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Bongrae Seok


Assistant Professor of Philosophy
Francis Hall 225
610-796-8435
bongrae.seok@alvernia.edu

 

Dr. Bongrae Seok, assistant professor of philosophy, teaches major areas of philosophy and researches in philosophy of mind and psychology, cognitive science, neuroscience, and Asian philosophy. He also studies Art and Music and gives lectures in local museums. Philosophy is a good foundational training for major professional careers such as law and computer science. But it also has its own value as an intellectual development and as a guide to meaningful and happy life. Dr. Seok wants to share these precious values with Alvernia students.

About Myself:
1986: BA in Philosophy (Seoul National University)
1996: M.A. in philosophy, minor in Psychology (Univ. of Arizona, Tucson, AZ)
2000: Ph. D. in Philosophy (Modularity of Mind, Encapsulation by Nature, Univ. of Arizona)
2000: Visiting Lecturer (Department of Philosophy, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ.)
2000: Research Associate in Neural Systems, Memory and Aging (Univ. of Arizona)
2003: Assistant Professor of Philosophy, Alvernia College (Reading Pennsylvania)

Areas of Specialization:

Philosophy
Philosophy of Mind/Psychology/cognitive science
Philosophy of Neuroscience
Asian Philosophy (Chinese Philosophy, Buddhism and Hindu Philosophy)
Modern Philosophy and Contemporary Philosophy
Philosophy of Biology/Medicine
Ethics: Medical Ethics, Business Ethics, and Environmental Ethics
Philosophy of Law

Psychology & Cognitive Science
Neurophysiology
Cognitive Neuropsychology
Psycholinguistics
Functional Specialization (Modularity)

Publications and Translations:
2006: Philosophy, The Intellectual Journey. Mason OH Wadsworth. (Custom Textbook)
2003: Logic and Psycho-Logic, Seo Kwang Sa Publishing Company, Seoul, South Korea.
2002: Daniel Dennett (Brook & Ross eds. 2002), Seoul, Mind and Body Publishing Company.
1998: Philosophical Applications of Cognitive Science, (A. Goldman, 1993), Seoul: SeoKwang-Sa Publishing Company
1997: The Embodied Mind, Cognitive Science and Human Experience, (F. Varela, E. Thompson, and E. Rosch, 1991) Translation. Seoul, Korea:Okto Publishing Company.1992: Matter and Consciousness, (P. M. Churchland 1988), Translation. Seoul, Korea: SeoKwang-SaPublishing Co.

Recent Articles:
2008: “Mencius’s Vertical Faculties and Moral Nativism” Asian Philosophy (Vol. 18-1, March 2008).
2007: "Change, Contradiction, and Overconfidence; Chinese Philosophy and Cognitive Peculiarities of Asians" Dao: A Journal of Comparative Philosophy (Vol. VI-3, Autumn 2007)
2006: “Diversity and Unity of Modularity” Cognitive Science 30 (March/April, 2006)
2005: “Review of Goldin’s Xunzi's Philosophy” Dao, A Journal of Comparative Philosophy (vol IV, No. 2, Summer, 2005)
2004: “Review of Gardner’s Zhu Xi’s Reading of Analects: Canon, Commentary, and the Classical Tradition” Dao: A Journal of Comparative Philosophy, Vol. IV, No. 1 (2004 Winter)
2004: “Learning-related responses in Go/NoGo neurons in dorsolateral prefrontal cortex,” Society of Neuroscience, Abstract 34: 324.1 (withF.A.W. Wilson, P.A. Greenberg, and Y. Ma).
2001: "Linguistic Productivity and Chomskyan Grammar" Lingua Humanitas, Seoul, Korea

Recent Conference Presentations:
2008: “Confucian Error: Emotion in Confucian Moral Philosophy and Contemporary Moral Psychology” Annual Meeting of APA (the American Philosophical Association, Central Division), (Chicago, 4/17/2008).
2008: “How Modular is ToM (theory of mind)?” SSPP Conference, the 100th Annual Meeting of the Southern Society for Philosophy and Psychology, (New Orleans, 3/20-22/2007).
2007: “Empty Heart and Metaphysical Emotion of the Neo-Confucian Mind" The Fourth International Conference on Ancient and Medieval Philosophy, Fordham University, (New York. 10/21/2007)
2007: “Non-Taxomic Reasoning and Conflict Resolution in Chinese Philosophy” the 24th International Social Philosophy Conference, hosted by (NASSP) North American Society for Social Philosophy (Lancaster PA, 7/12-14).
2007: "Folk Psychology and External Attribution" Annual Meeting of SPPS (Southern Society of Philosophy and Psychology) Atlanta, GA (4/6/2007)
2006: "Mencius and Xunzi's Moral Psychology" Annual Meeting of APA Eastern Division (Washington DC., December 2006).
2006: "Mencius Philosophy of Mind and Morality" International Conference on Ancient and Medieval Philosophy (Fordham University, New York, October 2006).
2006: “Do Animals use Concepts?” SSPP Conference (the 98th Annual Meeting of the Southern Society for Philosophy and Psychology), Charleston SC.
2005: “Avaliability Thesis and Epistemic Fatalism,” EPPA (Eastern Pennsylvania Philosophical Association) conference (April, 2005)
2004: “Can Aesthetic Consciousness save the Environment?” – Review of Dr. M. Lucht’s “Does Kant have anything to teach us about environmental ethics?” EPPA (Eastern Pennsylvania Philosophical Association) conference (October, 2004)

Museum Presentations:
Iconography and History of Indian Art , Allentown Art Museum (Allentown, PA) (4/30/2007)
Images of Buddha, Allentown Art Museum (Allentown, PA) (10/4/2006)
Asian Culture and Art, Reading Public Museum (Reading, PA) (1/17/2006)
Indian Art; General Overview, Allentown Art Museum (Allentown PA) (7/28/2005).
Indian Art: Artistic Forms and Religious Background, Allentown Art Museum (Allentown, PA) (1/3/2005)
Indian Arts: Hindu Gods Goddesses, Reading Public Museum (Reading, PA) (12/2/2004)
Asian Art and Symbolism, Reading Public Museum (Reading, PA) (3/30/2004).

Currently I am working on:
Human Reasoning and Cultural Influence
Moral Psychology of Confucinanism Mencius and Xunzi
Emotion and Moral Psychology
Modularity of ToM (Theory of Mind) in Early Childhood: Association of Executive Function (EF) and ToM (Theory of Mind)
Animal Concept and Reversal Discrimination Tasks
Modularity and Consciousness  
History of Faculty Psychology (From Plato to Gall)
Asian Art and Philosophy
NeuroPhysiology of Spatial Memory in Hippocampus and Prefrontal Cortex
CyberSpace and Intellectual Property
Ontology and Perception of Space (Philosophy, Mathematics, Physics, and Psychology


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