About Me

I am a postdoctoral fellow in clinical ethics at The University of Texas, MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. I work mainly in the philosophy of mind, philosophy of the psychological, cognitive & brain sciences, and biomedical ethics.

Specifically, I work on questions to do with decision-making, autonomy, and consciousness. My approach is largely empirical and much of my focus in on recent work in cognitive neuroscience and experimental psychology.

Before coming to MD Anderson, Cancer Center I earned a PhD in Philosophy from the University of Maryland, College Park. My thesis was about the representational theory of perception. Prior to that I earned an MA in Philosophy from San Francisco State University and a BA, with a double major in Psychology and Philosophy, from the University of Massachusetts, Boston.

I also have a passion for teaching. As a first-generation college student, I encourage my students to see the value of philosophy.

My email is chrismasciari@gmail.com

Here is a CV

Also, I am on PhilPeople and LinkedIn

Publications

• Motivational Barriers to Care and the Ethics of Encouragement

American Journal of Bioethics Neuroscience (2025)

Published Version

• Telehealth as a Window into the Future: Ethical Lessons for AI in Healthcare (with Amitabha Palmer)

Ethics and Medical Technology (in press)

Email for Copy

• The Bounds of Experience: Representationalism and the Laws of Appearance

Journal of Consciousness Studies (2025)

Published Version

• The Evolving Landscape of Ethics in Oncology: A Journey Through the Past, Present, and Future (with Nico Nortje, Amitabha Palmer, Gavin Enck, Joyce Neumann, and Colleen Gallagher)

ASCO Educational Book (2024)

Published Version

• Treatment-Resistant Psychiatric Conditions and the Ethics of Psychiatric Physician-Aid-in-Dying (with Joey Jebari and Em Walsh)

American Journal of Bioethics Neuroscience (2024)

Published Version

• Subpersonal Introspection (with Peter Carruthers)

Journal of Consciousness Studies (2023)

Published Version

• Stop and Smell the What? Two Kinds of Olfactory Representation

Synthese (2022)

Published Version

• Additional resources for sparse theories of phenomenal consciousness

Journal of Consciousness Studies (2021)

Published Version

• Perceptual awareness or phenomenal consciousness? A dilemma (with Peter Carruthers)

Biology & Philosophy (2021)

Published Version

• What explains the “hard” problem of consciousness? (with Peter Carruthers)

Cognitive Neuropsychology (2020)

Published Version

Teaching

• Philosophy 220: Bioethics: Regulating Right and Wrong (UMD, Spring 2023)

• Philosophy 100: Introduction to Philosophy (UMD, Winter 2022)

• Philosophy 310: Ancient Philosophy (UMD, Fall 2022)

• Philosophy 220: Bioethics: Regulating Right and Wrong (UMD, Spring 2022)

• Philosophy 309T: Understanding Perception (UMD, Fall 2021)

• Philosophy 220: Bioethics: Regulating Right and Wrong (UMD, Summer 2021)

• Philosophy 100: Introduction to Philosophy (UMD, Summer 2020)

• Philosophy 170: Introduction to Logic (UMD, Summer 2019)

• Philosophy 101: Introduction to Philosophy (SFSU, Fall 2015)

• Philosophy 110: Introduction to Critical Thinking (SFSU, Spring 2015)