philosophy And the social sciences
The last few decades have seen metaphysicians and epistemologists pay increasing attention to social phenomena. I use the the findings and tools of the social sciences to make various forays into these fields. I also use general philosophy of science to analyze the methodologies of the social sciences. There's a book project about empiricism in the social sciences lurking in my future...
Professional Activities
- I'm a member of the Steering Committee for the Philosophy of Social Science Roundtable and the Scientific Committee for the European Network for the Philosophy of Social Science.
- I started the Philosophy of Social Science Network on Facebook. Feel free to join us.
- Along with Randall Harp, I organized the Philosophy of Social Science Roundtable in Burlington, VT. April 12-13, 2019. Because I'm a glutton for punishment, I'm also co-organizing the 2020 roundtable with Mark Risjord.
Articles and Book Chapters
- In progress. Paper on the social epistemology of scientific instruments. (with Sandy Goldberg).
- In progress. Paper on perspective-taking in the natural and social sciences.
- in progress. Paper on collective agents in the social sciences. (with Richard Lauer).
- in progress. Paper on race, scientific realism, and the social sciences. (with Richard Lauer).
- Under review. Understanding, truth, and epistemic goals. (This is a general philosophy of science paper that uses some social-scientific examples).
- 2019. idealizations and understanding: much ado about nothing? Australasian Journal of Philosophy. doi:10.1080/00048402.2018.1564337. (with Emily Sullivan. This is a general philosophy of science paper that uses some social-scientific examples).
- 2019. Is Verstehen scientific understanding? Philosophy of the Social Sciences. 49(4): 282-306. doi: 10.1177/0048393119847104.
- 2016. Realism and antirealism. in Rosenberg, A. and L. McIntyre (eds.), Routledge companion to philosophy of social science (London: Routledge). (with Randall Harp)
- (with Leticia Arroyo Abad) 2015. What are stylized facts? Journal of Economic Methodology 22 (2): 143-156.
- 2015. Why pursue unification? a social-epistemological puzzle. Theoria 30 (3): 431-447. (with Randall Harp)
- 2013. Review of Haddock, Millar, and Pritchard (eds.) Social Epistemology. Mind 122 (486): 535-540.
- 2010c. Contrastive explanations as social accounts. Social Epistemology. 24 (4): 265-286.
- 2010b. Social constructivism and the aims of science. Social Epistemology. 24 (1): 45–61.
- 2004. Erotetic contextualism, data-generating procedures, and sociological explanations of social mobility. Philosophy of the Social Sciences 34 (1): 38-54.