Welcome

profile of cameron buckner

I am a fourth year graduate student in philosophy at Indiana University in Bloomington.  I have just finished coursework and am beginning dissertation research in the philosophy of cognitive science, dealing especially with the psychology of human intuitive judgment and animal cognition.  I am also currently working on the Indiana Philosophy Ontology (InPhO) project with Colin Allen and Mathias Niepert.

Education

As an undergraduate at Texas Tech University, I slowly drifted from mainstream computer science into artificial intelligence.  Once there, I began asking a number of pesky questions to which my computer science professors did not have easy answers, and I eventually found myself with enough philosophy credits to declare a second major.  In May 2004, I received a BS in Computer Science and a BA in Philosophy, graduating with highest honors.  After graduation, I was accepted into the PhD program at Indiana University Bloomington, where I am currently pursuing a doctorate in Philosophy with a minor in Cognitive Science.

Research Interests

I have worked on many problems in my coursework, but I am focusing on the intersection of the following issues:

  The psychology of human intuitive judgment
  Animal cognition
  The role of rationality in cognitive science
  The connectionism/classicism debate
  Comparative psychology
  Heuristics (both Heuristics & Biases and Simple Heuristics schools)
  The cognitive science of concepts:  prototypes, exemplars, and non-conceptual content
  Formal knowledge representation and reasoning, especially non-monotonic reasoning, formal ontologies, and answer set programming

 

Awards

I have won a few awards during my career for which I am very grateful:
 
  Presidential Scholarship, Texas Tech, Fall 1999-Spring 2004
  Jerry V. Fox Memorial Award, Texas Tech Department of Philosophy, 2003-2004 academic year
  Award for Graduate Academic Excellence, IUB Philosophy Department, 2005-2006 academic year
  Oscar R. Ewing Essay award, IUB Philosophy Department, May 2006
      Assistant Instructor Stipend, IUB Philosophy Department, Fall 2004-Spring 2009

Employment History

I have held (and currently hold) a number  of interesting jobs:

  Research Assistant at Pulsed Power and Power Electronics laboratory, Texas Tech University, 2001-2004
  Assistant Instructor with Indiana University Bloomington Department of Philosophy, 2004-Present
  Research Assistant on IUB New Horizons in the Humanities grant, Indiana Philosophy Ontology (InPhO) project with Colin Allen (PI) and Mathias Niepert, Summer 2006-Present
  Exhibits Coordinator at Association for Practical and Professional Ethics, Summer 2007-Present
  Webmaster, 2007 IUB Conference on Agency and Responsibility

  Webmaster, IUB Philosophy Department, 2007-

For my full resume, click here.

 

picture of cameron's fijian studentsI have also taught computer studies courses at the high school level in Savusavu Fiji for two summers.  I served as a volunteer teacher at Savusavu Secondary School and St. Bede's Secondary School during the summers of 2004 and 2005.  I also helped organize the Rava Computer Club, and participated in a number of other projects with the Savusavu Rotary Club.  Research has kept me busy the past two summers, but I hope to return to continue my work in Fiji soon.

 

 

InPhO Project

InPhO logo







At the Indiana Philosophy Ontology Project, we are using information extraction methods to dynamically build a formal ontology for the discipline of philosophy.  We currently operate primarily on the content of the Stanford Encyclopedia of  Philosophy, but we also draw information from a number of other sources.  Our system efficiently harnesses expert feedback to semi-automatically build a conceptual taxonomy of philosophical ideas.  See our project web site for papers and more information.
UPDATE 8/16/2007:  The InPhO Project has received an NEH Digital Humanities Start-up grant that will allow us to continue our research for another year.  Huzzah!

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