Alumni Spotlight
Spring 2025 Alumni Spotlight
Alistair Isaac (UH MA 2004) - Senior Lecturer University of Edinburgh
It was a pleasure speaking to Alistair Isaac about his time at UH!
Tell us something about the focus or direction of your research so far (small picture, big picture, etc.).
I work primarily in the philosophy of science of the sciences of the mind. Shortly after finishing my PhD, my focus was on representation, and in particular drawing analogies between debates about realism and representation in philosophy of science and in philosophy of perception in order to motivate structural realism about perceptual qualities. More recently, measurement has become a central theme for me, and I have been developing a realist view of measurement aimed at undermining (what I see as) a dominant trend toward coherentism in the philosophy of measurement. I am presently working on a monograph that applies this measurement realism to psychophysical measurement, the principle set of methods for measuring perceptual experience, motivating a non-reductive, naturalistic understanding of phenomenal qualities.
Tell us something about your time at UH Phil: an impressionistic memory; a particular story; a general assessment of that time; etc.
When I was at UH, 2002–2004, the MA students who worked as TAs were very close, spending all our time together arguing about philosophy, playing Go, and drinking beer. I have stayed close, or in reasonable contact with, many of my peers from those days, including both those who went on to be professional philosophers and those who didn't.
Particularly important were the grad seminars—because there was only one class per semester that was MA-student only, and that course was invariably taught seminar-style and was attended by all the MA students, it provided a great forum for bonding and group learning. Memorably, Cynthia Freeland taught one on the topic of negative aesthetics, in which one day we all ate Durian together on the landing in front of the department. (For those who don't know, Durian is the giant, spiky southeast Asian fruit of which it is said: “smells like hell, tastes like heaven.”)
Possibly the most fulfilling philosophy seminar I ever took was Bredo Johnsen's course on Robert Nozick's Invariances. Nozick had been Bredo's supervisor (I think?) and Bredo hadn't yet read the book - the seminar consisted in us just reading it chapter by chapter and discussing it, with no plan or agenda. The book was so philosophically rich, however, and we knew each other so well from our ongoing debates outside of class, that every seminar meeting generated a rich and fulfilling discussion.
How do you think your time at UH Phil was instrumental either to becoming the philosopher you are now or to achieving what you have achieved professionally so far?
My undergraduate degree was in East Asian Studies; I only took one course in philosophy as an undergrad, and that was in philosophy of physics. I returned to school after reading linguistics, cognitive science, and philosophy informally during my day jobs as first a legal secretary, then a projectionist at the Angelika in downtown Houston. UHhelped me to transition into philosophy as a career and gave me the skills and background to move on to a high-quality PhD program. Without my time at UH, I would not be in the career I am today.
My advisors, Justin Leiber and Jim Garson, in particular, helpfully staked out a space of possibilities in cognitive science that would serve as an important counterpoint to my further studies. They also helped me to develop professionally in a number of ways, from which I continue to benefit to this day.
Do you have any kind of “hindsight is 20/20” advice for an incoming graduate student starting their journey at UH Phil?
Learning from your peers is just as important as learning from your professors.
I benefitted very much from full funding. Whether one is funded or not, I think it is very important to pursue graduate training in philosophy for its own sake, not because of some fantasy about what one's future career will be like. The statistics at each stage of a career in academia are quite poor, and no program can guarantee you success at the next stage, whether that be PhD, postdoc, or tenure track. If you enjoy the degree you are pursuing for its own sake, because you find studying philosophy intrinsically fulfilling, you will have no regrets and be happier for it, however your future career turns out.
A correlate: Know thyself — time spent in an MA is a stepping stone to a PhD, but it is also a way to discover whether you really enjoy the day-to-day grind of the academic life. Focus on pursuing the path that will maximize overall quality of life.
Finally, full disclosure: in my day, we did occasionally drink before seminar. I would not recommend this.