Griffiths, Paul E(dmund) 1962-

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GRIFFITHS, Paul E(dmund) 1962-

PERSONAL: Born November 25, 1962, in Gwmbran, Gwent, Wales; son of Gareth and Hilary Mary (Williams) Griffiths. Education: Trinity College, Cambridge, M.A., 1984; Australian National University, Ph.D., 1989.

ADDRESSES: Office—Department of History of Philosophy of Science, 1017 Cathedral of Learning, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburg, PA 15260.

CAREER: Author, editor, and philosophy of science educator. Otago University, Dunedin, New Zealand, began as assistant lecturer, became senior lecturer 1988-98; University of Maryland, visiting assistant professor of philosophy, 1992; Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, visiting scholar, 1994; University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia, director of unit for history of philosophy of science, 1998-2000; University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, adjunct professor, 2000—, Centre for Philosophy of Science, associate director, 2002—. Fellow of Konrad Lorenz Institute for Evolution and Cognition Research, Altenberg, Austria, 1999—. Biology and Philosophy, editorial board, 1996-2000, associate editor, 2000—; Metascience, editorial board, commissioning editor for philosophy of biology, 1996—; Evolution and Cognition, editorial board, 1991—. International Society for the History, Philosophy, and Social Studies of Science, board of directors, 1995-1999, conference program committee, 1997.

MEMBER: Australasian Association for the History, Philosophy, and Social Studies of Science (secretary, 1999-2000, chairman of conference organizing committee, 2000).

WRITINGS:

What Emotions Really Are: The Problem of Psychological Categories, University of Chicago Press (Chicago, IL), 1997.

(Coauthor, with Kim Sterelny) Sex and Death: An Introduction to Philosophy of Biology, University of Chicago Press (Chicago, IL), 1999.

(Coeditor, with Susan Oyama and Russell D. Gray) Cycles of Contingency: Developmental Systems and Evolution, MIT Press (Cambridge, MA), 2001.

Contributor of scholarly articles and reviews to publications, including Philosophical Psychology, British Journal for Philosophy of Science, Behavioral and Brain Sciences, and Journal of Philosophy. Contributor to encyclopedias, including The MIT Encyclopedia of the Cognitive Sciences, International Encyclopedia of the Social and Behavioral Sciences, and Nature Encyclopedia of the Life Sciences. Coeditor of Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.

WORK IN PROGRESS: A history of ethology.

SIDELIGHTS: Author and educator Paul E. Griffiths is a professor of the philosophy of science at the University of Pittsburgh. His research focuses on the scientific aspects of various human experiences that often have emotional or sociological contributors as well. In What Emotions Really Are: The Problem of Psychological Categories Griffiths explains his theories regarding how the concept of emotions hinders a true understanding of psychology. He separates emotions into two concepts: affect and higher cognitive emotions. The first group includes those automatic responses that are hard-wired into behavior, such as anger, fear, and surprise, while the second group are the results of more intellectualized situations, and include guilt, shame, and jealousy.

Critics felt that What Emotions Really Are thoughtfully raises interesting questions about the perception and study of emotion. John M. Doris, in a review of the book for Ethics, commented that "newcomers will be treated to a valuable survey of the emotion literature in philosophy and psychology, and sophisticates will be engaged by informed and contentious positions on running debates." Philosophical Psychology contributor Charles Nussabaum wrote that "Griffiths is unfortunately not always scrupulously attentive to all the subtleties of the various positions he criticizes," but went on to note that the author "does convincingly demonstrate the shortcomings of the conceptual analysis approach to the problem of determining what human emotions are."

Peter Goldie, in a review for the British Journal for the Philosophy of Science, addressed Griffiths's conclusion that the general idea of emotion does not apply in psychological theory, writing that "this, as an argument from within science and the philosophy of science, seems very persuasive. But there remains the question as to what this argument, if true, would imply for the future of our commonsense concepts of the emotions. Griffiths's discussion of this is thought-provoking, but far from conclusive." Goldie went on to call What Emotions Really Are "interesting and intriguing," stating that "it is full of all sorts of insights which anyone interested in the nature of the emotions should be sure not to miss."

Sex and Death: An Introduction to Philosophy of Biology, which Griffiths cowrote with Kim Sterelny, looks at the philosophy surrounding evolutionary theory, molecular biology, ecology, and developmental biology. The book also examines the ways in which controversy in science is linked to social issues.

Once again, critics were impressed by Griffiths's thorough approach. In a review of Sex and Death for the Journal of the American Medical Association, Jack Wilson wrote that "the philosophy of biology is a dynamic field, and the authors convey their enthusiasm for a philosophical field well connected with the science it studies." Wilson went on to comment that "Sex and Death is an excellent introduction to the central topics in philosophy of biology, and the authors provide a road map for those who want to dig deeper." Perspectives in Biology and Medicine contributor Daniel A. Albert commented that Griffiths's book is "an engaging and relatively accessible version of modern philosophy of biology told by two philosophers steeped in their discipline and knowledgeable about a wide range of interesting avenues in the modern science of biology." Ernst Mayr, writing for Science, noted the authors' system for dealing with controversies through a presentation of opposing viewpoints, referencing a wealth of literature on the various topics. Mayr commented, "I found the listing of the literature under each problem remarkably complete. These references will be immensely helpful to anyone first approaching one of these problems."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

periodicals

British Journal for the Philosophy of Science, December, 1998, Peter Goldie, review of What Emotions Really Are: The Problem of Psychological Categories, p. 642.

Choice, March, 1998, D. R. C. Reed, review of What Emotions Really Are, p. 1204.

Ethics, April, 2000, John M. Doris, review of What Emotions Really Are, p. 617.

Journal of the American Medical Association, April 19, 2000, Jack Wilson, review of Sex and Death: An Introduction to Philosophy of Biology, pp. 2038-2040.

Library Journal, November 1, 1997, E. James Lieberman, review of What Emotions Really Are, p. 105.

Nature, January, 1998, Ray Dolan, "How We Feel," review of What Emotions Really Are, pp. 35-36.

Perspectives in Biology and Medicine, summer, 2000, Daniel A. Albert, review of Sex and Death, p. 622.

Philosophical Psychology, December, 1999, Charles Nussabaum, review of What Emotions Really Are, pp. 546-551.

Quarterly Review of Biology, June, 2002, John M. C. Hutchinson, review of Cycles of Contingency: Developmental Systems and Evolution, p. 177.

Science, September 17, 1999, Ernst Mayr, review of Sex and Death, p. 1856.