I started my academic career with applied mathematics and obtained my bachelor’s degree in 2009. My inquiry, however, was overwhelmed by a number of unanswered question concerning some deeper aspects of things. Therefore, I started a master’s program in Philosophy of Science on 2013, after a period of independent research, and obtained my degree three years later. I also dedicated another year for converting my thesis to the form of a book and publishing a paper based on that thesis. My thesis was concerned with Fictionalism and, more specifically, with the kind of reading associated with Stephen Yablo (professor of philosophy at MIT) in his first book “Thoughts”. Within those ideas, my philosophical interests are meaning, modality, and mind. I am, also, deeply interested in AI (Artificial Intelligence) and the potential contribution that a philosophical account of mind can make to it.
I started my second master’s program at Concordia university in the department of philosophy on September 2019. My present research is concerned with “Concepts” with a focus on empirical evidence from psychology. I believe that a good account of concepts can contribute hugely, not only to the philosophy of mind, but also to AI research, among a variety of disciplines. My intention, is to get closer to a philosophical account of concepts that can be used for ameliorating machine learning. When we arrive at a better account on how concepts are acquired and stored in the mind, or how they are mixed together to produce new ones, we will, I would say, be in the position to make computers which are closer to the still-unfulfilled dream of “thinking machines”, inspired by Alan Turing. He has been a great source of inspiration for me in many respects.
Publications:
AriaAmjad, K. (2019). Figuralism about possible worlds semantics: An inquiry into the origins of ontological criticism and Yablo’s version of Fictionalism as a solution. The Journal of Analytic Philosophy, Article 1, Volume 21, Issue 34 – Serial Number 433, Winter and Spring 2019, pp. 5-38. Tehran: Iran.
AriaAmjad, K. (Trans.) (2018). “Andishégān”. The Persian Translation of the first half of “Thoughts” by Stephen Yablo. Under review by Hekmat Publications. Tehran: Iran
Web Page:
https://independent.academia.edu/KhashayarAriaAmjad