Assistant Professor

1418A Hunter West
E-mail: jgarson@hunter.cuny.edu

Biography

Justin Garson received his PhD in Philosophy and the Program in the History and Philosophy of Science at The University of Texas at Austin in 2006. His areas of specialization are the Philosophy of Biology, with an emphasis on neuroscience and psychiatry; and Environmental Philosophy. His research has been on the relationship between neuroscience and psychiatry, the concepts of function and information in neuroscience, and on the limits of mechanistic explanation in biology. He has also published scientific research in conservation biology and works with the Biodiversity and Biocultural Conservation Laboratory at the University of Texas. In 2009, he and his family lived in Gulu, Northern Uganda, and worked with organizations such as Child Voice International and St. Jude’s Children’s Home to provide capacity training and medical assistance for people affected by war.

Publications

Please contact author at jgarson@hunter.cuny.edu for reprints or electronic versions.

Philosophical Publications

• Garson, J. Forthcoming. The Biological Mind: A Philosophical Introduction. Under contract with Routledge.
• Garson, J., and Piccinini, G. Forthcoming. "Functions Must be Performed at Appropriate Rates in Appropriate Situations", British Journal for the Philosophy of Science. http://bjps.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2013/03/09/bjps.axs041.abstract 
• Garson, J. Forthcoming. "Function, Selection, and Construction in the Brain", Synthese: Special Issue on Neuroscience and its Philosophy 189: 451-481. 
• Garson, J. Forthcoming. “Alexander Forbes, Walter Cannon, and Science-Based Literature,” in Finger, S., Boller, F., and Stiles, A. (Eds.), Literature, Neurology, and Neuroscience: History and Modern Perspectives (Dordrecht: Elsevier).
• Garson, J. 2011. “Selected Effects Functions and Causal Role Functions in the Brain: The Case for an Etiological Approach to Neuroscience”, Biology & Philosophy 26: 547-565.
• Garson, J. 2010. “Schizophrenia and the Dysfunctional Brain”, Journal of Cognitive Science 11: 215-246.
• Garson, J. 2008. “Function and Teleology”, in Plutynski, A., and Sarkar, S. (Eds.), Companion to Philosophy of Biology (Malden, MA: Blackwell).
• Garson, J. 2006. “Emergentism”, in Sarkar, S., and Pfeifer, J. (Eds.), The Philosophy of Science: An Encyclopedia (New York: Routledge Press).
• Garson, J., and Justus, J. 2006. “Conservation Biology”, in Sarkar, S., and Pfeifer, J. (Eds.), The Philosophy of Science: An Encyclopedia (New York: Routledge Press).
• Garson, J. 2003. “The Introduction of Information into Neurobiology”, Philosophy of Science 70: 926-936.
• Garson, J., Wang, L., and Sarkar, S. 2003. “How Development May Direct Evolution”, Biology and Philosophy 18: 353 – 370.
  

Scientific Publications

• Sarkar, S., Mayfield, M., Cameron, S., Fuller, T., and J. Garson. 2007. “Conservation Area Networks for the Indian Ecoregion: Systematic Methods and Future Prospects”, Himalayan Journal of Sciences 4: 27-40.  
• Moffett, A., Garson, J., and S. Sarkar. 2005. “MultCSync: A Software Package for Incorporating Multiple Criteria in Conservation Planning”, Environmental Modelling and Software 20: 1315 –1322.
• Sarkar, S., Justus, J., Fuller, T., Kelley, C., Garson, J., and M. Mayfield. 2005. “Effectiveness of Environmental Surrogates for the Selection of Conservation Area Networks”, Conservation Biology 19: 815 – 825.
• Sarkar, S., and J. Garson. 2004. “Multiple Criterion Synchronization (MCS) for Conservation Area Network Design: The Use of Non-Dominated Alternative Sets”, Conservation and Society 2: 433-448.  
• Sarkar, S., Moffett, A., Sierra, R., Fuller, T., Cameron, S., and J. Garson. 2004. “Incorporating Multiple Criteria into the Design of Conservation Area Networks”, Endangered Species Update 21: 100 – 107.
• Sarkar, S., Pappas, C., Garson, J., Aggarwal, A., and S. Cameron. 2004. “Place Prioritization for Biodiversity Conservation Using Probabilistic Surrogate Distribution Data”, Diversity and Distributions 10: 125-133.
• Kelley, C., Garson, J., Aggarwal, A., and S. Sarkar. 2002. “Place Prioritization for Biodiveristy Reserve Network Design: A Comparison of the SITES and ResNet Software Packages for Coverage and Efficiency”, Diversity and Distributions 8: 297 – 306.
• Sarkar, S., Aggarwal, A., Garson, J., Margules, C., and J. Zeidler. 2002. “Place Prioritization for Biodiversity Content”, Journal of BioSciences 27: 339 – 346.
• Garson, J., Aggarwal, A., and S. Sarkar. 2002. “Birds as Surrogates for Biodiversity: An Analysis of a Data Set from Southern Québec”, Journal of BioSciences 27: 347 – 360.
• Sarkar, S., Parker, N., Garson, J., Aggarwal, A., and S. Haskell. 2000. “Place Prioritization for Texas using GAP Data: The Use of Biodiversity and Environmental Surrogates within Socioeconomic Constraints”, Gap Bulletin 9: 48 – 51. 

Book Reviews

• Chowdhury, S., and J. Garson. Forthcoming. “Review of Patricia Churchland’s Braintrust: What Neuroscience Tells us about Morality,” History and Philosophy of the Life Sciences.
• Garson, J. 2012.  “Review of Raymond Tallis’ Aping Mankind: Neuromania, Darwinitis, and the Misrepresentation of Humanity,” Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews. Jan 8
• Zhu, B., and Garson, J. 2008. “The Evolving Brain: The Known and the Unknown (book review)”,History and Philosophy of the Life Sciences 30: 111-112.
• Garson, J. 2006. “Mind, Meaning, and Mental Disorder (book review)”, History and Philosophy of the Life Sciences 28: 115-116.
• Garson, J. 2005. “Nature and Nurture: An Introduction to the New Philosophy of Psychiatry (book review)”, History and Philosophy of the Life Sciences 27: 145-146.