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652Anchoring in Ecosystemic KindsSynthese 195 (4): 1487-1508. 2018.The world contains many different types of ecosystems. This is something of a commonplace in biology and conservation science. But there has been little attention to the question of whether such ecosystem types enjoy a degree of objectivity—whether they might be natural kinds. I argue that traditional accounts of natural kinds that emphasize nomic or causal–mechanistic dimensions of “kindhood” are ill-equipped to accommodate presumptive ecosystemic kinds. In particular, unlike many other kinds, …Read more
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271Carving nature at its joints: natural kinds in metaphysics and science (edited book)MIT Press. 2011.Are there natural kinds of things around which our theories cut? The essays in this volume offer reflections by a distinguished group of philosophers on a series of intertwined issues in the metaphysics and epistemology of classification.
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600Natural KindnessBritish Journal for the Philosophy of Science 66 (2): 375-411. 2015.Philosophers have long been interested in a series of interrelated questions about natural kinds. What are they? What role do they play in science and metaphysics? How do they contribute to our epistemic projects? What categories count as natural kinds? And so on. Owing, perhaps, to different starting points and emphases, we now have at hand a variety of conceptions of natural kinds—some apparently better suited than others to accommodate a particular sort of inquiry. Even if coherent, this situ…Read more
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36How to Justify Teaching False ScienceScience Education 92 (3): 526-542. 2008.We often knowingly teach false science. Such a practice conflicts with a prima facie pedagogical value placed on teaching only what’s true. I argue that only a partial dissolution of the conflict is possible: the proper aim of instruction in science is not to provide an armory of facts about what things the world contains, how they interact, and so on, but rather to contribute to an understanding of how science as a human endeavor works and what sorts of facts about the world science aims to pro…Read more
Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, United States of America
Areas of Specialization
General Philosophy of Science |
Social Epistemology |
Philosophy of Biology |
Metaphysics |