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Distinguished philosopher
Center for Arts and Humanities recognizes William Robinson.
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It took a college friend to interest William Robinson in philosophy.
"I must have been 16 or 17 at the time," he recalled. "I
had a friend who was a little older than me and I think he might have
taken an introductory philosophy course as a freshman in college.
"He talked to me about college and described a couple of problems.
That's when I became fascinated and decided the first course I was going
to take in college was philosophy."
That initial fascination has developed into a life-long devotion to philosophy
and work in two areas.
"I explore what consciousness is and how it is related to the body,"
he said, "and how the brain make us intelligent."
His work has been noticed throughout the world.
"In the 32 years Professor Robinson has been at Iowa State he has
developed an international reputation as a scholar in the area of the
philosophy of the mind, one of the most competitive and prestigious areas
in our discipline," said Tony Smith, professor and chair of the Department
of Philosophy and Religious Studies.
Yet, while he is known as a powerful and original thinker, not all agree
with Robinson.
"The majority of philosophers don't agree with what I say,"
he said. "Many arguments are designed to show what I say is wrong,
but they don't work."
Robinson has been a persistent critic of the orthodoxy in the philosophy
of the mind and an original defender of a neglected position. Many philosophers
say that mental life can be reduced to physical processes.
By contrast, Robinson maintains that the qualitative characteristics of
experience are not identical with properties of brain events.
His latest book, Understanding Phenomenal Consciousness, was
published in May 2004 by Cambridge University Press. It focuses on sensory
experiences such as pains and afterimages and perceptual qualities such
as colors, sounds and odors to present a dualistic view of the mind.
He calls it Qualitative Event Realism.
This view is relevant to the development of a science of consciousness
which is now being pursued not only by philosophers but by researchers
in psychology and the brain sciences.
"I've had this view for a long time," he said. "Most of
what I've written in recent years fits under this umbrella."
Robinson's work has led him to being named Iowa State's Distinguished
Arts and Humanities Scholar for the 2004-05 academic year by the Center
for Excellence in the Arts and Humanities. The Distinguished Arts and
Humanities Scholar spends the spring semester without teaching responsibilities
to work on his or her scholarly research. The recipient presents a lecture
to the university community upon their return to campus. Robinson’s lecture
is scheduled to take place during the 2005 fall semester.
An Iowa State faculty member since 1972, Robinson has long worked with
other departments on campus. The strong interdisciplinary focus of his
research has reached into the Departments of Psychology and Computer Science.
Artificial intelligence is a prime research area for Robinson. He has
published extensively on the subject including his book, Computers,
Minds, and Robots.
"We really don't know how the mind works," he said. "Psychologists
find out many interesting things about the mind but it is a very difficult
science."
At Iowa State, Robinson teaches courses in logic, 20th century Anglo-American
philosophy and philosophy of artificial intelligence. He also served as
chair of the Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies from 1991-99.
Around LAS
November 15 to December 5, 2004
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