Diane O'Leary
Diane’s research sits in the overlap between philosophy of medicine and philosophy of mind in an area that might be called “applied philosophy of mind”.
At Pittsburgh Diane is developing a book that, first, pins down confusions in medicine’s use of philosophical mind-body terms since the 1970s. Second, it examines how these confusions play out in ways that undermine medicine’s clinical and ethical success. Third, the book presents a philosophically sound alternative to medicine’s working picture of mind, suggesting that medicine’s clinical and ethical goals can only be accomplished through a form of medical science that recognizes consciousness as a fundamental feature of reality.
When she’s not working, Diane is generally thinking about work. She loves music, poetry and nature’s driving penchant for mimicry.
“The value of consciousness in medicine”, forthcoming in Oxford Studies in Philosophy of Mind.
“Medicine’s metaphysical morass: How confusion about dualism threatens public health”, forthcoming in Synthese.
“Why bioethics should be concerned with medically unexplained symptoms”. American Journal of Bioethics, Volume 18, Number 5 (2018): 6-15.