Colin McGinn

Colin McGinn, born 10 March 1950, is a British philosopher who has held teaching posts and professorships at University College London, the University of Oxford, Rutgers University and the University of Miami; he is best known for his work in philosophy of mind, particularly for what is known as new mysterianism, the idea that the human mind is not equipped to solve the problem of consciousness, and has written over twenty books in this and other areas of philosophy, including The Character of Mind of 1982, The Problem of Consciousness of 1991, Consciousness and Its Objects of 2004 and The Meaning of Disgust of 2011. In 2013 McGinn resigned from his tenured position at the University of Miami after a graduate student accused him of sexual harassment, and his resignation touched off a debate about the prevalence of sexism and sexual harassment within academic philosophy.