linquist@uoguelph.ca

Rm. 358 MacKinnon Bldg.
(519)824-4120 x56672

Degrees 

B.A. Philosophy,  Simon Fraser University.

MSc  Biology,  State University of New York, Binghamton.

PhD  Philosophy,  Duke University.

Website   http://biophilosophy.ca 

Teaching 

   PHIIL 1050: Introduction to Philosophy: Basic Problems.

   PHIL 2070: Philosophy of the Environment. 

    PHIL  2150: Introduction to the Philosophy of Science.   

   PHIL  2250: Mind, Language and Knowledge. 

   PHIL 3180: Philosophy of Mind.

   PHIL 4040: Advanced Philosophy of the Environment.

   PHIL 4550: Honours Workshop in Philosophy.

   PHIL 6330: Graduate Seminar on the Philosophy of Emotion.

   PHIL 6740: Graduate Seminar on the Philosophy of Biology. 

Research 

I am currently exploring the evolution of "complex" human emotions. One way of motivating this research is to consider the puzzle that emotionslike guilt, jealousy and moral outrage pose for the evolutionary theorist. On the one hand, these emotions are transparently fitness-relevant: they influence cooperation, mating, punishment and other behaviours that impact survival and reproduction. On the other hand, these emotions are heavily influenced by culture. The sorts of things that make you feel guilty, angry or jealous (and how you express those emotions) depend largely on the norms that you have internalized. So the puzzle is this, how can an emotion be both a product of culture and a Darwinian adaptation? Recent developments in evolutionary theory hint at a solution. In particular, gene-culture coevolutionary models view culture as a vehicle for transmitting traits that can work in conjunction with genes. My research explores in detail how these models apply to emotions, and how this framework deepens our understanding of what emotions are and how they function.   

My second area of research is in the philosophy of ecology. In particular, I am interested in how fairly simple ecological models potentially shed light on the workings of extremely complex ecosystems. Under what circumstances are such models useful, and what are their limitations? Such questions have significance for the application of ecological models to conservation policy.

Publications

Edited Volumes

Ashgate Series in Evolutionary Thought: The Evolution of Culture. Stefan Linquist (Ed.), Ashgate Press (forthcoming).

Ashgate Series in Evolutionary Thought: The Philosophy of Evolutionary Biology. Stefan Linquist (Ed.), Ashgate Press (forthcoming). 

Ashgate Series in Evolutionary Thought: Evolutionary Psychology. Stefan Linquist and Neil Levy (Eds), Ashgate Press (forthcoming).

Chapters in Books 

"Contemporary theories of cultural evolution", in S. Linquist (Ed.), Ashgate Series in Evolutionary Thought: The Evolution of Culture.  Ashgate                 Press (forthcoming).

"Footnotes to Darwin: An introduction to the philosophy of biology",  in S. Linquist (Ed.), Ashgate Series in Evolutionary Thought: The Philosophy    of Evolutionary Biology.  Ashgate Press (forthcoming).  

"Theoretical foundations of evolutionary psychology", In S. Linquist and N. Levy (Eds), Ashgate Series in Evolutionary Thought: Evolutionary                   Psychology. Ashgate Press (forthcoming).  

Journal Articles 

“Philosophical issues in ecology: Recent trends and future directions.” Ecology and Society (with M. Colyvan, W. Grey, P. Griffiths, J. Odenbaugh    and H. Possingham) (forthcoming).Edited Volumes Ashgate Series in Evolutionary Thought: The Evolution of Culture, , Ed. Stefan Linquist.    Ashgate  Press (forthcoming).

 “The vernacular concept of innateness.” Mind and Language (with Paul Griffiths and Edouard Machery (forthcoming).

 “But is it progress? On the alleged advances of conservation biology over ecology.” Biology and Philosophy, 23: 529–544 (2008). 

 “Prospects for a dual inheritance model of emotional evolution”, Philosophy of Science, 74: 848–859 (2007).

 "Return of the Tabula Rasa", Philosophy and Phenomenological Research, 74(2): 476- 497. (with A. Rosenberg) (2007).

 "On the original contract: Evolutionary game theory and human evolution", Analyse & Kritik, 27(1): 136-157. (with A. Rosenberg)

Book Reviews

        "If it feels good, believe it. Paul Thagard's Hot Thought: Mechanisms and Applications of Emotional Cognition", Notre Dame Philosophical    Review (2007).

 "When is an Orgasm just an Orgasm? Elizabeth Lloyd's The Case of the Female Orgasm: Bias in the Science of Evolution",Metascience, 15:411-    419 (2006).