Portrait of Bill Wimsatt
I’m excited to finally announce a Festschrift SI at Acta Biotheoretica honoring the work of Bill Wimsatt with the SI’s first publication by @consume.red and @philosofir.bsky.social! The editors (@caitlinmace.bsky.social and I) are delighted! #philsci #hpbio link.springer.com/article/10.1...
A very interesting volume edited by Mathilde Lequin (@pacea.bsky.social) & Juan Manuel Rodríguez Caso examining historical & epistemological dimensions of human evolutionary research. A much welcome contribution to the growing field of the philosophy of paleoanthropology.
#hpbio #paleosky #philsky
Me and @federicabocchi.bsky.social on paleoecology & how it might help us think about our relationship to nature & how it might help us think about the future… #philsci
New on the Archive:
Bocchi, Federica and Currie, Adrian (2026) Ecologies of the Past. [Preprint]
https://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/27880/
we're hiring in STS @fasosmaastricht.bsky.social!
deadline coming up soon (February 8). focus is the social science-y corners of STS preferably w/ some interest in sustainability & environment - but interpreted broadly.
vacancies.maastrichtuniversity.nl/job/Maastric...
Alice Murphy at st Andrews is looking for a 2 year postdoc on a super cool aesthetics-meets-values-in-science project, real quick turn around on applications so get in thar! #philsci www.vacancies.st-andrews.ac.uk/Vacancies/W/...
We are delighted to announce that the BSPS will be running a doctoral scholarship competition in 2026! The competition will open in February, and the deadline will be 27 March.
www.thebsps.org/funding/doct...
Paleo folks: Please recommend researchers (incl yourselves) interested in phylogenetic reconstruction in deep time, molecular clocks (discord w/ fossil clocks), foundational/methodological issues in phylo/paleo-reconstruction & who'd be interested in hanging w/ historians & philosophers of science ⚒️
I have a new paper out in Synthese! It’s about experimental strategies in the historical sciences, using case studies from origins of life research.
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
Hello BLue-Sky, are you interested in the study of the social implications of genomics? Our project brings together philosophers, social scientists, and geneticists to address this question. Follow us here and sign-up for our mailing list at Hugera.org/contact/ #philsky #STS #metascience
Thanks - that’s super helpful and I’ve updated them settings!
Wow okay apparently 300 people have already signed up (what!?) as I doubt that many people will actually turn up if you’re sure you will attend I’d get in touch with the organizers…
Oh! Let me ask
If you’re interested in practicing the philosophy of science in practice why not come along to an online workshop “the philosophy of science in practice - in practice”? #philsci
Published online today and available soon at your favorite purveyor of fine reading materials. And it's open access.
Yep July 2026, pop me an email if you’d like to see if beforehand
Book launch for “Methods in the Philosophy of Science: a user’s guide”. Ftf in Exeter and online on the 29th of Sept feat Sophie Veigl, Kerry McKenzie, Hasok Chang, and me. It should be fun! (the book will be open access in July, contact me in the meantime) www.exeter.ac.uk/events/detai... #philsci
We’re excited to launch the official BlueSky profile of ISHPSSB! Founded in 1998, we connect researchers in philosophy, history, and social studies of biology and medicine worldwide. Follow us for updates and events! #PhilosophyOfBiology, #HistoryOfScience, #STS, #Biology, #Medicine
I did a podcast about the philosophy of paleontology in German. I don’t speak German. The world is weird. open.spotify.com/episode/4jAP...
I suspect that’s Napolean’s arch rival, who diligently guards the route from campus to town…
Just registered for PSA Around the World Eastern Europe. Hope you do too! Organised by @philsci.bsky.social with @eenphilsci.bsky.social this online conference over three afternoons in November covers the past and the present of #philsci in Eastern n Central Europe (where it arguably started!)
Aw thanks! Good question - I guess the “prescriptive frame” introduces explicit bias in a way. I’d also imagine that various biases are encoded in the experimental setups themselves. As for more power-dynamicy hierarchical bias my hunch is the framework is consistent with but doesn’t highlight them…
Hm, as we try to show in the paper Newton did seem to think that people should do the experiments themselves…
Why was Newton so sure that if you just did his optical experiments you’d *have* to believe him about light? Kirsten Walsh, Tom Roberts and I use 4E cognition to suggest an answer. Anachronism? You be the judge… (also i’m real proud of this paper) www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/epdf/10.... #philsci
CFA The Human Diversity Dilemma: Navigating the intersection of microbes, ethics & society
ISHPSSB Off-Year Workshop
Stellenbosch University, Cape Town, South Africa
October 1-3, 2025
Abstracts due Aug.18
Organizers @abigailnd.bsky.social & @msimang.bsky.social
#philsci #STS 🦠
More info ⤵️
Dan Hutto's Critical Notice of Mind as Metaphor (OUP, 2023) is now out in Analysis. Many thanks to Dan for his constructive and thought-provoking comments! Lots for me to mull over... You can read it here: doi.org/10.1093/anal... @oxfordacademic.bsky.social #philsky #philmind #cogsci
My rap style involves the use of syllables from my very own private language, so it's no surprise you can't understand it. I call it 'beetleboxing'
A flyer for "How AI is helping - and harming - animals", 30 Sept, LSE.
Save the date - on 30 Sept we're opening The Jeremy Coller Centre for Animal Sentience with a hybrid (online and in-person) event looking at how AI is already transforming the lives of other animals. Details: www.lse.ac.uk/Events/2025/...
Forthcoming (early 2026) *The Science of Lost Worlds* (BSPSOpen/UCalgary Press). Featuring illustrations by Jim Robins and philosophy by um me!!!
Thought I’d come across an excellent typo, “criticaster”, only to discover that in fact this is a word and indeed a superb one.
