Department of Philosophy                                                     www.christopherlay.com

HOB2, Second Floor                                                              (714) 273-3304

University of California, Irvine                                              clay@uci.edu

Irvine, California 92697-4555

 

Education

University of California, Irvine (2005-2010)

Degree:  PhD in Philosophy

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 portfolio.  Portfolio essay titles:  "Brentano's Psychology and Theory of Mental Phenomena:  On Thomasson's Adverbial Alternative to Brentano's Secondary Objects of Consciousness," "Defining Locke's Ideas:  Defending the Standard Interpretation Against the Adverbial Alternative," and "From Higher-Order, Through Intrinsic Higher-Order Content, to First Order Nonrepresentational:  Arguing In Favor of Nonrepresentational Accounts of Consciousness."

University of California, Berkeley (2001-2003)

Degree:  B.A. (with Departmental Honors and School's High Distinction) in Philosophy. 

Honors thesis title: "Politics in Nietzsche's Early Thought:  A Balanced Approach." 

Thesis advisor:  Hans Sluga. 

West Los Angeles Community College (1997-1999)

 

Dissertation

My dissertation seeks to illuminate the contemporary consciousness debate with a number of insights found in the works of Brentano and Husserl, primarily Husserl's notion of time-consciousness.  I argue that the particular way in which we are always aware of the passage of our own mental life as delineated at first in Brentano's notion of incidental awareness and then more fully in Husserl's notion of time-consciousness, are the best candidates to account for ubiquitous self-awareness in normal, everyday consciousness–the kind of awareness currently debated in the contemporary consciousness debate. 

 

Presentations

"Empathizing with the Unconscious: A Point of Relevance of Phenomenology for the Cognitive Sciences." - Poster Presentation with Roma Hernandez to be delivered at Toward a Science of Consciousness Conference - 2011, Stockholm, Sweden, May 5, 2011.  Abstract to be published, in Towards a Science of Consciousness 2011 Consciousness Research Abstracts, published by the Journal of Consciousness Studies. 

"Empathy and the Temporal Background: Methodological Considerations for a Phenomenological Account of the Unconscious" - to be presented, as a Panelist, to the Society for Phenomenology and Analytic Philosophy session on Intersubjectivity at the APA Pacific Division, April 2011. 

"The Zero-Order Temporal Account of Consciousness Introduced" - delivered 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 Presentation delivered 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." - delivered to the California Phenomenology Circle, Los Angeles, California, November 15, 2008. 

"Time-Consciousness and Normal, Everyday Consciousness." - delivered at 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 Presentation with Chad Kidd delivered at Association for the Scientific Study of Consciousness (ASSC11) Conference, Las Vegas, Nevada, June 23, 2007. 

 

Papers

The Zero-Order Temporal Account of Self-Consciousness (under review). 

Enacting Time-Consciousness to Account for the Indistinctness and Ambiguity of Details Experienced in the Periphery of the Visual Field (in preparation). 

Husserl's Analysis of Brentano's Psychologism of the Real (in preparation). 

 

Fellowships and Awards

            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)

            Goldenkey

            Dean's Honor List, UC, Berkeley, College of Letters and Science

            Cal Bears Scholarship

            Berkeley Scholarship

 

Teaching Experience and Employment

Lecturer, Pitzer College (2010-2011)

            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)

 

Adjunct Faculty, California State University, Northridge (2010-2011)

            Philosophy 305:  Business Ethics (Fall 2010, Summer 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)

 

Lecturer, Chapman University (2008-2011)

            Philosophy 104:  Introduction to Ethics (Spring and Fall 2009, Spring 2010, Spring 2011)

            Philosophy 203:  Logic (Spring 2011, Fall 2011)

 

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)

 

Languages

German (reading)

                                                                                                           

Professional Societies

Association for the Scientific Study of Consciousness (2007-2008)

California Phenomenology Circle (2004-Present) 

 

Other Professional Activities

English Language Proof Reader

Tommaso Piazza (2007), A Priori Knowledge: Toward a Phenomenological Explanation, Ontos Verlag. 

Hans-Peter Leeb (2006), "State-of-Affairs Semantics for Positive Free Logic," in Journal of Philosophical Logic, Volume 35. 

 

Graduate Coursework

(All course work has been completed at UC, Irvine unless otherwise noted.)

 

Philosophy and Phenomenology of Mind

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)

 

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)

Gelley, What is a Concept (Spring 2010)

 

Logic

Set Theory, Penelope Maddy (Fall 2003)

 

Activities (at UCI)

Analytic-Continental Philosophy Reading Group

Frege-Husserl Reading Group

Simone de Beauvoir Reading Group

 

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 of 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. 

 

References

David Woodruff Smith                                                          

            Department of Philosophy, University of California, Irvine, CA                

Martin Schwab                                                                                 

            Department of Philosophy, University of California, Irvine, CA                

Charles Siewert                                                                                          

            Department of Philosophy, University of California, Riverside, CA

Johannes Brandl         

            Department of Philosophy, University of Salzburg, Austria

Uriah Kriegel                                                                                                     

            Department of Philosophy, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ

Ronald McIntyre                                                                                   

            Department of Philosophy, California State University, Northridge, CA