University Assistant

Wylie Breckenridge

*****@******.***

www.wylieb.com

Areas of Specialisation

Philosophy of Language, Epistemology, Metaphysics.

Areas of Competence

Critical Thinking, Formal Logic, Philosophical Logic, Formal Semantics, Philosophy of Mind,

Philosophy of Science, Frege.

Education

Oxford University, Doctor of Philosophy, 2007.

Thesis: The Meaning of Look

Supervisor: Timothy Williamson

I develop a theory of what we mean by sentences such as Patch looks red and John

looks to be tired sentences that we use to describe how things (visually) appear. Apart

from being a contribution to issues in the philosophy of language, it is also a contribution

to issues in the philosophy of perception having such a theory in hand we can make

better progress toward answering certain questions about perception. I illustrate by

considering two such questions: Is the relation expressed by looks the same as

transitive? What is the nature of visual experience?

Oxford University, Bachelor of Philosophy, 2003.

Concentrations: Logic and Language, Metaphysics and Epistemology, Frege.

Sydney University, Graduate Diploma of Arts (Philosophy), First Class Honours, 2000.

Melbourne University, Graduate Diploma of Education, 1995.

Sydney University, Master of Science (Mathematics), 1991.

Sydney University, Bachelor of Science (with honours) (Physics, Mathematics), 1989.

Publications

Look Sentences and Visual Experience, book forthcoming with Oxford University Press.

The Metaphysical Impact of Semantic Theories, forthcoming in Philosophy Compass.

Epistemic Modals, forthcoming in Philosophy Compass.

Against One Reason for Thinking that Visual Experiences have Representational Content,

Philosophical Perspectives, 2007 issue (Philosophy of Mind).

Chains, Multichains and M bius Numbers, Journal of Discrete Mathematics 120 (1993), pp.

37-50. (With K. Varadarajan and K. Wehrhahn.)

Lattice Paths and Catalan Numbers, Bulletin of the Institute of Combinatorics and its

Applications 1 (1991), pp. 41-55. (With H. Gastineau-Hills, A. Nelson, P. Bos, G. Calvert,

and K. Wehrhahn.)

Presentations

Eavesdroppers, Salvage Ships, and Epistemic Modality

ANU RSSS Department Seminar, May 2009.

The Nature of Visual Experience

Cornell University Department Discussion Club, October 2008.

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Arbitrary Reference

Cornell University Department Workshop, March 2008.

Intellectual Bullying

Cornell University Mellon Seminar, March 2008.

Ways in the Semantics of English

Cornell University Semantics Seminar, February 2008.

Jackson on the Adverbial Theory

Cornell University Perception Seminar, September 2007.

Making

Cornell University Department Workshop, September 2007.

Arbitrary Reference

Oxford University Ockham Society, March 2007. (With Ofra Magidor)

(The Ockham Society is the graduate student seminar at Oxford.)

Word Meaning

Oxford University Ockham Society, November 2006.

Lexical Categories

Oxford University Linguistics Graduate Seminar, October 2006.

The Meaning of Look

Sydney University Departmental Seminar, May 2006.

Word Conversion and Lexical Categories

Charles Sturt University Departmental Seminar, April 2006.

On the Meaning of Red

Oxford University Ockham Society, May 2004.

On How Things Look

Oxford University Ockham Society, November 2002.

Is there an Exclusive Or ?

Oxford University Ockham Society, March 2002.

Positions Held

At University of New South Wales, July 2009 November 2009:

Casual Lecturer

Courses taught:

PHIL 2109 Contemporary Metaphysics

PHIL 2206 Philosophy of Mind

At Cornell University, July 2007 June 2009:

Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow and Visiting Assistant Professor

Courses taught:

PHIL 332 Philosophy of Language, Fall 2007

PHIL 331 Deductive Logic, Spring 2008

PHIL 3710 Philosophy of Language, Fall 2008

PHIL 6710 Epistemic Modals, Spring 2009

Teaching Experience as a Graduate Student

At Oxford University, April, 2007 June, 2007:

Lecturer in Philosophy at Exeter College. Taught junior and senior level courses in formal

logic, philosophical logic, philosophy of language, epistemology, and metaphysics. (At

Oxford, tutorial teaching is the primary mode of undergraduate teaching.)

At Oxford University, October, 2006 March, 2007:

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Lecturer in Philosophy at Oriel College. Taught junior and senior level courses in formal logic,

philosophical logic, philosophy of language, epistemology, and metaphysics.

At Sydney University, July September, 2006:

Lecturer in the Department of Philosophy. Taught a senior level course in epistemology to a

class of 25 students (the nature of knowledge, scepticism, and perception).

At Macquarie University, May June, 2006:

Lecturer in the Department of Philosophy. Taught a senior level course in modal logic to a

class of 10 students (possible worlds, formal systems, actualism, and temporal and deontic

logic), and a junior level course in the philosophy of mind to a class of 15 students (the nature

of minds and computers and the connection between them).

At The University of New South Wales, February, 2006:

Tutor in the Department of Philosophy. Tutored a senior level course Ways of Reasoning

(critical thinking, scepticism, truth, free will, and the nature of scientific theory).

At The University of Warwick, Spring Term, 2005:

Lecturer in the Department of Philosophy. Taught a senior level course in the philosophy of

language to a class of 20 students (meaning, metaphor, language of thought, quantification,

events, indirect discourse, conditionals, and truth).

At Oxford University, 2001 2005:

Tutor in the Department of Philosophy. Taught junior and senior level students in formal logic,

epistemology, and metaphysics.

At Sydney University, 2000:

Tutor in the Department of Philosophy. Tutored a class of 25 students in introductory formal

logic.

Other Teaching Experience

At Geelong Grammar School, 1992 1997:

Secondary school teacher of mathematics, physics, science, computing, and Japanese. Taught

students ranging in age from 12 to 18, and ranging in ability from the very weak to the gifted

(some of whom competed in the International Math and Chemistry Olympiads). Assistant

Head of a boarding house, with a significant pastoral care role. Coach of various sports, and

organiser of various activities. Obtained a degree in education from Melbourne University.

At Sydney University, 1987 1991:

Casual tutor in the department of mathematics between 1989 and 1991; tutored classes of up to

30 students from junior to senior level, in topics including calculus, combinatorics, differential

geometry, and linear algebra. Tutor in mathematics at St. Paul s residential college during

1989, responsible for the progress of all mathematics students in the college. Laboratory

demonstrator in the physics department during 1990. Tutor at JA Maths Coaching, from 1987

to 1988, tutoring high school mathematics to small groups for 4 hours each week.

Graduate Courses Taken

Topics in Metaphysics, Timothy Williamson and John Hawthorne, 2007.

Armchairs and Sofas, Timothy Williamson, 2007.

Metaphysics, Language, and Epistemology Seminar, Ralph Wedgwood, 2007.

Probability Theory, Frank Arntzenius, 2006.

Singular Thought, John Hawthorne, 2006.

Metaphysics, Language, and Epistemology Seminar, John Hawthorne, 2006.

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Lexical Semantics and Lexical Pragmatics, David Cram, 2004.

Syntax, Mary Dalrymple, 2004.

Formal Semantics, Stephen Pulman, 2004.

Syntax: Minimalism, Gillian Ramchand, 2003.

Metaphysics and Epistemology B.Phil. Seminar, Bill Brewer and David Charles, 2003.

Logic and Language B.Phil. Seminar, Timothy Williamson and Ben Morison, 2002.

Frege, tutorials with Ian Rumfitt, 2002.

Metaphysics and Epistemology B.Phil. Seminar, Bill Brewer and David Charles, 2002.

Logic and Language B.Phil. Seminar, Timothy Williamson and Ian Rumfitt, 2001.

First Year Graduate Seminar, Timothy Williamson and David Charles, 2001/2.

Awards and Prizes

At Oxford:

John Locke Prize, 2001 (Awarded annually on the basis of written examination.)

At Sydney University:

John Anderson Prize, 2000 (For the best thesis in final year)

Honours Prize, 2000 (For distinguished results leading to final year)

Lithgow Prize, 1999 (For the best results in third year)

Uther Prize, 1989 (For distinguished results and service to others)

Foundation Grant, 1988 (For academic achievement & contribution to university life)

Physics Prize, 1987 (For distinguished results in second year)

Service

Referee for Mind, Philosophical Review, and The Southern Journal of Philosophy

Book review committee, Philosophical Review, 2007 2009.

Graduate student representative, Oxford, 2002 2004.

Organiser of The Ockham Society, Oxford, 2002 2003.

New College graduate student welfare officer, 2002 2003.

Referees

Timothy Williamson, Oxford University, *******.**********@**********.**.**.**.

John Hawthorne, Oxford University, ****.*********@**********.**.**.**.

Bill Brewer, The University of Warwick, *.******@*******.**.**.

Mats Rooth, Cornell University, *****@*******.***.

Derk Pereboom, Cornell University, *****@*******.***.

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