Department of Philosophy
Faculty
Alfred Mele
William H. and Lucyle T. Werkmeister Professor (University of Michigan)
151 Dodd Hall
Florida State University
Tallahassee, FL 32306-1500
Office: 288 Dodd Hall
Phone: (850) 644-0217
Fax: (850) 644-3832
Email: amele@fsu.edu
Office Hours: M 9:00-11:00, T 11:00-12:00 (Fall 2008)
My primary research interests revolve around human behavior.
My first book, Irrationality (1987), is an attempt to resolve the philosophical problems surrounding two forms of irrational behavior: self-deception and behavior that manifests weakness of will.
My second book, Springs of Action (1992), is about the roles played by such things as beliefs, desires, and intentions in producing human actions.
My third book, Autonomous Agents (1995), is an attempt to show that free or autonomous action is a genuine phenomenon (synopsis at http://www.ucl.ac.uk/~uctytho/dfwVariousMele.html).
In my fourth book, Self-Deception Unmasked (2001), I return to self-deception, benefitting from recent empirical work that supports the position on self-deception that I defended in Irrationality.
My fifth book, Motivation and Agency (2003), develops a theory of the place of motivation in the lives of intelligent agents.
My latest book, Free Will and Luck (2006), tackles the major theoretical challenges to the thesis that we sometimes act freely - especially challenges posed by luck and manipulation.
At the moment, I'm working mainly on incorporating recent data in neuroscience and in social and cognitive psychology into the philosophy of action and on debunking exaggerated claims about what these data show.
I enjoy teaching graduate and undergraduate courses in a variety of areas, including philosophy of mind, metaphysics, philosophy of action, and philosophy of religion.
In 2000, I joined the Philosophy Department at FSU as the William H. and Lucyle T. Werkmeister Professor of Philosophy.