WELCOME
As a philosophy professor, I investigate the structure, dynamics, and functions of scientific theories and models. How do models about cognition and climate change influence technology, and how is that technology used? What is the historical and normative context of evolutionary and psychological theories, and how are these theories used, perhaps illegitimately, to draw conclusions about race, sex/gender, and intelligence? I have lectured and published on a wide variety of topics in philosophy of science as well as on science more generally.
Here are my areas of interest: philosophy of science, philosophy of biology, philosophy of cartography, political philosophy, ethics, metaphysics and epistemology, philosophy of mind and cognitive science, philosophy of mathematics, philosophy of the social sciences, Pragmatism, History of Philosophy of Science (HOPOS), Kant, post-structuralism, Latin American Philosophy.
1. Education and Appointments?
- Stanford University: Department of Philosophy (B.A., Masters)
- Indiana University: Department of Biology (Masters); Department of History and Philosophy of Science (PhD); Department of Mathematics (Minor)
- University of California, Santa Cruz: Associate Professor; Department of Philosophy (2007 - Current)
- UNAM, Mexico City: Instituto de Investigaciones Filosóficas (2003-2007)
- Niels Bohr Institute: Center for the Philosophy of Nature and Science Studies; Center for Models of Life (Guest Researcher, 2009-2011).
2. Professional Service?
- "History and Philosophy of Biology" Book Series Editor, Pickering & Chatto Publishers (London)
- "Genomics and Philosophy of Race: Philosophy in a Multicultural Context" Research Cluster (UC Berkeley, UC Davis, UC San Diego, UC Santa Cruz, Stanford University, University of San Francisco), Principal Investigator.
- Reviewer for 25+ journals, publishers, and funding agencies.
3. General research content?
- Abstraction-Reification
- What is the relation between the concrete (e.g., reality, material technology, and the body) and the abstract (e.g., theory, functional design, and consciousness)?
- When and how do we universalize, narrow, and ontologize our scientific abstraction? (William James called this "vicious abstractionism")
- Pluralism
- Which categories of scientific research exist in a plurality of ways?
- (c) micro-research groups (e.g., "the Wade lab")
4. Current specific projects?
+Pragmatic aspects of models and modeling:
- (i) mathematical models (especially in genomics, climate studies, and physics)
- (ii) diagrammatic models (especially of biological mechanisms, and "Tree of life" vs. "Network of life")
- (iii) narrative models (especially in Evo-Devo)
+ Assumption Archaeology of the practices, theories, and ontologies of these fields:
- (i) the genomics of "race" (Wir sind alle Afrikaner)
- (ii) network science
- (iii) consciousness studies
+ Prediction and hypothesis testing (frequentist & Bayesian) as stringent and probative empirical methodologies
5. Other intellectual interests? Physics, psychology, literature and poetry, art, architecture, and the study of multiculturalism.
6. Languages? I speak Danish, English, and Spanish. Perhaps one day my French, German, and Latin will improve.
7. Other personal webpages?
Check out the rest of my webpage, if you are interested. Please send me your feedback.
Neues Museum, Berlin, 2010.
Photo courtesy of
Ola Jakup Joensen, Niels Bohr Institute
UPCOMING TALKS AND CONFERENCES
ISHPSSB, July 8-10 2015.
Conference:
Pictures & Proofs, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC, March 19-21
with David Teira
Conference:
@ Erasmus University, Rotterdam, Nov. 21, 2014
"The Structure of Scientific Theories,"
IHPST,
University of Toronto,
June 27, 2014
(poster)
IIF, UNAM, Mexico City, May 20, 2014
Conference:"Genomics and Philosophy of Race"
Kresge College, UC Santa Cruz, April 12-13, 2014.
Organizer
Stanford, CA
PUBLIC LECTURES gladly given
Please contact me @
Short Essay
Deductive vs.
synthetic styles of thinking, in science and in everyday life.
RASMUS GRØNFELDT WINTHER
(University of Chicago Press, book under contract).
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