Jesus Aguilar

Professor

Department of Philosophy

College of Liberal Arts

jhagsh@rit.edu

Office Location

EAS-3212

Jesus Aguilar

Professor

Department of Philosophy

College of Liberal Arts

Bio

Jesús Aguilar received his Ph.D. from McGill University in 2003. He is interested in a broad spectrum of issues in the philosophy of action, philosophy of mind, Latin-American Philosophy, and metaphilosophy. Among these issues are the nature of agency, the problem of causal deviance, the control of basic actions, multiple realization, mental causation, the nature of thought experiments, and the role of imagination in philosophical thinking. His recent publications have explored some of these topics.

jhagsh@rit.edu

Select Scholarship

Book Chapter

Aguilar, Jesus. "Metaphilosophical Internalism and the Possibility of a Distinctive Latin American Philosophy." Reframing the Practice of Philosophy: Bodies of Color, Bodies of Knowledge. Albany, NY: SUNY Press, 2012. 103-120. Print.

Journal Paper

Aguilar, Jesus. "Basic Causal Deviance, Action Repertoires, and Reliability." Nous-Philosophical Issues 22. (2012): 1-19. Print.

Aguilar, Jesus. "Basic Casual Deviance, Action Repertoires, and Reliability." Nous - Philosophical Issues 22. (2012): 1-19. Print.

Editor (book or journal)

Aguilar, Jesus and Andrei Buckareff, eds. Causing Human Actions: New Perspectives on the Causal Theory of Action. Cambridge: MIT Press, 2010. Print.

Published Article

Aguilar, Jesus. “Agential Systems, Causal Deviance, and Reliability.” Causing Human Actions: New Perspectives on the Causal Theory of Action, 2010. Print. *

Aguilar, Jesus.“Literature and Latin American Philosophy.” The Blackwell Companion to Latin American Philosophy, 2010: 383-396. Print. “

Currently Teaching

PHIL-101

Introduction to Philosophy

3 Credits

Philosophy is about the rigorous discussion of big questions, and sometimes small precise questions, that do not have obvious answers. This class is an introduction to philosophical thinking where we learn how to think and talk critically about some of these challenging questions. Such as: Is there a single truth or is truth relative to different people and perspectives? Do we have free will and, if so, how? Do we ever really know anything? What gives life meaning? Is morality objective or subjective, discovered or created? We’ll use historical and contemporary sources to clarify questions like these, to understand the stakes, to discuss possible responses, and to arrive at a more coherent, more philosophically informed, set of answers.

PHIL-303

Philosophy of Art/Aesthetics

3 Credits

This course introduces students to thinking philosophically about the nature of art and its relation to other human experiences. Among the topics considered are the aesthetic experience, the relation between morality and art, ugliness in art and truth in art.

PHIL-411

Metaphysics

3 Credits

Metaphysics is the study of the general features of existence or reality. This course focuses on the fundamental concepts of being as developed in several major philosophers from the Greeks to the present. Discussion will focus on such topics as God, time, space, substance, essence, existence, process, causality, possibility, necessity, chance, and value.

PHIL-504

Philosophy of Mind

3 Credits

Philosophy of mind is the philosophical discipline that explores what a mind is and how it fits in the natural world. In doing this, philosophy of mind raises further questions such as: What do we mean by mind? How do we attribute mentality? How are mental and physical properties related? What is consciousness? Can computers think? How is rationality connected to mental states like beliefs and desires? In this course we discuss and critically assess answers to these and related philosophical questions. This course is designed for both undergraduate and graduate students. Graduate students will fulfill additional requirements beyond those expected for undergraduate students.

PHIL-604

Philosophy of Mind

3 Credits