Quick Facts
Biography
Michael Tye (born 1950) is a British philosopher who is currently Professor of Philosophy at the University of Texas at Austin. He has made significant contributions to the philosophy of mind.
Education and Career
Tye was educated at Oxford University in England, studying first physics and then physics and philosophy. Before moving to Texas, Tye taught at Haverford College in suburban Philadelphia and Temple University in Philadelphia proper. He was also a visiting professor at King's College, London for some ten consecutive years while at Temple and briefly took up a chair at the University of St. Andrews. Besides philosophy of mind, Tye has interests in cognitive science, metaphysics, and philosophical logic, especially problems relating to vagueness.
Tye's third book, Ten Problems of Consciousness (1995), was an alternate selection of the Library of Science Book Club. Along with Fred Dretske, Tye defends the representationalist view of consciousness.
Books
- The Metaphysics of Mind (1989)
- The Imagery Debate (1991)
- Ten Problems of Consciousness (1995)
- Consciousness, Color, and Content (2000)
- Consciousness and Persons (2003)
- Consciousness Revisited: Materialism without Phenomenal Concepts (2009)
- Tense Bees and Shell-Shocked Crabs: Are Animals Conscious? (2016)