Overview
I have several interconnected research programs in philosophy of science, social epistemology, and philosophy of psychology. My work aims toimprove ourunderstanding of the nature of scientific knowledge,foster fruitful interactions between philosophy andSTEM(science, technology, engineering, and math), and help make scientific research and its applications more epistemically and ethically sound. Below are details about my three main research programs:
- Engaged Philosophy of Science: My primary line of research advocates for a more scientifically and socially engaged philosophy of science; as part of this work, I use both philosophical and empirical methods to identify barriers to broader engagement and strategies for overcoming them.
- Interdisciplinary Expertise: This program of research leverages the concept of ‘interactional expertise’ to demonstrate the epistemic benefits of diverse perspectives, including via interdisciplinary engagement between philosophers of science and STEM researchers.
- Philosophy of the Human Behavioral Sciences: I examine research in behavioral genetics and related fields, analyzing key concepts, methods, and assumptions to illuminate misleading claims.
Socially and ScientificallyEngaged Philosophy of Science
Through my early work in the human behavioral sciences, I noticed significant missed opportunities for philosophers of science to impact scientific practice. I began to analyzethe goals and approaches of philosophy of science, building a collaborative network of philosophers in the process. As many of us have argued, philosophy of sciencehas the potential to be relevant to a broad range of audiences (e.g., scientists, policy makers, and lay publics), but that potential often remains unrealized.
- To address this issue, I co-edited awith Carla Fehr, which includespapers by leading philosophers of science.
- In , we lay out the key facets of Socially Relevant Philosophy of Science (SEPOS) anddemonstrate thesocial, scientific, and philosophical benefits of more engaged approaches.
- This work also led to the formation of an international network of institutions and scholars dedicated toSocially Relevant Philosophy of/in Science and Engineering (SRPoiSE).
- For a more in-depth analysis of Broadly Engaged Philosophy of Science, see .
- I also have a chapter on Socially Engaged Philosophy of Science forthcoming in theRoutledge Handbook of the History of Philosophy of Science.
In addition to my philosophical work on this topic,I have conducted empirical research to study the conditions for successful uptake of philosophy of science in scientific domains. This work has three maincomponents:
- A citation analysis of philosophy of science publications in scientific journals ()
- A survey of philosophers of scienceregarding their interest in and experience with disseminating their work more broadly ()
- Interviews with philosophers of science whose work has significantly impacted scientific practice ()
I am continuingthis work through a five-year SSHRC-funded research project, "Engaging Science with Philosophy: Best Practices for Fostering Effective Collaboration," which examines scientists' and engineers'attitudes towards and experiences with philosophy/philosophers of science.
Interactional Expertise
I have developed a theoretical framework to analyze the modes of engagement between philosophers of science and scientists, and between different disciplines more generally. My framework is based onthe idea of ‘interactional expertise’ – a key concept from sociology of science that captures the ability to speak the language of a discipline without being able to engage in its practice.
- I published a critical analysis of the interactional expertise concept with a former student, Eric Kennedy (now Assistant Professor at York University). In , we argue that interactional expertise has been too narrowly operationalized, and that it ought to be viewed more broadly toinclude more diverse perspectives.
- Interactional expertise also captures my own approach to engaging with scientists, and ledme to identify promising avenues for increasing the uptake of philosophical work inscientific domains, as discussed in.
Philosophy of the Human Behavioral Sciences
My early research (including my dissertation)focuses on human behavioral genetics. While many philosophers of science have examined concepts and inferences related to genetic explanations of behavior, they have largely overlooked behavioral geneticists' claims aboutenvironmental inferences on behavioral traits. In my dissertation, I analyzekey concepts about the environment and demonstrate how conceptual equivocation leads to unjustified conclusions about the causes of human behavior.
I expanded this workonhuman behavioral sciencesthrougha collaboration with two other philosophers of biology: Thomas Reydon and Mehmet Elgin.
- In , wecarefully analyzedebates about the massive modularity thesis (a key claim in evolutionary psychology that the human brain is composed of hundreds of independently evolved modules).Our work uncovereda fundamental problem with these debates: namely, key arguments from both psychologists and philosophersfailto capture the complexity of genotype-phenotype relationships. As we show,literature on the 'gene concept' in the philosophy of biology can improve understanding of these relationships.
- Dr. Reydon and I also brought together philosophers, rhetoricians, biologists, and psychologists toadvance theemerging interdisciplinary field of 'philosophy of behavioral biology'. This work is published asco-edited volume in the Boston Studies of the Philosophy of Գ,.
More recently, I collaborated with psychologist Alex Burt at Michigan State University to design a new methodology for combining research methods from human behavioral genetics and experimental psychology, anapproach is informedby philosophical criticisms of the limitations of behavioral genetic methods.
- To read aboutour novel study designand the philosophical work behind it, see .
- We have also published the first set ofempirical results that utilize this design --based on a growth mindset intervention --in. Notably, this is the first ever randomized intervention with twins!
Links to Publications
Selected Research Grants
- PI, SSHRC*Insight Grant, "Engaging Science with Philosophy: Best Practices for Fostering Effective Collaboration," 2020-25, $188,179CAD.
- Co-applicant & ݮƵ PI, SSHRC Partnership Grant, "Experiential Learning Toolkits to Increase Social Sciences, Humanities, and Arts (SSHA) Capacity for Research and Innovation in the Social Sector," 2024-30, $2,500,000. (PI: Sandra LaPointe)
- Co-PI,SSHRC Insight Development Grant, “Inventory of Models and Practices in Community Focused and Interdisciplinary Social Sciences and Humanities Research,” 2021-24, $60,764. (PI: Sandra LaPointe)
- Co-PI, Genetics and Human Agency Grant,"Understanding What ‘Could Be’: Heritability in a Randomized Twin Design,"2017-19, $425,000 USD. (PI: Alex Burt)
- PI,SSHRC Insight Development Grant, "Increasing the Impact of Philosophy of Science in Scientific Domains," 2016-19, $59,302 CAD.
- Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship, University of Minnesota Graduate School, 2005-06($18,000 USD)
* SSHRC refers to theSocial Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada
For information about my Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) work, see myTeachingpage
