Marc Champagne

IN BRIEF:
I do philosophy and semiotics, and soon I will have 2 PhDs, one in each subject.

INTERESTS:
My scholarly labours have thus far centered on bringing insights from semiotics to bear on philosophy of mind, often in the hope of opening up hitherto unnoticed avenues of theoretical reflection. Topics I have addressed in this manner include the nature of consciousness, logical inference, arguments for metaphysical realism and anti-scepticism, the causal and discursive mechanisms whereby knowledge claims (scientific or otherwise) come to be justified, alternative approaches to the study of meaning, cognitive ethology, informational theories of concepts, and the ramifications of embodiment for agency, perception, and normativity.
I am (proudly) conversant with the "analytic" and "continental" traditions—and still more. Major figures I am interested in (and/or indebted to) include Aristotle, Charles Sanders Peirce, John McDowell, Friedrich Nietzsche, John Deely, Karl Popper, Ned Block, Fred Dretske, Ayn Rand, Daniel Dennett, John Duns Scotus, Arthur Schopenhauer, Stathis Psillos, Shaun Gallagher, Epicurus, Umberto Eco, Ludwig Wittgenstein, John Poinsot, Maurice Merleau-Ponty, and Pierre Abélard.
I am currently writing a dissertation in philosophy of mind, under the supervision of Henry Jackman and with the support of a coveted Ontario Graduate Scholarship.

BACKGROUND:
After completing a college degree at Champlain Regional College, I did my undergraduate work at Concordia University (where I graduated cum laude). I have a masters degree in philosophy from York University, and undertook advanced graduate studies in pedagogy at the University of Montreal. In addition, I hold a PhD in semiotics from UQAM—one of the few institutions in the world to offer specialized training in this difficult but exciting field, with a multi-departmental program established in 1979 (I wrote my dissertation under the logician and philosopher of science Serge Robert).
I am a trained public speaker (Toastmasters International) fluent in French and English. I was formerly a member of the Peirce-Wittgenstein Research Group and was Adjunct-Researcher for the Canada Research Chair in the Theory of Knowledge.
I am currently a Teaching Assistant at York University in Toronto, where I am pursuing a second PhD.

Contact Information

Homepage:	http://yorku.academia.edu/MarcChampagne
Address:	Department of Philosophy York University Room S422 Ross 4700 Keele Street Toronto, ON Canada M3J 1P3