-
297Freedom and Determinism (edited book)Bradford. 2004.This collection of contemporary essays by prominent contemporary thinkers on the topics of determinism and free agency concentrates primarily on two areas: the compatibility problem and the metaphysics of moral responsibility. There are also essays on the related fields of determinism and action theory. The book is unique in that it contains up-to-date summaries of the life-work of five influential philosophers: John Earman, Ted Honderich, Keith Lehrer, Robert Kane, and Peter van Inwagen. There …Read more
-
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.
-
119On the nature of cross-disciplinary integration: A philosophical frameworkStudies in History and Philosophy of Science Part C: Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences 56 (C): 62-70. 2016.Meeting grand challenges requires responses that constructively combine multiple forms of expertise, both academic and non-academic; that is, it requires cross-disciplinary integration. But just what is cross-disciplinary integration? In this paper, we supply a preliminary answer by reviewing prominent accounts of cross-disciplinary integration from two literatures that are rarely brought together: cross-disciplinarity and philosophy of biology. Reflecting on similarities and differences in thes…Read more
-
113Action, Ethics and Responsibility: Topics in Contemporary Philosophy, Vol. 7 (edited book)MIT Press. 2010.Overview Most philosophical explorations of responsibility discuss the topic solely in terms of metaphysics and the "free will" problem. By contrast, these essays by leading philosophers view responsibility from a variety of perspectives—metaphysics, ethics, action theory, and the philosophy of law. After a broad, framing introduction by the volume's editors, the contributors consider such subjects as responsibility as it relates to the "free will" problem; the relation between responsibility an…Read more
-
112Philosophical intervention and cross-disciplinary science: the story of the Toolbox ProjectSynthese 190 (11): 1937-1954. 2013.In this article we argue that philosophy can facilitate improvement in cross-disciplinary science. In particular, we discuss in detail the Toolbox Project, an effort in applied epistemology that deploys philosophical analysis for the purpose of enhancing collaborative, cross-disciplinary scientific research through improvements in cross-disciplinary communication. We begin by sketching the scientific context within which the Toolbox Project operates, a context that features a growing interest in…Read more
-
103Causation and Explanation (edited book)Bradford. 2007.This collection of original essays on the topics of causation and explanation offers readers a state-of-the-art view of current work in these areas. The book is notable for its interdisciplinary character, and the essays, by distinguished authors and important rising scholars, will be of interest to a wide readership, including philosophers, computer scientists, and economists. Students and scholars alike will find the book valuable for its wide-ranging treatment of two difficult philosophical t…Read more
-
100Scientists’ attitudes on science and values: Case studies and survey methods in philosophy of scienceStudies in History and Philosophy of Science Part A 63 22-30. 2017.This article examines the relevance of survey data of scientists’ attitudes about science and values to case studies in philosophy of science. We describe two methodological challenges confronting such case studies: 1) small samples, and 2) potential for bias in selection, emphasis, and interpretation. Examples are given to illustrate that these challenges can arise for case studies in the science and values literature. We propose that these challenges can be mitigated through an approach in whi…Read more
-
99Time and Identity (edited book)Bradford. 2010.The concepts of time and identity seem at once unproblematic and frustratingly difficult. Time is an intricate part of our experience -- it would seem that the passage of time is a prerequisite for having any experience at all -- and yet recalcitrant questions about time remain. Is time real? Does time flow? Do past and future moments exist? Philosophers face similarly stubborn questions about identity, particularly about the persistence of identical entities through change. Indeed, questions ab…Read more
-
74Experimental Philosophy of Science and Philosophical Differences across the SciencesPhilosophy of Science 86 (3): 551-576. 2019.This paper contributes to the underdeveloped field of experimental philosophy of science. We examine variability in the philosophical views of scientists. Using data from Toolbox Dialogue Initiative, we analyze scientists’ responses to prompts on philosophical issues (methodology, confirmation, values, reality, reductionism, and motivation for scientific research) to assess variance in the philosophical views of physical scientists, life scientists, and social and behavioral scientists. We find …Read more
-
70Action, Ethics, and Responsibility (edited book)Bradford. 2010.Most philosophical explorations of responsibility discuss the topic solely in terms of metaphysics and the "free will" problem. By contrast, these essays by leading philosophers view responsibility from a variety of perspectives -- metaphysics, ethics, action theory, and the philosophy of law. After a broad, framing introduction by the volume's editors, the contributors consider such subjects as responsibility as it relates to the "free will" problem; the relation between responsibility and know…Read more
-
67Situating Semantics: Essays on the Philosophy of John Perry (edited book)MIT Press. 2005.15 Situating Semantics: A Response John Perry Introduction I am very grateful to Michael O'Rourke and Corey Washington for envisaging and putting together ...
-
56Developing a Scientific Virtue-Based Approach to Science Ethics TrainingScience and Engineering Ethics 23 (1): 243-262. 2017.Responsible conduct of research training typically includes only a subset of the issues that ought to be included in science ethics and sometimes makes ethics appear to be a set of externally imposed rules rather than something intrinsic to scientific practice. A new approach to science ethics training based upon Pennock’s notion of the scientific virtues may help avoid such problems. This paper motivates and describes three implementations—theory-centered, exemplar-centered, and concept-centere…Read more
-
55Law and social justice (edited book)MIT Press. 2005.These essays by leading scholars illustrate the complexity and range of philosophical issues raised by consideration of law and social justice. The contributors to Law and Social Justice examine such broad foundational issues as instrumentalist versus Kantian conceptions of rights as well as such specific problems as the admissibility or inadmissibility of evidence of causation in toxic tort cases. They consider a variety of subjects, including the implications of deliberative democracy for priv…Read more
-
54Reference and Referring: Topics in Contemporary Philosophy, Volume 10 (edited book)MIT Press. 2012.These fifteen original essays address the core semantic concepts of reference and referring from both philosophical and linguistic perspectives. After an introductory essay that casts current trends in reference and referring in terms of an ongoing dialogue between Fregean and Russellian approaches, the book addresses specific topics, balancing breadth of coverage with thematic unity. The contributors, all leading or emerging scholars, address trenchant neo-Fregean challenges to the direct refer…Read more
-
52In Defense of Common ContentPhilosophical Papers 29 (3): 159-188. 2000.Abstract In this essay, I critically discuss a theory of utterance content and de re communication that Anne Bezuidenhout has recently developed in a series of articles. This theory regards the significance of utterances as more pragmatic in nature than allowed by traditional accounts; further, it downplays logical considerations in explaining de re communication, choosing instead to emphasize its psychological character. Included among the implications of this approach is the rejection of what …Read more
-
50Many philosophers of language have held that a truth-conditional semantic account can explain the data motivating the distinction between referential and attributive uses of definite descriptions, but I believe this is a mistake. I argue that these data also motivate what I call “dual-aspect” uses as a distinct but closely related type. After establishing that an account of the distinction must also explain dual-aspect uses, I argue that the truth-conditional Semantic Model of the distinction ca…Read more
-
47Semantics and the Dual‐Aspect use of Definite DescriptionsPacific Philosophical Quarterly 79 (3). 1998.Many philosophers of language have held that a truth‐conditional semantic account can explain the data motivating the distinction between referential and attributive uses of definite descriptions, but I believe this is a mistake. I argue that these data also motivate what I call “dual‐aspect” uses as a distinct but closely related type. After establishing that an account of the distinction must also explain dual‐aspect uses, I argue that the truth‐conditional Semantic Model of the distinction ca…Read more
-
46Enhancing Communication & Collaboration in Interdisciplinary Research (edited book)SAGE Publications. 2013.Enhancing Communication & Collaboration in Interdisciplinary Research, edited by Michael O'Rourke, Stephen Crowley, Sanford D. Eigenbrode, and J. D. Wulfhorst, is a volume of previously unpublished, state-of-the-art chapters on interdisciplinary communication and collaboration written by leading figures and promising junior scholars in the world of interdisciplinary research, education, and administration. Designed to inform both teaching and research, this innovative book covers the spectrum o…Read more
-
43Using Bibliometrics to Support the Facilitation of Cross-Disciplinary CommunicationJournal of the American Society for Information Science 64 (9): 1768-1779. 2013.Given the importance of cross-disciplinary research, facilitating CDR effectiveness is a priority for many institutions and funding agencies. There are a number of CDR types, however, and the effectiveness of facilitation efforts will require sensitivity to that diversity. This article presents a method characterizing a spectrum of CDR designed to inform facilitation efforts that relies on bibliometric techniques and citation data. We illustrate its use by the Toolbox Project, an ongoing effort …Read more
-
42Review of Stephen Barker, Renewing Meaning: A Speech-Act Theoretic Approach (review)Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews 2005 (3). 2005.
-
40Out of the fog: Catalyzing integrative capacity in interdisciplinary researchStudies in History and Philosophy of Science Part A 56 84-94. 2016.Social studies of interdisciplinary science investigate how scientific collaborations approach complex challenges that require multiple disciplinary perspectives. In order for collaborators to meet these complex challenges, interdisciplinary collaborations must develop and maintain integrative capacity, understood as the ability to anticipate and weigh tradeoffs in the employment of different disciplinary approaches. Here we provide an account of how one group of interdisciplinary fog scientists…Read more
-
38The Production and Reinforcement of Ignorance in Collaborative Interdisciplinary ResearchSocial Epistemology 30 (5-6): 643-664. 2016.One way to articulate the promise of interdisciplinary research is in terms of the relationship between knowledge and ignorance. Disciplinary research yields deep knowledge of a circumscribed range of issues, but remains ignorant of those issues that stretch outside its purview. Because complex problems such as climate change do not respect disciplinary boundaries, disciplinary research responses to such problems are limited and partial. Interdisciplinary research responses, by contrast, integra…Read more
-
35The Environment: Philosophy, Science, and Ethics (edited book)MIT Press. 2012.Philosophical reflections on the environment began with early philosophers' invocation of a cosmology that mixed natural and supernatural phenomena. Today, the central philosophical problem posed by the environment involves not what it can teach us about ourselves and our place in the cosmic order but rather how we can understand its workings in order to make better decisions about our own conduct regarding it. The resulting inquiry spans different areas of contemporary philosophy, many of which…Read more
-
34Knowing Full Well. By Ernest Sosa. (Princeton University Press, 2011. Pp. xii + 168. Price $32.50.)Philosophical Quarterly 63 (250): 174-178. 2013.
-
33Review of Eric T. Olson, What Are We? A Study in Personal Ontology (review)Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews 2008 (3). 2008.
-
30The Need for Social Ethics in Interdisciplinary Environmental Science Graduate Programs: Results from a Nation-Wide Survey in the United StatesScience and Engineering Ethics 23 (2): 565-588. 2017.Professionals in environmental fields engage with complex problems that involve stakeholders with different values, different forms of knowledge, and contentious decisions. There is increasing recognition of the need to train graduate students in interdisciplinary environmental science programs in these issues, which we refer to as “social ethics.” A literature review revealed topics and skills that should be included in such training, as well as potential challenges and barriers. From this revi…Read more
-
28A New Method for a Virtue-Based Responsible Conduct of Research Curriculum: Pilot Test ResultsScience and Engineering Ethics 25 (3): 899-910. 2019.Drawing on Pennock’s theory of scientific virtues, we are developing an alternative curriculum for training scientists in the responsible conduct of research that emphasizes internal values rather than externally imposed rules. This approach focuses on the virtuous characteristics of scientists that lead to responsible and exemplary behavior. We have been pilot-testing one element of such a virtue-based approach to RCR training by conducting dialogue sessions, modeled upon the approach developed…Read more
-
28Coupled Ethical-Epistemic Analysis as a Tool for Environmental ScienceEthics, Policy and Environment 22 (3): 267-286. 2019.This paper presents a new model for how to jointly analyze the ethical and evidentiary dimensions of environmental science cases, with an eye toward making science more participatory and publically...
-
27Humanistic Values and the Values of Humanities in Interdisciplinary ResearchCogent Arts and Humanities 3 1123080. 2016.Research integrating the perspectives of different disciplines, or interdisciplinary research, has become increasingly common in academia and is considered important for its ability to address complex questions and problems. This mode of research aims to leverage differences among disciplines in generating a more complex understanding of the research landscape. To interact successfully with other disciplines, researchers must appreciate their differences, and this requires recognizing how the re…Read more
APA Central Division
East Lansing, Michigan, United States of America
Areas of Specialization
Philosophy, Misc |
Metaphysics and Epistemology |
Value Theory |
Science, Logic, and Mathematics |
Other Academic Areas |