Professor
Ph.D., Ohio State University
Areas of Interest: Philosophy of Science, Metaphysics, Philosophy of Mind, Philosophy of Mathematics
Personal Homepage: https://blog.metu.edu.tr/esayan/
In Memoriam
We are extremely saddened to hear of the passing of our colleague and friend Erdinç Sayan. Professor Sayan received his undergraduate degree from the Industrial Engineering Department of the Middle East Technical University, Ankara, Turkey. He received his Ph.D. in philosophy from the Ohio State University in 1994. He was a faculty member in the Department of Philosophy at the Middle East Technical University until his retirement in 2015. His research was primary focused on philosophy of science, philosophy of mind, analytic metaphysics (especially the problems of causation, space, time, motion, personal identity) and philosophy of mathematics.
Sample publications
Sayan, E. (2020). “A More Devastating Version of the Raven Paradox,” Think. 19, pp. 21-24
Sayan, E. (forthcoming). “Logical and Nomological Obstacles to Foreknowledge of the Future,” Principia: An International Journal of Epistemology. (With Hasan Çağatay)
Sayan, E. (forthcoming). “The Alleged Importance of Dialectical Materialism for Science in Soviet Marxism,” Dialogue and Universalism.
Sayan, E. (2019). “Casting a Shadow on Lewis’s Theory of Causation,” Organon F, 26, pp.287-297.
Sayan, E. (2012). “A Philosophical Assessment of Computational Models of Consciousness,” Cognitive Systems Research, 17-18, pp.49-62. (With S. Elif Gök)
Sayan, E. (2012). “Fodor on Causes of Mentalese Symbols,” Organon F, 19, pp.3-15. (With Tevfik Aytekin)
Sayan, E. (2010). “Misrepresentation and Robustness of Meaning,” Organon F, 17, pp.21-38. (With Tevfik Aytekin)
Sayan, E. (2007). “Settling Rational Disputes—A Dead End?” in Steven Voss, Berna Kılınç, and Gürol Irzık (eds.), Logic and Philosophy of the Sciences (The Proceedings of the Twenty-First World Congress of Philosophy, Vol. 5) (Ankara: Philosophical Society of Turkey), pp.3-12.
Sayan, E. (2005). “Idealizations and Approximations in Science, and the Bayesian Theory of Confirmation,” in Gürol Irzık and Güven Güzeldere (eds.), Turkish Studies in the History and Philosophy of Science (Boston Studies in the Philosophy of Science, Vol.: 244) (Dordrecht: Springer), pp.103-112.
Sayan, E. (1996). “A Mereological Look at Motion,” Philosophical Studies, 84, pp.75-89.
Sayan, E. (1987-88). “A Closer Look at the Chinese Nation Argument,” Philosophy Research Archives, 13, pp.129-136.