Ryan Light
Philosopher -- Ph.D., metaphysics & philosophy of language
University of California at Davis
Uilleann piper
education
PhD, Philosophy, UC Davis, Winter 2025
Advisor: Cody Gilmore
MA, Philosophy, UC Davis, Spring 2019
Masters Thesis: Antisymmetry and identity in mereology
BA, Philosophy, UC Berkeley, Spring 2017
With Distinction
aos/aoc
Areas of Specialization:
Metaphysics, Ontology, and Mereology
Philosophy of Language
Areas of Competence:
Philosophy of Science
Early and Later Wittgenstein
publications
Under Review:
1. Meeting an Explanatory Challenge to Composition-as-Identity
In Progress:
1. Composition-as-Identity and the Equivalence of Nihilism and Universalism
2. Composition as a Measure of Entropy
presentations
+ talks
Conference Presentation: "Benign Collapse Theory." American Philosophical Association, 2025 Central Division Meeting
Conference Presentation: "Explanation in Relativist Approaches to Composition-as-Identity," American Philosophical Association, 2024 Central Division Meeting
Commentator: "Grounding Identity," American Philosophical Association, 2023 Central Division Meeting
Conference Presentation: "On the Applicability of ‘Simple’ and ‘Composite’ to Plural Terms," Berkeley Stanford Davis Graduate Conference in Philosophy, 2022
Commentator: "Events, Agents, and Free Will," Berkeley Stanford Davis Graduate Conference in Philosophy, 2022
honors
Summer Graduate Student Researcher Award, 2021-2022
Phi Beta Kappa 2017
affiliations
International Association for Ontology and its Applications
Lemma Reading & Research Group
(Language, Epistemology, Metaphysics, Mathematics)
Member, Spring 2018-Present
American Philosophical Association: 2021 - Present
service
Referee
Berkeley Stanford Davis Graduate Conference in Philosophy, 2025
Referee
Berkeley Stanford Davis Graduate Conference in Philosophy, 2022
Philosotea Coordinator
A weekly informal departmental social gathering where members of the department can socialize, drink some coffee, and eat some cheese, 2018 & 2019
Infrastructure Chair
Evaluates and recommends on departmental infrastructure issues, 2020 - current
TIPS Graduate Student Coordinator
Assists with overseeing and coordinating the Fall TIPS orientation and training program for new TA's, 2018 & 2020