School of Liberal Arts

Education

Ph.D., University of Melbourne, Australia, 2002

B.A., summa cum laude, University of Colorado, Denver, 1997

Academic Interests

Philosophy of science, especially the epistemic status of scientific theories, the aims of scientific inquiry, the nature of theory change, and methodology.

Awards

-Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), United Kingdom: Large Scale Forty-Two Month Research Grant with Dr. Peter Vickers, Durham U.K., Contemporary Scientific Realism and the Challenge from the History of Science , 2014-2018;

-Distinguished Faculty Award, Outstanding Tenured/Tenure-Track, Indiana University School of Liberal Arts, 2016

-Indiana University Overseas Conference Fund (OFC) Grant (for symposium and paper presentation at theEuropean Philosophy of Science Association Conference, Amsterdam, The Netherlands) 2009; 

-Indiana University Overseas Conference Fund (OFC) Grant (for paper presentation at the 13th International Congress of Logic, Methodology, and Philosophy of Science, Beijing, China) 2007; 

-Indiana University SLA Summer Research Grant 2004;

-Melbourne International Postgraduate Research Scholarship 1998-2002;

-Melbourne Research Scholarship 1998-2002;

-Melbourne Postgraduate Overseas Research Scholarship (for research at Kings College London) 2000.

Publications

Books

Scientific Realism. Elements. (Cambridge University Press, under contract).

Contemporary Scientific Realism: Challenge from the History of Science, edited w/P. Vickers, (Oxford University Press, under contract).

Recent Themes in the Philosophy of Science: Scientific Realism and Commonsense, edited w/S. Clarke, (Springer Publishing, 2002). 

Articles
-Articles in  The British Journal for the Philosophy of Science (Oxford University Press), Philosophy of Science(University of Chicago Press), Erkenntnis: An International Journal of Analytic Philosophy (Kluwer Academic Publishers), International Studies in Philosophy of Science (Routledge Press); Human Affairs: A Postdisciplinary Journal for Humanities and Social Sciences: Contemporary Philosophy of Science: Scientific Realism and Beyond (Versita Press); Studies in History and Philosophy of Science (Elsevier Publishing); Synthese: An International Journal for Epistemology, Methodology and Philosophy of Science (Springer Publishing);Journal for General Philosophy of Science (Springer Publishing); Spontaneous Generations (University of Toronto); Chapters in Recent Themes in the Philosophy of Science (Studies in History and Philosophy of Science, Vol. 17), Proceedings of the European Philosophy of Science Association (Epistemology & Philosophy of Science, Springer Publishing), and Oxford Handbook of Philosophy of Science (Oxford University Press).

Links to Select Publications

Book

Recent Themes in the Philosophy of Science: Scientific Realism and Commonsense. 2002. Springer.

Articles

Systematicity theory meets Socratic scientific realism: the systematic quest for truth. Forthcoming. Synthese

Four Challenges to Epistemic Scientific Realism—and the Socratic Alternative.  Spontaneous Generations 9 (1): 146-150. 2018. 

Epistemic Selectivity, Historical Threats, and the Non-Epistemic Tenets of Scientific Realism. Forthcoming. Synthese.

Scientific Realism. 2016. In Paul Humphreys (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of the Philosophy of Science, Oxford University Press, 564-584.

Structural Realism versus Deployment Realism: A Comparative Evaluation. 2016. Studies in History and Philosophy of Sience Part A 59: 95–105.

A Historically Informed Modus Ponens against Scientific Realism: Articulation, Critique, and Restoration. 2013. International Studies in the Philosophy of Science 27(4): 369–392.

The Problem of Deep Competitors and the Pursuit of Epistemically Utopian Truths. 2011. Journal for General Philosophy of Science 42(2): 317–338.

Axiological Scientific Realism and Methodological Prescription. 2012. In Henk W. de Regt (ed.), Epsa Philosophy of Science: Amsterdam 2009, Springer, 187–197.

Criteria for Attributing Predictive Responsibility in the Scientific Realism Debate: Deployment, Essentiality, Belief, Retention … 2009. Human Affairs 19(2).

Non-Competitor Conditions in the Scientific Realism Debate. 2009. International Studies in the Philosophy of Science 23(1): 65–84.

Scientific Realism and the Strategema de Divide et Impera. 2006. British Journal for the Philosophy of Science 57(3): 537–560.

Inference to the Best Explanation, by Peter Lipton. 2006. British Journal for the Philosophy of Science 57 (1): 255–258.

Toward a Purely Axiological Scientific Realism. 2005. Erkenntnis 63(2): 167–204.

Explaining the Success of a Scientific Theory. 2003. Philosophy of Science 70(5): 891–901.

Scientific Realism and the Pessimistic Meta-Modus Tollens. 2002. In Steve Clarke & Timothy D. Lyons (eds.), Recent Themes in the Philosophy of Science: Scientific Realism and Commonsense, Springer, 63–90.

Scientific Realism and Commonsense. 2002. w/S Clarke. In Steve Clarke & Timothy D. Lyons (eds.), Recent Themes in the Philosophy of Science: Scientific Realism and Commonsense, Springer.

Professional Service

-Research proposal evaluation (reviewer) for The National Science Foundation. 

-Manuscript evaluation (referee) for The British Journal for the Philosophy of Science; Erkenntnis: An International Journal of Analytic Philosophy; International Studies in Philosophy of Science; Philosophy of Science; Journal for General Philosophy of Science; Philosophical Quarterly; Studies in History and Philosophy of Science; Australasian Journal of Philosophy; Synthese: An International Journal for Epistemology, Methodology and Philosophy of Science; European Journal for Philosophy of Science; Foundations of Science; and for McGraw-Hill, Acumen, and Routledge books on philosophy of science. 

-Symposium organizer (and participant): "Scientific Realism: Strategic Variations," Co-Symposiasts: John Worrall, Stathis Psillos, Gerald Doppelt, Mauricio Suarez. EPSA Conference, Amsterdam.