Professor Gabriel Segal is an academic philosopher, cognitive scientist and an author.

Background and education

Gabriel Mark Aurel Segal was born in the UK in 1959, and is the son of psychoanalyst

Hanna Segal Hanna Segal (born Hanna Poznańska; 20 August 1918 – 5 July 2011) was a British psychoanalyst of Polish descent and a follower of Melanie Klein. She was president of the British Psychoanalytical Society, vice-president of the International Psych ...

and brother of mathematician

Dan Segal Daniel Segal (born 1947) is a British mathematician and a Professor of Mathematics at the University of Oxford. He specialises in algebra and group theory. He studied at Peterhouse, Cambridge, before taking a PhD at Queen Mary College, Univers ...

.Hanna Segal, Who Popularized Play Therapy, Dies at 92
'New York Times'' 1 August 2011 Segal was educated at

University College London , mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £143 million (2020) , budget = ...

, where he received a BA in Philosophy with First Class Honours in 1981. Later he studied for his B. Phil. at the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

graduating in 1983 with an overall distinction,Author Information
/ref> and winning the John Locke Prize in Mental Philosophy. Finally, Segal received his PhD in Philosophy from

MIT The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the mo ...

in 1987, supervised by

Ned Block Ned Joel Block (born 1942) is an American philosopher working in philosophy of mind who has made important contributions to the understanding of consciousness and the philosophy of cognitive science. He has been professor of philosophy and psych ...

and

Noam Chomsky Avram Noam Chomsky (born December 7, 1928) is an American public intellectual: a linguist, philosopher, cognitive scientist, historian, social critic, and political activist. Sometimes called "the father of modern linguistics", Chomsky is ...

Academic career

Segal's first teaching appointment was at the

University of Wisconsin-Madison A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, the ...

, after which he accepted a lectureship at King's in 1989. Segal has been lecturer, reader and professor of philosophy

King's College London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public research university located in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of King George IV and the Duke of Wellington. In 1836, King's ...

. He served as Head of Department Dear Derrida
'The Guardian'' 3 November 2005 and has been named Professor Emeritus.

Publications

Segal has published extensively on cognitive science,

philosophy of mind Philosophy of mind is a branch of philosophy that studies the ontology and nature of the mind and its relationship with the body. The mind–body problem is a paradigmatic issue in philosophy of mind, although a number of other issues are addre ...

and psychology, and

philosophy of language In analytic philosophy, philosophy of language investigates the nature of language and the relations between language, language users, and the world. Investigations may include inquiry into the nature of meaning, intentionality, reference, ...

and linguistics
�� ‘ResearchGate’. His work has appeared in academic journals, reviews, books and as individual papers
'KCL Publication List He co-authored ''Knowledge of Meaning: An Introduction to Semantic Theory'' with Richard Larson in 1995 (). Segal also authored ''A Slim Book about Narrow Content'', which was published in 2000 () and ''Twelve Steps To Psychological Good Health and Serenity - A Guide'', published in 2013 () with a second edition released in 2017 (). In the latter, Segal makes AA's traditional twelve-step program accessible to non-addicts as a psycho-behavioural tool for stress-management and peace of mind. In September 2016, Segal co-edited ''Addiction and Choice: Rethinking the Relationship'' () with Nick Heather. The book was listed as "Highly Commended" in the category of Public Health at the BMA Book Awards 2017. Published by

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...

, the 25-chapter book provides a multidisciplinary perspective on the relationship between addiction and choice from various fields, including philosophy, neuroscience, psychiatry, psychology and the law.''Addiction and Choice summary, author and chapter list''
/ref> Segal's chapters include "20: How an Addict's Power of Choice is Lost and can be Regained" in which he offers a neuro-scientific defence of Twelve-step programs and "24: Ambiguous terms and false dichotomies" in which he defends the

disease model of addiction The disease model of addiction describes an addiction as a disease with biological, neurological, genetic, and environmental sources of origin. The traditional medical model of disease requires only that an abnormal condition be present that cause ...

. Segal appears as a regular panellist on the internet project AskPhilosophers, a question and answer website about philosophical issues. In one instance, a reader posed the question to the project: "Are there arguments against gay marriage that are not religious, bigoted or both?" Segal replied: "There are no good arguments meeting that description.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Segal, Gabriel 1959 births Living people Alumni of University College London Academics of King's College London Alumni of the University of Oxford English philosophers MIT School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences alumni