L.A. Paul

Laurie Ann Paul (born November 10, 1966) is an American professor of philosophy and cognitive science at Yale University. She previously taught at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the University of Arizona. She is best known for her research on the counterfactual analysis of causation and the concept of "transformative experience." Born in Yellow Springs, Ohio, Paul graduated from Antioch College in 1990 with a BA in chemistry. She earned a PhD in philosophy from Princeton University in 1999, with her dissertation titled "Essays on Causation" under the supervision of David Lewis. Paul taught at Yale University from 1999 to 2001, and at the University of Arizona from 2001 until 2008, before moving to North Carolina. She has also held appointments at the Australian National University and at the University of St. Andrews. Paul's principal research interests are in metaphysics and the philosophy of mind. Her work focuses on causation, mereology, the philosophy of time, and related topics in phenomenology, the philosophy of science, and philosophy of language. Her work in ontology and mereology develops a distinctive view of objects as fusions of property instances. Her article "What You Can't Expect When You're Expecting" develops the notion of transformative experience and explores its consequences for the possibility of rational decision-making. She is the editor of "Causation and Counterfactuals," co-author of "Causation: A User's Guide," and author of "Transformative Experience." Paul was awarded a fellowship by the Australian National University's Institute for Advanced Study Research from 2001-06. In 2011, she received a fellowship from the National Humanities Center. In 2014, Paul received a grant from the John Templeton Foundation to study religious and transformative experience, and a fellowship from the Guggenheim Foundation. Paul has two children with sociologist Kieran Healy, from whom she is divorced.