Department of Philosophy

If you wish to get in touch with our administrative staff, please see the admin staff contact page. 

Image of Robert Kirk

Robert Kirk

Emeritus Professor. Department of Philosophy, Faculty of Medicine & Health Sciences

Contact

Biography

Robert Kirk is Emeritus Professor in the Department. His main interests are consciousness, physicalism, and intentionality. He is also known for his work on Quine's doctrine of the indeterminacy of translation. His publications include Translation Determined (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1986), Raw Feeling (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1994, paperback 1996), Relativism and Reality (London and New York: Routledge, 1999), Mind and Body (Chesham: Acumen, 2003), Zombies and Consciousness (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 2005; Paperback edition 2007), The Conceptual Link from Physical to Mental (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013), Robots, Zombies and Us: understanding consciousness (London: Bloomsbury Academic, 2017). Zombies and Consciousness to some extent atones for his error in having defended the possibility of zombies in articles in 1974. (For more about zombies see his entry in the online Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy at: http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/zombies/.) He is currently working on a book provisionally entitled The Minds of Hominins: philosophical arguments.

Recent Publications

  • KIRK, R.,, 2017. Robots, Zombies and Us: understanding consciousness Bloomsbury.
  • KIRK, R., 2014. Review of Robert J. Howell, Consciousness and the Limits of Objectivity: the Case for Subjective Physicalism, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013, At: Australasian Journal of Philosophy, 92
  • KIRK, R, 2013. The conceptual link from physical to mental. Oxford : Oxford University Press.
  • KIRK, R., 2009. ‘Critical notice: Shoemaker on Physical Realization’ Analysis Reviews. 69(1), 148-56
  • KIRK, R.,, 2017. Robots, Zombies and Us: understanding consciousness Bloomsbury.
  • KIRK, R., 2014. Review of Robert J. Howell, Consciousness and the Limits of Objectivity: the Case for Subjective Physicalism, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013, At: Australasian Journal of Philosophy, 92
  • KIRK, R, 2013. The conceptual link from physical to mental. Oxford : Oxford University Press.
  • KIRK, R., 2009. ‘Critical notice: Shoemaker on Physical Realization’ Analysis Reviews. 69(1), 148-56
  • KIRK, R., 2008. 'Physicalism and Phenomenal Consciousness' Teorema. 27, 71-84
  • KIRK, R., 2008. ‘The Inconceivability of Zombies’ Philosophical Studies. 139, 73–89
  • KIRK, R., 2007. ‘Mechanism’. In: The New Encyclopedia of Unbelief Prometheus Books.
  • KIRK, R., 2006. ‘Zapping the Zombies’ Think. 13, 47-58.
  • KIRK, R., 2006. ‘Physicalism and Strict Implication’ Synthese. 151, 523-36.
  • KIRK, R, 2005. Zombies and consciousness Oxford : Clarendon Press.
  • KIRK R., 2004. ‘Indeterminacy of Translation’. In: ROGER GIBSON, ed., The Cambridge Companion to Quine 151-180
  • KIRK, R, 2003. Mind and body Chesham [England] : Acumen.
  • KIRK, R., 2002. ‘Beware Cosmic Porridge’ Think. 2, 21-28
  • KIRK, R., 2001. ‘Nonreductive Physicalism and Strict Implication’ Australasian Journal of Philosophy. 79, 545-553
  • KIRK, R., 2001. ‘Barry Stroud on Subjectivism and Physicalism’ Philosophical Books. 42, 253-260
  • KIRK, R, 1999. Relativism and reality: a contemporary introduction London : Routledge.
  • KIRK, R., 1999. ‘Why There Couldn’t Be Zombies’, Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society: supp. vol.. 73, 1-16
  • KIRK, R., 1999. ‘Radical Interpretation’. In: ROBERT A. WILSON AND FRANK C. KEIL, ed., The MIT Encyclopedia of the Cognitive Sciences The MIT Press. 696-697
  • KIRK, R., 1998. ‘Consciousness, Information, and External Relations’ Communication and Cognition. 30, 249-271
  • KIRK, R., 1996. ‘Why Ultra-externalism goes too far’ Analysis. 56, 73-9
  • KIRK R., 1996. ‘Physicalism Lives’ Ratio. 9, 85-9
  • KIRK, R., 1996. ‘Strict Implication, Supervenience, and Physicalism’ Australasian Journal of Philosophy. 74, 244-56
  • KIRK, R., 1996. ‘How Physicalists Can Avoid Reductionism’ Synthese. 108, 157-170
  • KIRK, R., 1996. ‘La Coscienza Animale’ iride. 17, 62-81
  • KIRK, R., 1995. ‘Wie ist Bewußtsein Möglich?’. In: THOMAS METZINGER, ed., ‘Wie ist Bewußtsein Möglich?’ Bewußtsein: Beiträge aus der Gegenwartsphilosophie: ‘How is Consciousness Possible?’ Schöningh. 641-662
  • KIRK, R, 1994. Raw feeling: a philosophical account of the essence of consciousness Oxford : Clarendon Press.
  • KIRK, R., 1994. ‘The Trouble with Ultra-Externalism’ Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society. 293-307
  • KIRK, R., 1993. ‘Indeterminacy of Interpretation, Idealization, and Norms’ Philosophical Studies. 70, 213-23
  • KIRK, R., 1992. ‘Consciousness and Concepts’ Aristotelian Society Proceedings, Supplementary Volume. 66, 23-40
  • KIRK, R, 1986. Translation determined Oxford : Clarendon.
  • KIRK, R., 1986. ‘Mental Machinery and Gödel’ Synthese. 66, 437-52
  • KIRK, R., 1986. ‘Sentience, Causation and Some Robots’ Australasian Journal of Philosophy. 64, 306-19
  • KIRK, R., 1985. ‘Davidson and Indeterminacy of Translation’ Analysis. 45, 20-24
  • KIRK, R., 1983. ‘Quinean Indeterminacy and Forcing’ Erkenntnis. 20, 213-18
  • KIRK, R., 1982. ‘On Three Alleged Rivals to Homophonic Translation’ Philosophical Studies. 42, 409-18
  • KIRK, R., 1982. ‘Physicalism, Identity and Strict Implication’ Ratio. 24, 131-41
  • KIRK, R., 1981. ‘Goodbye to Transposed Qualia’ Aristotelian Society Proceedings. 82, 33-44
  • KIRK, R., 1979. ‘From Physical Explicability to Full-Blooded Materialism’ Philosophical Quarterly. 29, 229-37
  • KIRK, R., 1977. ‘Reply to Don Locke on Zombies and Materialism’ Mind. 86, 262-4
  • KIRK, R., 1974. ‘Sentience and Behaviour’ Mind. 83, 43-60
  • KIRK, R., 1974. ‘Zombies v. Materialists’ Aristotelian Society Proceedings, Supp. Vol.. 48, 135-52
  • KIRK, R., 1973. ‘Underdetermination of Theory and Indeterminacy of Translation’ Analysis. 33, 195-202
  • KIRK, R., 1971. ‘Armstrong’s Analogue of Introspection’ Philosophical Quarterly. 21, 158-62
  • KIRK, R., 1969. ‘Translation and Indeterminacy’ Mind. 78, 324-41
  • KIRK, R., 1969. 'Quine’s Indeterminacy Thesis' Mind. 78, 607-8
  • KIRK, R., 1967. ‘Rationality without Language’ Mind. 76, 369-86

Department of Philosophy

University of Nottingham
University Park
Nottingham, NG7 2RD

Contact us
Twitter