University of Exeter
Department of Sociology, Philosophy and Anthropology
PhD, 2012
Geneva, Switzerland
  •  80
    On the genealogy of concepts and experimental practices: Rethinking Georges Canguilhem’s historical epistemology
    Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part A 1 (1): 112-123. 2012.
    The importance given by historian and philosopher of science Georges Canguilhem to the role of practice, techniques, and experimentation in concept-formation was largely overlooked by commentators. After placing Canguilhem’s contributions within the larger history of historical epistemology in France, and clarifying his views regarding this expression, I re-evaluate the relation between concepts and experimental practices in Canguilhem’s philosophy of science. Drawing on his early writings on th…Read more
  •  44
    Research traditions and evolutionary explanations in medicine
    Theoretical Medicine and Bioethics 32 (1): 75-90. 2011.
    In this article, I argue that distinguishing ‘evolutionary’ from ‘Darwinian’ medicine will help us assess the variety of roles that evolutionary explanations can play in a number of medical contexts. Because the boundaries of evolutionary and Darwinian medicine overlap to some extent, however, they are best described as distinct ‘research traditions’ rather than as competing paradigms. But while evolu- tionary medicine does not stand out as a new scientific field of its own, Darwinian medicine i…Read more
  •  44
    Rethinking the Body and Its Boundaries
    with Leigh E. Rich and Michael A. Ashby
    Journal of Bioethical Inquiry 9 (1): 1-6. 2012.
    Rethinking the Body and Its Boundaries Content Type Journal Article Category Editorial Pages 1-6 DOI 10.1007/s11673-011-9353-8 Authors Leigh E. Rich, Department of Health Sciences (Public Health), Armstrong Atlantic State University, 11935 Abercorn Street, Savannah, GA 31419, USA Michael A. Ashby, Palliative Care and Persistent Pain Services, Royal Hobart, Hospital, Southern Tasmania Area Health Service, and School of Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Tasmania, 1st Floor, Peaco…Read more
  •  34
    Frederick Griffith was an English bacteriologist at the Pathological Laboratory of the Ministry of Health in London who believed that progress in the epidemiology and control of infectious diseases would come only with more precise knowledge of the identity of the causative microorganisms. Over the years, Griffith developed and expanded a serological technique for identifying pathogenic microorganisms, which allowed the tracing of the sources of infectious disease outbreaks: slide agglutination.…Read more
  •  27
    Just like atomic physics seventy years ago, when it was realized that chain reaction could lead to medical applications as well as to the creation of atomic weapons, the life sciences have entered a grey zone. “Advances in biotechnology […]” a 2003 CIA document stated, “have the potential to create a much more dangerous biological warfare threat […] Engineered biological agents could be much worse than any disease known to man”. As sociologists of science have noted, contemporary life sciences h…Read more
  •  22
    Introduction: microbes, networks, knowledge—disease ecology and emerging infectious diseases in time of COVID-19
    with Mark Honigsbaum
    History and Philosophy of the Life Sciences 42 (3): 1-9. 2020.
    This is an introduction to the topical collection Microbes, Networks, Knowledge: Disease Ecology in the twentieth Century, based on a workshop held at Queen Mary, University London on July 6–7 2016. More than twenty years ago, historian of science and medicine Andrew Mendelsohn asked, “Where did the modern, ecological understanding of epidemic disease come from?” Moving beyond Mendelsohn’s answer, this collection of new essays considers the global history of disease ecology in the past century a…Read more
  •  19
    Empirical evolutionary medicine
    Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part C: Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences 47 213-217. 2014.
  •  17
    In teasing out the diverse origins of our “modern, ecological understanding of epidemic disease” Greater than the parts: holism in biomedicine, 1920–1950, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1998), historians have downplayed the importance of parasitology in the development of a natural history perspective on disease. The present article reassesses the significance of parasitology for the “invention” of medical ecology in post-war France. Focussing on the works of microbiologist Charles Nicolle and…Read more
  •  15
    On the genealogy of concepts and experimental practices: Rethinking Georges Canguilhem’s historical epistemology
    Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part A 44 (1): 112-123. 2013.
    The importance given by historian and philosopher of science Georges Canguilhem to the role of practice, techniques, and experimentation in concept-formation was largely overlooked by commentators. After placing Canguilhem’s contributions within the larger history of historical epistemology in France, and clarifying his views regarding this expression, I re-evaluate the relation between concepts and experimental practices in Canguilhem’s philosophy of science. Drawing on his early writings on th…Read more
  •  11
    Writing the history of virology in the twentieth century: Discovery, disciplines, and conceptual change
    Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part C: Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences 59 145-153. 2016.
  •  8
    Special Section Introduction
    with Florence Vienne
    Hopos: The Journal of the International Society for the History of Philosophy of Science 13 (2): 454-462. 2023.
  •  7
    Anne-Marie Gagné-Julien et Pierre-Olivier Méthot Durant les deux dernières décennies, plusieurs questions classiques de la philosophie de la médecine et de la psychiatrie ont connu un renouvellement. Des angles de recherche jusqu’alors peu explorés font désormais l’objet de vifs débats, et les questions traditionnelles ont été réinterprétées à la lumière de ces nouveaux développements. En examinant ces récents thèmes grâce aux contributions de chercheur.e.s francophones, ce dossier vise à nourri…Read more
  •  7
    L’obésité est aujourd’hui reconnue par de nombreuses associations médicales comme un état pathologique. Dans cet article, je m’intéresse d’abord à la construction des entités nosologiques avant d’aborder les étapes ayant conduit à la médicalisation de l’obésité au siècle dernier. J’examine ensuite les principales approches en philosophie de la médecine pour déterminer si elles offrent des arguments qui sont en faveur ou qui vont à l’encontre de la thèse selon laquelle l’obésité est une maladie. …Read more
  •  7
    Berichte zur Wissenschaftsgeschichte, Volume 45, Issue 3, Page 397-414, September 2022.
  •  6
    Jacob versus Monod on the Natural Selection of Ideas
    Hopos: The Journal of the International Society for the History of Philosophy of Science 13 (2): 492-510. 2023.
    François Jacob’s The Logic of Life: A History of Heredity has shown an enduring relevance for the history and philosophy of biology. In this article, resisting the received view that regards this book merely as an application of Foucault’s archaeological method, I reconstruct a silent debate between François Jacob and Jacques Monod. More precisely, I argue that Jacob’s history of biology offers a riposte to Monod’s claims in Chance and Necessity. First, I show that the distinction between a “his…Read more
  •  5
    Gaining momentum during the last third of the twentieth century, the philosophy of biology is now a distinct field with its own debates, journals, audiences, and professional societies. This professionalization came along with the forging of an intellectual identity based on the existence of disciplinary frontiers that demarcated philosophy of biology from neighboring disciplines such as philosophy of medicine, history of biology, or general philosophy of science. Here, I argue that the identity…Read more
  •  4
    This book builds on recent scholarship highlighted in the edited collections, Philosophie, histoire, biologie: mélanges offerts à Jean Gayon (Merlin & Huneman, 2018) and Knowledge of Life Today (Gayon & Petit 2018/2019). While honoring the career and the thought of Jean Gayon (1949-2018), this book showcases the continued relevance of Gayon’s interdisciplinary work and illustrates his central place in the community of historians and philosophers of the life sciences. Chapters in this book addres…Read more
  •  3
    Professor of History and Philosophy of Science at the University of Paris 1–Panthéon-Sorbonne since 2000, former director of the Institute of History and Philosophy of Science and Technology (IHPST) of the CNRS, Jean Gayon (1949–2018) died on April 28th 2018 following a long illness that he faced with determination and courage.
  •  2
    The academic path of Jean Gayon (1949–2018) follows in the wake of the “French style” in epistemologyEpistemology, but he is also one of the first representatives of philosophy of biology in France. In the light of this double philosophical heritage, this chapter re-examines the relations between the works of Gayon, the tradition in which he first studied, and the one he later adopted, but not without reservations. Tracing his intellectual journey, this article explores why he naturally appears …Read more
  •  2
    Berichte zur Wissenschaftsgeschichte, Volume 45, Issue 3, Page 397-414, September 2022.
  • Book Review (review)
    Journal of the History of Biology 47 (3): 497-499. 2014.