Chris Drain
Lecturer
Appointments
Lecturer
Biography
I was trained in both analytic and continental philosophy, though I came to specialize in 20th century Soviet philosophical psychology. I generally work on the relevance of psychologist L.S. Vygotsky for contemporary accounts of "distributed cognition," and what that might mean for questions concerning human cognitive origins. My research lately deals with the work of comparative psychologist Michael Tomasello and his "Vygotskian Intelligence Hypothesis." I'm also interested in the philosophy of technology, especially as it intersects with certain transhumanist programs.
Education
B.A. University of California, Berkeley
M.A. Boston College
M.A. Villanova University
Ph.D. Villanova University
Publications
Revolution and transformation: Vygotsky, eudaimonia, and the social essence of (trans)human development. In A. Malapi-Nelson & G. Theiner (Eds.), Technologies of the future self: An ethics of transhuman flourishing. Springer. (Forthcoming)
Technics and signs: Anthropogenesis in Vygotsky, Leroi-Gourhan, and Stiegler. History and Philosophy of the Life Sciences, 44(3): 53. (2022).
Review of the book Proto-phenomenology, language acquisition, orality, and literacy: Dwelling in speech II, by L.J. Hatab. Phenomenology and the Cognitive Sciences, 21:469–476. (2022).
Tomasello, Vygotsky, and the phylogenesis of mind: A reply to Kyrill Potapov's "Objectification and the labour of the negative in the origin of human thinking." Social Epistemology Review and Reply Collective, 10(6): 26-35. (2021).
Cognition, activity, and content: A.N. Leontiev and the enactive origin of ideal reflective content. Epistemology & Philosophy of Science, 55(2): 106-121. (2018)
What's the matter with cognition? A 'Vygotskian' perspective on material engagement theory (co-authored with Georg Theiner). Phenomenology and the Cognitive Sciences, 16(5): 837-862. (2017)
Situated cognition, smartphones, and technological reflexivity: Perception, apperception, and action (co-authored with Richard Charles Strong). In F. Scalambrino (Ed.), Social epistemology and technology (pp. 187-195). Rowman & Littlefield. (2016)
Works in Progress
I'm currently thinking about the relationship between epistemic bubbles and echo chambers.
Contact