The Self as Story: Narrative Identity and Its Discontents
We tell ourselves we are the authors of our lives. But the neuroscience of memory suggests the narrator is unreliable — and perhaps always …
Read more →Scholar · Author · Educator
Dr. Nishanth K S
Professor of Cognitive Science & Philosophy of Mind
Massachusetts Institute of Technology · Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences
I study how subjective experience arises from physical processes — and what the answer implies for consciousness, artificial minds, and moral status. My work bridges analytic philosophy, empirical neuroscience, and the ethics of emerging technology.
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Research
Areas of inquiry
My work spans several intertwined research programs, each asking a version of the same question from a different angle.
Philosophy of Consciousness
Exploring the hard problem — why physical states give rise to subjective experience.
AI Minds & Moral Status
When, if ever, would an artificial system deserve moral consideration?
Cognitive Neuroscience of Self
How the brain constructs a sense of self across time.
Ethics of Mind Technology
Examining the ethical terrain when we alter the mind deliberately and irreversibly.
History of Philosophy of Mind
Tracing how Descartes, Hume, James, and Husserl grappled with consciousness.
Public Philosophy
Writing for general audiences and advising on AI consciousness policy.
Publications
Featured work
Selected from 12 publications. Full list on the publications page.
2024
Conference on AI and Society (CAIS 2024), Berlin
2021
In K. Lee (Ed.), Ethics of Emerging Technologies. Oxford University Press
2017
MIT Press · 278 pp.
Blog
Latest writing
Longer reflections on consciousness, technology, and the philosophy of everyday mental life.
Qualia and the Redness of Red
The problem of qualia — why there is something it is like to see red — remains the hardest knot in the philosophy of mind. I examine why …
Read more →Free Will in an Age of Neuroscience
Benjamin Libet’s experiments suggested that unconscious brain activity precedes conscious decisions. Decades later, the implications …
Read more →Contact
Get in touch
I welcome correspondence from researchers, students, journalists, and anyone curious about philosophy of mind. I try to respond to all email, though it may take a few weeks during the semester.
Email
evoss@mit.edu
Office
Building 46, Room 4053 · Cambridge, MA 02139
Office Hours
Tuesdays 2–4 pm & by appointment
Phone
+1 (617) 253-0000