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Inferring causation in epidemiology: mechanisms, black boxes, and contrastsIn Phyllis McKay Illari Federica Russo (ed.), Causality in the Sciences, Oxford University Press. pp. 45--69. 2011.This chapter explores the idea that causal inference is warranted if and only if the mechanism underlying the inferred causal association is identified. This mechanistic stance is discernible in the epidemiological literature, and in the strategies adopted by epidemiologists seeking to establish causal hypotheses. But the exact opposite methodology is also discernible, the black box stance, which asserts that epidemiologists can and should make causal inferences on the basis of their evidence, w…Read more
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The Mechanisms of EmergenceIn João L. Cordovil, Gil Santos & Davide Vecchi (eds.), New Mechanism Explanation, Emergence and Reduction, Springer. pp. 213-234. 2023.Emergentism is often imagined to be opposed to mechanism. If some phenomenon admits of mechanistic explanation, it is thought to be ipso facto not emergent. In this paper I argue to the contrary that emergence requires mechanism. Whenever some emergent phenomenon occurs, there is a mechanism responsible for its emergence. To make this case I show how mechanisms can explain four commonly held characteristics of emergent phenomena – dependence, autonomy, novelty and holism. By looking at the vario…Read more
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Wondering and Epistemic DesiresPhilosophical Quarterly. forthcoming.This paper explores the relationship between the questioning attitude of wondering and a class of attitudes I call 'epistemic desires'. Broadly, these are desires to improve one's epistemic position on some question. A common example is the attitude of wanting to know the answer to some question. I argue that one can have any kind of epistemic desire towards any question, Q, without necessarily wondering Q, but not conversely. That is, one cannot wonder Q without having at least some epistemic d…Read more
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Appearance and reality: Einstein and the early debate on the reality of length contractionEuropean Journal for Philosophy of Science 13 (4): 1-30. 2023.In 1909, Ehrenfest published a note in the Physikalische Zeitschrift showing that a Born rigid cylinder could not be set into rotation without stresses, as elements of the circumference would be contracted but not the radius. Ignatowski and Varićak challenged Ehrenfest’s result in the same journal, arguing that the stresses would emerge if length contraction were a real dynamical effect, as in Lorentz’s theory. However, no stresses are expected to arise, according to Einstein’s theory, where len…Read more
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A new concept of replicationInquiry: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Philosophy. forthcoming.The replication crisis has spawned discussions on the meaning of replication. In fact, in order to determine whether an experiment fails to replicate, it is necessary to establish what replication is. This is, however, a difficult task, as it is possible to attribute different meanings to it. This paper offers a solution to this problem of ambiguity by engineering a concept of replication that, if compared to other proposals, stands out for being not only broadly applicable but also sufficiently…Read more
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Three arguments for wave function realismEuropean Journal for Philosophy of Science 13 (4): 1-18. 2023.
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Why do the Laws Support Counterfactuals?Erkenntnis 87 (2): 545-566. 2020.This paper aims to explain why the laws of nature are held fixed in counterfactual reasoning. I begin by highlighting three salient features of counterfactual reasoning: it is conservative, nomically guided, and it uses hindsight. I then present a rationale for our engagement in counterfactual reasoning that aims to make sense of these features. In particular, I argue that counterfactual reasoning helps us evaluate the evidential relations between unanticipated pieces of evidence and various hyp…Read more
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In defense of really statistical explanationsSynthese 200 (5): 1-15. 2022.According to Lange,?Really Statistical explanations? constitute an important kind of non-causalscientific explanation. However, Roski has argued that all alleged RS explanations are either causalexplanations or not explanations at all. In so arguing, Roski has invoked Kahneman?s interpretation of onealleged RS explanation. I employ Roski?s arguments as an opportunity to elaborate and defend RS explanations. Iargue that?RS explanations? genuinely explain rather than deny the presuppositions of wh…Read more
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Particles, fields, and the measurement of electron spinSynthese 198 (12): 11943-11975. 2020.This article compares treatments of the Stern–Gerlach experiment across different physical theories, building up to a novel analysis of electron spin measurement in the context of classical Dirac field theory. Modeling the electron as a classical rigid body or point particle, we can explain why the entire electron is always found at just one location on the detector but we cannot explain why there are only two locations where the electron is ever found. Using non-relativistic or relativistic qua…Read more
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Second Philosophy and Testimonial Reliability: Philosophy of Science for STEM StudentsEuropean Journal for Philosophy of Science (3): 1-15. 2021.In this paper, I describe some strategies for teaching an introductory philosophy of science course to Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) students, with reference to my own experience teaching a philosophy of science course in the Fall of 2020. The most important strategy that I advocate is what I call the “Second Philosophy” approach, according to which instructors ought to emphasize that the problems that concern philosophers of science are not manufactured and imposed by…Read more
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Wave-functionalismSynthese 199 (5-6): 12271-12293. 2021.
University of Lausanne
PhD, 2017
APA Western Division
Cairo, Egypt
Areas of Specialization
Philosophy of Physical Science |
Metaphysics |
Epistemology |
General Philosophy of Science |
Areas of Interest
Philosophy of Mind |
Philosophy of Mathematics |
Ancient Greek and Roman Philosophy |