Christopher Herbert
Lay
Education
University
of California, Irvine (2005-2010)
Degree: PhD in Philosophy, with Critical Theory
Emphasis
Dissertation title: "It's Time to Account for
Consciousness."
Thesis committee: David W. Smith
(chair), Martin Schwab, Charles Siewert.
University
of California, Irvine (2003-2005)
Degree: M.A. in
Philosophy, given upon completion of coursework and a writing portfolio.
University
of California, Berkeley (2001-2003)
Degree: B.A. (with Departmental Honors, and school's
High Distinction) in Philosophy.
West Los
Angeles Community College (1997-1999)
Areas
of Specialization
Philosophy
of Mind, Phenomenology
My dissertation seeks to illuminate the contemporary consciousness debate about the nature of self-consciousness (specifically, how is it that consciousness entails ubiquitous conscious of itself) with a number of insights found in the works of Franz Brentano and Edmund Husserl. Building off of Brentano's notion of incidental awareness, Husserl accounts for self-consciousness by investigating the ways in which consciousness entails an awareness of the passage internal time in the structures of time-consciousness. Taking these historical notions from the margins to the center of the contemporary debate over self-consciousness, I show how the temporal approach to self-consciousness, unlike other approaches, withstands the misrepresentation objection (which holds that approaches that account for self-consciousness in terms of representations alone cannot properly account for cases where one is conscious of being in a state that one is not in fact not in). Likewise, I also show how the temporal approach to consciousness, unlike a competing answer, dissolves the Grand Illusion worry in perception (the worry that due to the anatomy of the human brain, our experience of a richly detailed world is an illusion, the product of the brain, and not the product of our having experienced the world's details themselves).
Presentations
"On the Phenomenology of the Suppression of Sensations
in Normal, Everyday Consciousness" - Presented, as a Panelist, to the
Society for Phenomenology and Analytic Philosophy session on Genetic
Phenomenology at the APA Pacific Division, 2013.
"Empathizing with the
Unconscious: A Point of Relevance of Phenomenology for the Cognitive Sciences." Presented with Roma
Hernandez to Toward a Science of Consciousness Conference - 2011, Stockholm,
Sweden, May 5, 2011. Abstract published, in Towards
a Science of Consciousness 2011 Consciousness Research Abstracts, published
by the Journal of Consciousness Studies.
"Empathy and the Temporal
Background: A Phenomenological Account of the Unconscious" - Presented, as a
Panelist, to the Society for Phenomenology and Analytic Philosophy session on
Intersubjectivity at the APA Pacific Division,
April 22, 2011.
"The Zero-Order Temporal
Account of Consciousness Introduced" - Presented to the Southern
California Philosophy Conference, Pomona, California, November 6, 2010.
"Enacting
Time-Consciousness to Account for the Indistinctness and Ambiguity of Details
Experienced in the Periphery of the Visual Field." - Poster Presented at Toward a Science of
Consciousness (Tucson IX) Conference, Tucson, Arizona, April 16, 2010. Abstract
published, in Towards a Science of
Consciousness 2010 Consciousness Research Abstracts, published by the Journal of Consciousness Studies.
"The Role of
Time-Consciousness in the Contemporary Consciousness Debate." - Presented
to the California Phenomenology Circle, Los Angeles, California, November 15,
2008.
"Time-Consciousness and
Normal, Everyday Consciousness." - Presented to Toward a Science of
Consciousness (Tucson VIII) Conference, Tucson, Arizona, April 8, 2008. Abstract published, in Towards
a Science of Consciousness 2008 Consciousness Research Abstracts, published
by the Journal of Consciousness Studies.
"Sleepwalking Around the
Contemporary Consciousness Debate." - Poster Presented, with Chad Kidd, to
the Association for the Scientific Study of Consciousness (ASSC11) Conference,
Las Vegas, Nevada, June 23, 2007.
Fellowships and Awards
Finalist (Runner-Up) for the 2015 Outstanding Adjunct
Award, University of Houston-Downtown
Award of Merit for Excellence in
Academics and Outstanding Mentorship awarded by the California State
University, Northridge Philosophy Student Body 2011
UC, Irvine, School of Humanities,
Summer Dissertation Fellowship
UC, Irvine, School of Humanities,
Travel Grant for Conference Presentation
UC, Irvine, Department of
Philosophy, Salzburg Exchange Program Participant
UC Regents Research Fellowship
for study in Salzburg
UC Regents Fellowship for first
year of graduate study
Phi Beta Kappa (Alpha Chapter)
Dean's Honor List, UC, Berkeley,
College of Letters and Science
Cal Bears Scholarship
Berkeley Scholarship
Teaching Experience and Employment
Los Angeles Pierce College (2015-)
Philosophy
1: Introduction to Philosophy
Philosophy
2: Society and Values
Philosophy
5: Critical Thinking and Composition
Philosophy
6: Logic in Practice
Philosophy
20: Ethics
Philosophy
30: Asian Philosophy
Philosophy
37: Philosophy of Mind
Adjunct Lecturer, University of
Houston-Downtown (2013-2015)
Philosophy 1301: Introduction to
Philosophy (Spring 2013, Summer III 2015)
Philosophy 2305: Introduction to
Ethics (Spring 2013, Fall 2013, Spring 2014, Fall 2014, Spring 2015)
Philosophy 3301: Moral Philosophy
I (Summer Session I 2014, Summer Session III 2014, Fall 2014, Summer I 2015)
Philosophy 3305: Contemporary Philosophy
(Spring 2015)
Philosophy 3320: Environmental Ethics (Fall
2014)
English 1301: Composition I (Fall 2013,
Spring 2014)
English 1302: Composition II (Fall 2013, Spring 2014)
Lecturer,
University of California, Irvine (2012)
Humanities 1b and 1c: Humanities Core Course (Winter 2012, Spring
2012)
Lecturer,
Pitzer College (2010-2012)
Philosophy 43: Continental Thought (Fall 2010)
Philosophy 999: (Independent Study): Philosophy Through Film (Fall 2010)
Philosophy 122: Continental Philosophy of Self and Other
(Spring 2011)
Philosophy 999: (Independent Study): Phenomenology and Film (Spring 2011)
Philosophy 7: Introduction to Philosophy (Fall 2011)
Philosophy 43: Continental Thought (Spring 2012)
Philosophy 999: (Independent Study): The Re-Evaluation of Self & Other (Spring
2012)
Philosophy 999: (Independent Study): Phenomenology of Individuation (Spring 2012)
Adjunct Faculty, California State
University, Northridge (2010-2012)
Philosophy 305: Business Ethics (Fall 2010, Summer 2011, Fall
2011)
Philosophy 349: Contemporary Social & Political Issues
(Spring 2011)
Philosophy 390: Philosophy of Law (Spring 2011)
Philosophy 310: Philosophical Problems (Summer 2011)
Philosophy 439: Phenomenology (Fall 2011)
Philosophy 200: Critical Reasoning (Fall 2011, Spring 2012)
Philosophy 150: Introduction to Philosophical Thought (Spring
2012)
Lecturer, Chapman University (2009-2012)
Philosophy
104: Introduction to Ethics (Spring
2009, Fall 2009, Spring 2010, Spring 2011, Winter 2012)
Philosophy
203: Logic (Spring 2011, Fall 2011)
Philosophy
101: Introduction to Philosophy (Spring
2012)
Research Assistant for Margaret
Gilbert, University of California, Irvine (2009-2010)
Lecturer, University of California, Riverside (2009)
Philosophy
165: Philosophy of Law (Spring 2009)
Teaching
Associate, University of California, Irvine (2007-2009)
(With
responsibilities of crafting course materials and syllabi, lecturing, grading,
and holding weekly office hours)
Humanities 1a, 1b, and 1c: Humanities Core Course (Fall 2007, Winter
2008, Spring 2008, Fall 2008)
University Studies 4: Honors Transfer Seminar (Summer 2008)
Philosophy 7: Introduction to Existentialism (Winter 2009)
Philosophy 4: Introduction to Ethics (Summer 2009)
Teaching Assistant, University of
California, Irvine (2004-2007)
(With
responsibilities of leading discussion sections, grading, and holding weekly
office hours)
Philosophy 1: Introduction to Philosophy (Winter 2005, Fall
2005)
Philosophy 4: Introduction to Ethics (Fall 2004, Spring
2007)
Philosophy 5: Contemporary Moral Problems (Fall 2006)
Philosophy 7: Introduction to Existentialism (Spring 2006)
Philosophy 23: Philosophy of Mind (Winter 2006)
Philosophy 101: Metaphysics (Winter 2007)
Graduate Coursework
(All course work has been
completed at UC, Irvine unless otherwise noted.)
Philosophy of Mind and
Phenomenology
Merleau-Ponty, David Woodruff Smith (Fall 2003)
Husserl and Consciousness, David Woodruff
Smith (Fall 2004)
Brentano, Charles Siewert at UC, Riverside
(Winter 2005)
Brentano, Johannes Brandl at the University of
Salzburg (Spring 2005)
Consciousness, Johannes Brandl at the
University of Salzburg (Spring 2005)
Vision and Body, Charlie Chubb and Carrie
Nolan (Fall 2005)
Perception, Michelle Montague (Spring
2006)
Brentano and Husserl, Charles Siewert (Fall
2007)
Philosophy of Memory, Sven Bernecker (Winter
2007)
Self-Awareness, David Woodruff Smith (Winter
2007)
Phenomenally Embodied Consciousness, David
Woodruff Smith (Spring 2008)
Consciousness and Indexicals,
David Woodruff Smith (Fall 2008)
Metaphysics
Metaphysics, Michelle Montague (Winter 2004)
Locke and Berkeley, Nicholas Jolley (Spring 2004)
Metaphysics of Mind, Michelle Montague (Spring
2004)
Ontology and Intentionality, David Woodruff
Smith (Spring 2004)
Metaphysics of Perception, Michelle Montague
(Winter 2006)
Mind and Action,
David Woodruff Smith (Winter 2006)
Husserl's Ideas, David Woodruff Smith (Fall
2006, Winter 2007, and Spring 2007)
Constitution of the Self (Fall 2009)
Moral and Political Philosophy
Political Philosophy, John Searle and Hans
Sluga at UC Berkeley (Spring 2002)
Moral Luck, Bonnie Kent (Fall 2003)
Practical Reasoning, Aaron James (Winter 2004)
Hobbes, Nicholas Jolley (Winter 2004)
Nietzsche, Martin Schwab (Fall 2005)
Post- and Neo-Modern Ethics, Martin Schwab (Fall 2006)
Political Theology, Achille Mbembe (Fall 2006)
Existentialism, Continental
Philosophy, and Critical Theory
Critical Theory Workshop, Fred Moten (Fall 2003, Winter
2004, and Spring 2004)
Existentialism, Martin Schwab (Winter 2004)
Levinas, Gayatri Spivak (Spring 2004)
Philosophy of Deleuze, Martin Schwab (Fall 2004)
Nietzsche, Martin Schwab (Winter 2005)
Feminism and Psychoanalysis, Gayatri Spivak (Spring 2006)
Derrida, Gayatri Spivak (Spring 2007)
Logic
Set Theory, Penelope Maddy (Fall 2003)
Professional Experience,
Extra-Academic
Fifth
Council District, City of Los Angeles
Deputy for Planning and Economic
Development (2001)
Represented both Council
and constituent perspectives at Planning Commission
Hearings, Zoning Appeals
Hearings, and to various boards. Member,
Los
Angeles Neighborhood
Initiative.
Field Deputy (1999-2000)
Conducted community
meetings, addressing constituent concerns, and arranged
City developments.
Council Aide (1997- 1998)
Responded to constituent
concerns and managed office affairs.