Dr. Alison Simmons

Biography

Alison Simmons received her Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania in 1994. Her teaching primarily focuses on early modern philosophy, natural philosophy, and theories of mind, along with medieval philosophy, philosophy of mind, and philosophy of psychology. Her research interests lie at the intersection of philosophy and psychology, particularly exploring the nature of mind in general and sense perception in particular, as well as historical conceptions of the relationship between mind and world developed in ancient, medieval, and early modern periods. Some notable publications include works on Descartes and the nature of consciousness, as well as discussions on dualism and vitalist monism related to figures such as Margaret Cavendish and Anne Conway. She is also involved in integrating ethics into computer science education. In 2011, she was named a Harvard College Professor and is a co-founder of a program developing ethics modules for computer science courses.

Research Interests