I am a professor of philosophy and cognitive and brain sciences at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Prior to joining the Hebrew University, I was a faculty member at Ben-Gurion University (2004-2015), where I established and then chaired the Department of Cognitive and Brain Sciences. I received my Ph.D. from Harvard (in 2003), where I worked on consciousness with Hillary Putnam, Richard Moran, and Jim Pryor.
My main research interests are in the philosophy of mind and cognitive science. Much of my work stands at the point where philosophical concerns overlap with and feed into empirical research in psychology and cognitive neuroscience. More specifically, my research focuses on the nature (and interrelations between) consciousness, perception, and affect, on the interplay between their representational and attitudinal aspects, their relations to cognition and action, and their normative significance. I am especially concerned with the methodologies, prospects, and current limitations of their empirical investigation. I also have research interests in specific issues in the philosophy of practical reasoning, value theory, epistemology, and metaphysics.
In the last few years, I have been primarily focused on elucidating the role of valence in consciousness and perception. As part of this project, I now argue for the radical claim that consciousness is fundamentally evaluative and affective. Consciousness is not only about representing how the world actually is; it is also – and crucially so – about how the world should be from the subject’s perspective.
I am currently working on a book on this topic. The following papers provide a glimpse into this ongoing project: On the Very Idea of Valenced Perception, Journal of Philosophy (Forthcoming); The Role of Valence in Perception: An ARTistic Treatment, Philosophical Review (2021); Not Only a Messenger: Towards an Attitudinal-Representational Theory of Pain, Philosophy and Phenomenological Research (2019).
My work can be found in PhilPapers and in ResearchGate.
Here is my CV.