Karen R. Zwier

I hold a Ph.D. in History and Philosophy of Science from the University of Pittsburgh and am currently a lecturer in the department of Philosophy and Religious Studies at Iowa State University. I have broad research interests in philosophical and scientific methodology as well as metaphysics of science. My research is largely concerned with questions about how—and if—metaphysical claims are engaged by empirical scientific methods. Some of my specific areas of research include philosophy of causation, history and philosophy of physics and chemistry, ancient philosophy of nature, and science and religion. In all of the philosophical questions that I address in my work, I attempt to integrate ideas from the history of philosophy and cases from the history of science into my treatment.