Mark Couch , Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Department of Philosophy
(973) 761-9480
Email
Fahy Hall
Room 314
Mark Couch, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Department of Philosophy
Professor Couch is interested in the areas of philosophy of science and philosophy of mind. His work is centered around the issue of how we should understand various kinds of explanations and the way they apply to human behavior. This involves examining whether and how explanations in the social sciences are distinct from explanations offered in other fields. He has published a number of articles including "Functional Properties and Convergence," Philosophy of Science, December 2005, vol. 72, "Multiple Realization in Comparative Perspective," Biology and Philosophy, September 2009, vol. 24, "Functional Explanation in Context," Philosophy of Science, April 2009, vol. 76, “Mechanisms and Constitutive Relevance,” Synthese, 2011, vol. 183, “Some Concerns with Polger and Shapiro’s View,” Philosophical Psychology, 2018, vol. 31, “Should Kant be Canceled?” Philosophy Now, 2022, vol. 148, and “Clarifying the Relation Between Mechanistic Explanations and Reductionism,” Frontiers in Psychology, April 2023. He has also co-edited the book The Philosophy of Philip Kitcher by Oxford University Press in 2016.
Education
- Ph.D., Columbia University
- B.A., University of California, Berkeley
Accomplishments
- University Research Council, Summer Grant (2024)
- University Research Council, Summer Grant (2015)
- Provost's Faculty Scholarship Award (2009), Seton Hall University
- Supplemental Travel Award (2008), Seton Hall University
- Provost's Faculty Scholarship Award (2007), Seton Hall University
- Core Fellowship (2002-2005) Columbia University
- David H. Siff Philosophy of Science Award (2001), Columbia University