Profile
Justin Garson is a philosopher of biology. His most recent book, What Biological Functions Are and Why They Matter (Cambridge University Press, 2019), gives a novel account of biological functions and develops its implications for thinking about mechanisms, mental disorders, and intentionality. A companion volume, A Critical Overview of Biological Functions (Springer, 2016), gives an up-to-date survey of the literature. His first book, The Biological Mind: A Philosophical Introduction (Routledge 2015) explores points of intersection between biology and mind, such as altruism, evolutionary psychology, the nature-nurture dispute, explanation in neuroscience, and psychiatric classification. He is also interested in environmental philosophy, and is a co-editor of The Routledge Handbook of Philosophy of Biodiversity. He also writes on the history of neuroscience and psychiatry. He is a recipient of the 2015 Feliks Gross Endowment Award, CUNY's highest award for Assistant Professors. In 2009, he and his family lived in Gulu, Northern Uganda, and started a business to support people affected by war. He received his PhD in Philosophy and the Program in the History and Philosophy of Science at The University of Texas at Austin in 2006.