Franz-Peter Griesmaier

                                                                                       Curriculum Vitae

Department of Philosophy                                                             Office: (307) 766-3231

University of Wyoming                                                                  Fax: (307) 766-2096

Laramie, WY 82071                                                           

                                                                Email: fpg@uwyo.edu                                                       

Academic Appointments

2006                  Department of Philosophy, University of Wyoming, Associate Professor.

2000–2006        Department of Philosophy, University of Wyoming, Assistant Professor.

1999–2000        Department of Philosophy, Lehigh University, Visiting Assistant Professor.

1997–1999        Department of Philosophy, Lafayette College, Visiting Assistant Professor.    

Education

1997            University of Arizona, Ph.D. (Philosophy).

                    Dissertation: Simple Minds: A Cognitive Account of Theoretical Simplicity and the Epistemology of Human Understanding.

                    Advisor: Cummins. Committee: Lehrer, Pollock.

1988            University of Colorado, M.A. (Philosophy).

1986            University of Vienna, B.A-equivalent (Philosophy).

Areas of Specialization

History and philosophy of science, theory of knowledge, philosophy of mind.

Areas of Competence

Advanced logic, philosophy of physics, philosophy of technology, philosophy of film, 20^th Century analytic.

Publications

Articles

"Explanatoriness, Causality, and Understanding as Modelling"

               Journal for General Philosohpy of Science, forthcoming (2006)

"Kitcher-Style Unificationism and Explanatory Relevance"

                Dialectica, 59, 1 (2005): 37-50

“On explaining phenomenal consciousness”

    Journal of Experimental and Theoretical Artificial Intelligence, 15 (2003): 227-242.

“Representationality and realism: A new look at contemporary Austrian experimental poetry ”

            In Literature, Film, and the Culture Industry in Contemporary Austria, M. Lamb-Faffelberger, Ed., New York: Peter Lang Publishing, (2002): 77-97.

Work-in-Progress

Books

Searching for Simplicity. Understanding a Complex World through Simple Models.

In progress.

Articles

      “Simplicity and error avoidance”

Completed, under review.

"The Evidential Status of Conceivability Beliefs"

Completed, under review.

“Explanatory relevance. An outline”

Completed, under review.     

Papers Presented

2006            “Error Risk and Epistemic Justification”

Invited Talk, The Epistemology of Natural and Artificial Systems, Long Beach, California

 

2005            "Norms of Rationality and Levels of Epistemic Sophistication"

                    Invited Talk, Department of Philosophy, University of Vienna, Austria

                    Invited Talk, Reasoning, Rationality, and Know-How, Long Beach, CA

 

2004            "The Evidential Status of Conceivings"

                    Eastern Division APA, Boston, MA

                “Simplicity and error avoidance”

Pacific Division APA, Pasadena, CA.

2003            “Simplicity and error avoidance”

Mountain-Plains Philosophy Conference University of Wyoming, Laramie.

2003            “Explanatoriness and causality”

Inland Northwest Philosophy Conference,  Moscow, ID.

2002            “Theoretical simplicity and robustness of justification”

54^th Northwest Conference on Philosophy, Portland, OR.

2002            “On explaining phenomenal consciousness”

Invited talk, Cognitive Science in the New Millennium: Foundations, Directions, Applications, and Problems, Long Beach, CA.

2001            “On explaining phenomenal consciousness”

53^rd Northwest Conference on Philosophy, Pullman, WA.

2001            “Simplicity, scientific understanding, and the realism/anti-realism debate”

Invited talk, The Vienna Circle and Empiricism: Re-Evaluation and Future of the Research and Historiography, Vienna, Austria.

2000            “Unificationism and understanding”

Mountain-Plains Philosophy Conference, Topeka, KS.

1999            “Representationality and realism. Lessons from the lab of contemporary Austrian experimental poets”

Invited talk, 12^th Bi-Annual Conference on Austrian Culture, Lafayette College, Easton, PA.

1999            “Explanation, understanding, and accuracy”

Invited talk, Portland State University, Portland, OR.

1990            “Parallels between aestethic criteria in science and art”

Invited talk, University of Bratislava School of Music, Bratislava, Slovakia (then Czechoslovakia).

1988            “Constructing Scientific Domains”

12^th Regional Conference on the History and Philosophy of Science, Boulder, CO.

Presented Commentaries

2001            Comments on Ian Smith, “What Does It Mean to Accept”

Northwest Conference on Philosophy, Pullman, WA.

2001            Comments on Comments on Greg Hodes, “Realism vs. anti-realism”

Mountain-Plains Philosophy Conference, Topeka, KS.

Fellowships and Awards

Extraordinary Merit in Teaching Award, College of Arts and Sciences, University of Wyoming (2003).

Departmental Service

2003–                   Graduate Advisor.

2000–2003           Philosophy Club Faculty Sponsor.

courses

Undergraduate (frequently taught)

• History of Science

• Philosophy of Science

• Advanced Logic

Recent Graduate Seminars

• Idealization, Simplification, and Approximation in Science

• Representing, Thinking, Believing

• Philosophy of Space and Time (and Spacetime)

• Scientific Explanation

Updated: 14-Dec-2006