About Me

I am a PhD Candidate in the Department of Logic and Philosophy of Science at the University of California, Irvine). My work is in three areas: causal explanation, evolutionary game theory, and philosophy of cognitive science. I am co-advised by Lauren Ross and Cailin O’Connor.

My work on causal explanation focuses on various ways in which temporal and causal considerations interact with one another (e.g., time-sensitive causes, the causal manipulation of temporal properties, how causal relations change over time). I also work on issues pertaining to the concept of “background conditions” and how scientists ‘foreground’/’background’ different kinds of considerations in their pursuit of causal explanations. My dissertation is comprised of work in this area.

In evolutionary game theory, I am interested in methodological debates concerning meaningful communication and modeling the emergence of communication systems. In the philosophy of cognitive science I work on the explanatory status of mental representations and cognitive ontology, with a particular focus on developmental psychology.

I am currently one of the co-directors of the LPS Summer Development Program, a program which introduces pre-PhD students who might otherwise not have access to mentorship opportunities at their home institutions to logic and philosophy of science.

You can contact me at: ryanc15 [at] uci [dot] edu