Andrew Lavin

Andrew Lavin grew up in Chico and went to Butte for two Associate’s Degrees. Then he transferred to Chico for a BA in Comparative Religion with minors in Ethics and Philosophy. After that, SJSU for an MA in Philosophy, teaching in the Bay Area, and then a PhD in Philosophy at UCLA. His interests are in the history of philosophy, philosophy of mind and language, and he loves teaching ethics courses. He loves philosophy because careful and precise thinking is far too rare and he wants to show people how fun it can be to take your time and really think carefully about issues like the meaning of life, ultimate reality, how to live a good life and to do what’s right, and also what we are and how our minds work. He thinks the questions of philosophy are really interesting and fun to think about and the tools, methods, and skills of philosophy are indispensable for thinking well!

Selected publications:

"The Explanatory Link Account of Normality", Philosophy 94 (2019), pp.597-619

"Restricting the Realms: Frege's Problematic Ontology", Dialogue 55 (2016), pp.95-100