Galen Strawson

Galen Strawson is a prominent philosopher currently serving as President's Chair in Philosophy at the University of Texas at Austin. He previously held positions at the University of Oxford (1979-2000), University of Reading (2001-2012), and City University of New York Graduate Center (2004-2007). His academic career has included visiting research positions at the Australian National University, University of Copenhagen, Princeton University, and the École des hautes études en sciences sociales in Paris, as well as teaching appointments at NYU, Rutgers, MIT, and Princeton.

Strawson received his DPhil from Oxford in 1983. His educational background established the foundation for his extensive work in philosophy of mind, metaphysics, and history of philosophy, with particular expertise in figures such as Hume, Locke, Kant, and Nietzsche.

His research spans several interconnected areas with a consistent focus on consciousness, self, and free will. Strawson is best known for developing "naturalized Cartesianism," an approach that maintains a fully realist account of conscious experience while embracing materialism. His work often challenges conventional views in philosophy of mind, particularly critiquing neobehaviorism and functionalism. He has made significant contributions to debates about personal identity, causation, and the mind-body problem, frequently arguing for revisionary metaphysical positions that take phenomenal experience seriously.

Strawson's publications show a clear trajectory from early work on Hume and causation to increasingly focused examinations of consciousness, self, and free will. His more recent work synthesizes these concerns into broader metaphysical frameworks addressing the nature of reality itself. A distinctive feature across his oeuvre is the insistence that conscious experience must be taken at face value in any adequate account of the mind, rather than reduced to or eliminated in favor of behavioral or functional descriptions.

Though no specific awards are highlighted in the available materials, Strawson's influence is evident in the sustained engagement with his ideas across philosophy of mind and metaphysics. His work has generated significant discussion, particularly regarding his arguments for panpsychism as a potential consequence of physicalism and his critique of narrative theories of the self.

As an educator, Strawson teaches advanced courses including Dissertation Seminar, Problems of Knowledge & Valuation, The Self in Early Modern Philosophy, Perception and Action, and Philosophy of Mind. His teaching reflects his research interests, bridging historical and contemporary approaches to philosophical problems of mind and self.