ($50,000).
Presentations
2025-02-07
“Fitness Anti-Reductionism”, University of Missouri.
2024-10-01
“Commentary on Factual Difference-Making”, Technical Support Group, NYU.
2024-09-20
“What is Causal Explanation?”, Lunch Talk, NYU.
2024-04-12
“Causation, Information and Specificity”, Work in Progress Seminar, NYU Shanghai
2023-10-20
“What is Causal Explanation?”, *Philosophy Meets Science*, NYU Shanghai.
2023-10-19
“On <a href="https://www.strevens.org/"">Michael Strevens</a>, Why High-Level Explanations Exist”, Fudan.
2022-05-05
“Tolstoy’s Philosophy in War and Peace”, NYU Shanghai.
2021-03-04
“Surrogacy: Some Philosophical Dimensions”, NYU Shanghai.
2020-12-18
2020-12-02
2019-12-14
“Interventionism, Externalism and Exclusion”, Causality Workshop, Harvard.
2019-12-10
Debate on Evolutionary Explanations of Human Homosexuality, NYU Shanghai.
2019-11-29
“Interventionism, Externalism and Exclusion”, Causal Reasoning, Shandong University.
2019-11-24
“(A Little) Philosophy of Sex, Gender and Sexual Orientation”, Playground, Shanghai.
2019-02-29
“Recent Philosophy of Sex and Gender”, Gender Studies Group, NYU Shanghai.
2019-12-19
“The Philosophy and Physics of Time”, Volta, All Club, Shanghai.
2018-11-24
“Fitness and Variance”, Modeling and Reasoning in the Sciences, NYMU, Taiwan.
2018-08-21
“Fitness and Variance”, Philosophy Workshop, NYU Shanghai.
2018-01-08
Invited, Radcliffe Seminar on Causation, Harvard.
2018-01-03
Invited Author Meets Critics session on
Brad Skow,
Reasons Why,
Eastern APA.
2017-08-19
“Fitness and Variance“, Frontier in the Philosophy of Specific Sciences, Tsinghua.
2017-04-24
Debate with
Paul Glimcher on Neuroscience and Free Will, NYU Shanghai.
2017-03-27
2017-03-01
“Causation, Information and Specificity”, MuST 10: Causation and Complexity, Sydney Centre for the Foundations of Science.
2016-12-09
“A Confusion in Concepts of Causal Importance”, East China Normal University.
2016-12-06
Panel Discussion with
Lu Yang, NYU Shanghai Art Gallery.
2016-11-03
“Causation, Information and Specificity”, Philosophy of Science Association, Atlanta.
2016-06-17
“Recent Work on The Direction of Causation”, Causation and the Physical World, Köln.
2016-06-10
“Introduction to Philosophy of Causation“ (with
Ned Hall),
Causation, Harvard.
2016-05-28
“Probability in the Law: A Case Study”, International Conference on Facts and Evidence: A Dialogue Between Philosophy and Law, East China Normal University.
2016-05-03
“Sudden Infant Death or Murder? The Seductive Allure of Probability Models in the Law”, Colloquium in the Humanities and Social Sciences, NYU Shanghai.
2016-04-14
“Interventionism, Externalism and Exclusion”, Emergence, Exclusion, and Causation Workshop, University of Glasgow.
2016-01-04
“Fitness and Variance”, Reduction in Physics and Biology, Instituto de Filosofía y Ciencias de la Complejidad, Santiago de Chile.
2015-08-03
“Fitness and Variance”, 15th Congress of Logic, Methodology and Philosophy of Science, Helsinki.
2015-07-05
“Fitness and Variance”, Australasian Association of Philosophy, Sydney.
2015-06-24
Invited, Varieties of Understanding, New York.
2015-06-18
“Why Think Causally?”, University College London.
2015-05-18
Invited, Orange Beach Epistemology Workshop 7: Inference to the Best Explanation.
2015-04-16
“Fitness in Evolutionary Theory”, Faculty Lunch Speaker Series, NYU Shanghai.
2014-11-20
“Interventionism, Externalism and Exclusion”, Mental Causation: Old Problems, New Solutions?, Center for Logic and Analytic Philosophy, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven.
2014-11-20
“Why Think Causally?”, Causation: A Workshop with Ned Hall, Universität zu Köln.
2014-10-23
“Selection, Drift, and Causal Explanation”, Explanation Beyond Causation, Munich Center for Mathematical Philosophy, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München.
2014-02-03
“Why Think Causally?”, NYU.
2013-12-05
2013-10-11
“Explanation and The Explanatory Gap”, Colloquium, Marist College.
2013-06-22
“Explanation and The Explanatory Gap”, Explanation in Metaphysics, Neuchâtel.
2013-06-19
Invited, The Passage of Time, MIT.
2013-03-29
“Against Explanatory Fundamentalism”, Center for Philosophy of Science, Pittsburgh.
2013-02-07
“Was Darwin a Materialist?”, Philosophy Colloquium, Nazareth College.
2013-03-29
“On
Ned Hall,
Physical and Metaphysical Modality”,
Back at the Ranch, Tucson.
2012-12-27
2012-08-23
“Difference-Making, Closure and Exclusion”, Causation, Macquarie University.
2012-08-22
“Difference-Making, Closure and Exclusion”, Colloquium, University of Sydney
2012-08-16
“Difference-Making, Closure and Exclusion”, Thursday Seminar Series, ANU.
2012-08-15
“Difference-Making, Closure and Exclusion”, Philosophy Seminar, University of Tasmania.
2012-08-11
“Was Darwin a Materialist?”, XII Gathering of Noble Savages, Hobart.
2012-07-23
“Difference-Making, Closure and Exclusion”, Current Projects, University of Sydney.
2012-07-01
“Statistical Mechanical Imperialism”, Australasian Association of Philosophy, Wollongong.
2012-06-28
“Statistical Mechanical Imperialism”, Ceteris Paribus Conditions, Düsseldorf.
2012-04-04
2012-03-15
“A Partial Theory of Actual Causation”, Work in Progress Seminar, MIT.
2012-02-15
“Science and Religion in the Scientific Revolution”, The Coexistence of Science and Religion, Interfaith Chapel, University of Rochester.
2012-02-12
“Was Darwin a Materialist?”, Darwin Day Lecture, Rochester Secular Student Alliance.
2011-08-31
“A Partial Theory of Actual Causation”, Philosophy Colloquium, University of Sydney.
2011-08-17
“Causation, Counterfactual Dependence, and the Transition Problem”, Temporal Asymmetries Conference, Monash University.
2010-12-03
“A Tangled History: On Science and Religion” (with
H. Allen Orr),
Phelps Colloquium Series, University of Rochester.
2010-10-08
“Against Explanatory Fundamentalism”, Colloquium, University of Nevada, Las Vegas.
2009-10-21
Symposium on Causation, Laws, and Natural Kinds, European Philosophy of Science Association, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam.
2009-05-22
“Explanation in Neuroscience and Folk Psychology”, Neuroscience Cluster, Rochester.
2009-05-13
“Initial Conditions, Laws and Explanation”, Philosophical Issues in Statistical Mechanics, Center for Philosophy and the Sciences, Rutgers University.
2009-05-02
“Causal Relativism”, Mellon Metaphysics Workshop, Cornell University.
2009-03-06
“Scientific Models and Explanatory Depth”, Models and Simulations 3, Virginia.
2009-01-07
“On
Brad Skow,
The Dynamics of Non-Being”,
Arizona Ontology Conference.
2008-11-30
“Interventionism and Exclusion”, Mellon Mental Causation Workshop, Syracuse.
2008-11-14
“Interventionism and Exclusion”, CUNY Cognitive Science Symposium.
2008-07-06
“Explanatory Depth”, Australasian Association of Philosophy, Melbourne.
2008-04-10
“Realism and Instrumentalism in Science”, History and Philosophy of Modern Physics Speaker Series, University of Rochester.
2008-03-19
“On
Thomas Bontly,
Psychological Explanation without Mental Quasation”,
Pacific APA.
2007-05-07
“Two Varieties of Causal Anti-Realism”, The Foundations of Physics Group, Maryland.
2007-04-27
“Two Problems for Theories of The Asymmetry of Causal Counterfactuals”, The 2007 Shapiro Conference: Causal and Epistemic Asymmetry, Brown University.
2007-01-11
Invited, Workshop on the Foundations of Quantum Mechanics, Center for Philosophy and the Sciences, Rutgers University.
2006-07-19
“Two Varieties of Causal Anti-Realism”, The Origins and Functions of Causal Thinking III: Intervention, Time and Physics, University of Sydney.
2006-02-28
“Two Varieties of Causal Anti-Realism”, On What There Isn’t, University of Sydney.
2005-11-30
“There Is No Problem of Mental Causation”, Postgraduate Work in Progress, Sydney.
2005-09-28
“There Is No Problem of Mental Causation”, The 11th Annual Australasian Postgraduate Philosophy Conference, Melbourne University.
2005-08-07
“The Past Hypothesis and The Asymmetry of Causal Counterfactuals”, Philosophy, Probability and Physics, University of Konstanz.
2005-07-03
“Lewis on The Asymmetry of Causal Counterfactuals”, Australasian Association of Philosophy, University of Sydney.
2005-05-06
“Just Passing Through: Passage in a Block Universe”, Presentism and Passage, Sydney.
2004-10-29
“The Passing of Time, Again”, Australasian Postgraduate Philosophy Conference, Macquarie.
2004-09-24
“Common Causes and The Direction of Causation”, Postgraduate Conference, Sydney.
2004-08-15
“Common Causes and The Direction of Causation”, Causality, Uncertainty and Ignorance, University of Konstanz, Germany.
2004-08-10
“Common Causes and The Direction of Causation”, Russellian Society, Sydney.
2004-07-16
“Reply to
Tim Maudlin”,
The Origins of Temporal Experience, Centre for Time, Sydney.
2003-10-01
“Explaining Causal Asymmetry”, Australasian Postgraduate Conference, Tasmania.
Teaching & Supervision
graduate
Advanced Introduction to Philosophy of Science,
2014,
2020.
The Direction of Time (Reading Course),
2013.
Perception (Reading Course),
2012.
Philosophy of Biology (Guest Lectures in Department of Biology),
2010.
Causation and Counterfactuals (Reading Course),
2010.
Models and Idealisation (Reading Course),
2009.
Inference to the Best Explanation and Scientific Realism,
2008.
Scientific Explanation,
2007.
Conditionals and Counterfactuals (Reading Course), 2007.
upper level
Philosophy of Cognitive Science,
2010.
Philosophy of Biology (Reading Course),
2008.
Philosophy of Science, Rutgers Newark, 2007.
Philosophy of Mind, University of Sydney, 2005, 2006.
lower level
What is Philosophy?
2021.
Central Problems in Philosophy,
2015,
2016.
Introduction to Philosophy, Adelphi University, 2007.
Morality and Ethics, Adelphi University, 2007.
dissertation committees
2020
2011
2011
Hannah Oh phd, University of Rochester
Service
refereeing
American Philosophical Quarterly, Australasian Journal of Philosophy, British Journal for the Philosophy of Science, Canadian Journal of Philosophy, Dialectica, Erkenntnis, International Studies in the Philosophy of Science, InVisible Culture, Journal of Philosophy, Journal for General Philosophy of Science, Journal of the American Philosophical Association, Mind, Noûs, Oxford University Press, Philosophers' Imprint, Philosophical Quarterly, Philosophical Studies, Philosophy of Science, Ratio, Social Epistemology, Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part C: Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences, Synthese, The Philosophical Review, Theoria, Theory and Research in Education, University of Chicago Press
17 february 2025 [ pdf ]