This story is part of a series that profiles new faculty members to the College of Letters & Science.
Farid Masrour, assistant professor of philosophy, was a practicing medical doctor in Iran before switching careers.
A former Mind, Brain, Behavior Fellow at Harvard University, Masrour reveals a keen eye and ear for the particulars of his surroundings. Madison, he says, "is a very beautiful city."
We asked Masrour about his career path, philosophical inspirations and his hopes for his time at UW-Madison.
Q: How would you describe your area of philosophy?
A: I am interested in the nature of sensory experiences: seeing, hearing and touching. How are we able to have a sensory experience? Do we need to have any prior knowledge of the environment? Does the brain form a representation that enables us to have experience? If so, what does it look like? Do our beliefs, hopes and desires influence our sensory experience of the world?
Q: What is the story behind your career switch?
A: I grew up during the early years after the Islamic revolution in Iran. The country was under economic embargo, and many middle class families put pressure on their kids to pursue degrees that would get them good-paying jobs. So I entered medical school. Soon after, I developed a serious interest in everything related to the mind — not only neural sciences but also philosophy. I became very interested in the debate sparked by philosophers Thomas Nagel and David Chalmers, who argued that consciousness could not be explained in scientific terms. I wrote a paper on the topic and began a two-year correspondence with Chalmers, which influenced me to leave medicine, move from Iran to the U.S., and pursue a doctorate in philosophy at the University of Arizona under Chalmers' supervision.
Q: How does your medical training inform what you study?
A: I'm familiar with the fundamentals of cognitive science and can understand its technical language. What we have learned from the empirical sciences of perception has implications for the core issues in philosophy of perception.
Q: Which philosopher holds particular interest for you?
A: Kant is my favorite philosopher of the early modern period (1500 – 1800). When it comes to the relationship between mind and world, philosophers have often oscillated between two poles. One is the realist view that the world is completely independent of our minds and our ways of coming to know about it. The other is the idealist view that the world is somehow a collection of human ideas, concepts or impressions. Kant articulates and defends a middle position which is very attractive to me.
Q: How have you been influenced by the world?
A: After leaving Iran, I lived in Tucson, Ariz., Berkeley, Calif., New York, Cambridge, Mass., Canberra, Australia, and for a few months in Paris and Rome. Tucson is a city of clear, uninterrupted skies and generous spaces. The landscape directed one's attention inward. This was in stark contrast to Tehran, an overcrowded city where you could walk for hours surrounded by people (like Manhattan, where I always felt at home). Paris is the city of small pleasant routines: croissants for breakfast from the local bakery, walking to work. In Madison, I love the way the semi-urban spaces are combined with nature.
I'm a people-watcher. In Tehran you observe people on the bus, in Rome by a fountain in the piazza. I've yet to discover the best place for that in Madison; perhaps Memorial Union Terrace or State Street.
Q: What are you looking forward to here?
A: Working with my superb colleagues in philosophy, psychology and neural sciences, as well as the many graduate students whose topics interest me. I'm excited about the opportunity to collaborate with [Assistant Professor of Psychology] Gary Lupyan, whom I knew before coming to Madison, and would like to learn more about [Assistant Professor of Psychology] Bas Rokers' work in his perception lab.
Q: What do you like to do outside of work?
A: I like to spend time with my wife Giuliana and my 1-year-old son, Elia. I like to cook, make things with wood, commute to work on my bike and I love birch trees.