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HISTORY AND PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE
We are a team of philosophers and historians of science working on philosophical and historical issues that emerge
from science, mathematics, engineering and medicine. We understand "history and philosophy of science" broadly,
so that it includes a variety of disciplines, studied from a variety of viewpoints.
Contents
About Us
Faculty
Students
Teaching
Activities
We work in a wide variety of areas within history and philosophy of science, and at the same time,
our work is distinctive in several ways:
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We engage in substantial ways with science. Due to our collaborative efforts with scientists, and our
goal of understanding the subtleties and complexities of the scientific enterprise, our research is
informed by and sensitive to the details of actual scientific theory and practice.
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In addition to more traditional disciplines studied by historians and philosophers, our work includes
the study of medicine, engineering and technology. Rather than being hampered by well-worn but
questionable distinctions between pure and applied science, medicine or engineering, we examine many
scientific activities without necessarily imposing any distinction between pure and applied.
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We take seriously the mission of doing the history and philosophy of science. Even when approaching
fundamentally philosophical issues, our research is typically informed by the history of these
disciplines. Historians also engage with these philosophical issues. As a result, a significant
component of our overall research is truly interdisciplinary in nature.
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We maintain serious cooperative efforts with a variety of units on campus, both in the humanities and
in the sciences. These efforts involve a wide range of activities, including applying for grants together
(we have received several major research grants from the National Science Foundation in the last few
years), running various conferences and workshops, and having a lively Science Studies seminar series
during the academic year.
Philosophy Graduate Faculty
Davis Baird (PhD Stanford, Louise Scudder Frye Professor, Philosophy, and
Dean of USC's Honor College) has pursued multiple
overlapping projects in the history and philosophy of science, including projects on the
foundations of statistical inference, the philosophy of scientific instruments (especially in
analytical chemistry), and the philosophy of nanotechnology, with a focus on both the instruments
involved and the images to which they have led. He heads up a large NSF-funded project on the
societal and ethical interactions of nanotechnology
Tom Burke (PhD Stanford, Associate Professor, Philosophy) works in
American philosophy, with special interest in classical pragmatist conceptions of scientific inquiry and the logic
of discovery and explanation. He also dabbles in the philosophy of biology, exploring the impact of scientific
accounts of human origins on traditional philosophical problems.
Michael Dickson (PhD Notre Dame, Professor, Philosophy) works primarily
in philosophy of physics, especially quantum theory. He also works on meta-philosophical
questions, especially about the relationship between metaphysics and science, and has done
research in ancient philosophy as well. He is currently the editor of Philosophy of Science,
the journal of the Philosophy of Science Association.
Kevin Elliot (PhD Notre Dame, Assistant Professor, Philosophy -- to arrive in Fall 2006) works in
the history and philosophy of science, the history and philosophy of biology, and practical ethics
(especially biomedical, environmental, and scientific research ethics). In the philosophy of science,
he is particularly interested in the nature of scientific anomaly, scientific discovery, epigenetic
mechanisms of biological inheritance, and the role of values in scientific reasoning.
Jerry Hackett (PhD Toronto, Professor and Chair, Philosophy)
has worked on science in the Middle Ages. His research has focsed on the notions of experience and
demonstration in Grosseteste, Bacon, Albertus Magnus and Aquinas. He is working on an edition of
Bacon's De scientia experimentali and related texts and seeks to explain how medieval authors
transformed Greek and Roman science in the light of their knowledge of Islamic Philosophers and
Scientists. He has also examined Bacon and Pecham's Perspectiva as a model of an experimental
science, and is interested in problems of methodology in science, and in the way early modern thinkers
transformed these issues.
R.I.G. Hughes (PhD British Columbia, Professor, Philosophy) has broad interests,
both in teaching and research. In the past, he has worked on the philosophy of physics, and specifically
quantunm theory, as well as general philosophy of science, specifically models and representation. His
present research project (three quarters completed) is a book to be titled, "The Practice of
Theory," which examines the theoretical practices of physics.
Ann Johnson (PhD Princeton, Philosophy and History) is an historian of
technology working on the processes of engineering design. Her research focuses on small,
project-oriented, engineering communities. These are philosophically significant since they
constitute the primary knowledge-producing social structures in engineering design. She has a variety
of ongoing projects related to engineering, including the role of computers and computer simulations
in present-day engineering practice.
George Khushf (PhD Rice, Associate Professor, Philosophy) conducts research
in the philosophy of medicine, including concepts of health and disease, clinical decision making,
and the ways medical standards of care are formed. He also looks at the philosophy of emerging
technologies, especially bionanotechnology, the human/machine interface, and NBIC convergence.
In addition, he has a long-term research project to develop a philosophy of demonstration
science experiments.
Heike Sefrin-Weis (PhD Pittsburgh, Assistant Professor, Philosophy and Classics)
works primarily on ancient philosophy and ancient science. She is particularly interested in
Aristotle's metaphysics and science, in ancient mathematics, in ancient positions on the meaning,
the methodology, and the meta-theory of science, and in the transmission and reception of all of
these in the ancient world and in the early modern period. In addition, she collaborates with
the Leibniz-Archiv, Hannover, contributing to the edition of Leibniz' mathematical manuscripts
and mathematical correspondence. In this context, she is interested in investigating mathematical
discourse, invention and communication practices, development and 'projection' of Leibnizian
calculus in the mathematical community of the late 17th century.
Associated Faculty
Edward Munn (PhD Emory, Lecturer, Philosophy) specializes in social and political philosophy, with a focus
on ethical, social, and political issues in science and in particular nanotechnology. He also works in the philosophy of
technoogy and in engineering ethics. His current research concerns the normative role of experts in science policy;
normative issues raised by nanotechnology and the convergence of nanotech, information technology, cognitive science,
and biotechnology. He is also interested generally in the relation of science to liberal democracy.
Thomas Vogt (PhD Eberhard Karls, Adjunct Professor and Director
of USC's NanoCenter) has interests in the
history of science, epistemology, ethical, legal, and societal implications of nanotechnology, and
a variety of science policy issues. His current research concerns science and technology studies and
mode-II knowledge production. He is the Director of the USC NanoCenter.
Several graduate students at USC have research interests in history and philosophy of science, including
some who are currently working on dissertation projects in this area.
Heather Allen is interested in the science of the Enlightenment, most notably Newton and his influence on Kant's
critical philosophy.
Eric Ard is interested in the philosophy of quantum physics and the effects of
Kant's philosophy on physics.
Kamaljeet Dhah is mainly interested philosophy of physics (especially quantum mechanics, relativity, time, and
string theory). He is also interested in cognitive science, epistemology, pragmatism (particularly Rorty), realism/anti-realism,
philosophy of mathematics, and Russell. A potential long term project he is working on is trying to recognize how we come
to understand what science is based on how the brain functions and its limitations.
Stephen Everett is interested in four related areas of research. The first concerns the relationship between historical
progress and failure on the one hand, and scientific methodology on the other, studied both descriptively and normatively.
The second concerns the relationship between theoretical and experimental science. The third concerns the connections
between advances in our scientific understanding of the natural world and environmental philosophy. The fourth, more
generally, concerns the connectinos between science and public policy.
Holly Groover is interested in the philosophy of quantum theory, the philosophy of science, and
early modern philosophy
Christian Hipp is interested in the moral significance of the "therapy-enhancement" distinction in human genetic
interventions, themes of health in Nietzsche, general concepts of health and disease, and the demarcation of science
from psuedo-science.
Yeuncheol Jeong is interested in history and philosophy of science, especially physics. He is currently thinking about
how Bohm's theory might provide a possibility for better visualization of processes at the nano-scale.
Rodrigo Moro is interested in general hilosophy of science, and especially in the psychology of reasoning.
His research focuses on two area: the experimental techniques that psychologists use to study human reasoning, and
the relevance of these studies for the topic of human rationality. He is also interested in Game Theory and its
connection with the psychology of reasoning.
Liz Stillwaggon works on philosophical questions concerning the nature of life and mind that invite insights
from cognitive science, the philosophy of mind, artificial intelligence and artificial life. Her most recent work
focuses on trying to develop an account of continuity between life and mind, or in other words, an account that
challenges the doctrine of dualism by explaining how mind and matter really are two facets of the same process,
rather than two completely different processes. Such a project demands that one pay heed to the classics,
Aristotle, Spinoza, and Heidegger, as well as contemporary empirical research in cognitive science, neuroscience,
and psychology.
Liong Yu Tu is interested in philosophy of physics, especially quantum theory but also relativity.
In addition to P512 ("Philosophy of Science"), which is a regular part of the new curriciulum at USC, faculty members
regularly offer courses related to history and philosophy of science. Faculty also regularly do independent
studies with students. Finally, all graduate students and faculty meet once per week for 'STEM Cell' ('Science,
Technology, Engineering, and Medicine', although the 'E' can also stand for 'environment'!), where faculty and graduate
students present recent and classic research (either of their own, or others) in history and philosophy of science,
and discuss it. This new group has proven to be a great success for all concerned, and will continue every semester.
Recently offered HPS courses by USC faculty include:
- Comparative Environmental History
- Empiricism and Beyond
- Engineering Ethics
- Ethics of Science and Technology
- Fundamenatals of Inquiry in Science
- History and Philosophy of Science
- History and Philosophy of Science
- History of Engineering
- Human Enhancements
- Inductive Inference
- Knowledge and Reality
- Nanomedicine
- Philosophical Foundations of Nursing Science
- Philosophy of Mathematics
- Philosophy of Nanotechnology
- Philosophy of Science
- Philosophy of Technology
- Technology and Society
- Theory of Knowledge
The Philosophy Department has an active Colloquium Series, which often features talks and other activities
related to HPS. In addition, there is are regular coloquiua in Science Studies and Nanoscience and
Technology Studies. The faculty and graduate students also normally form reading groups devoted to some
topic. (Our most recent group read Paul Humphreys' Extending Ourselves. We are gearing up for a
group devoted to readings on the role of symmetry in science.) See below for some recent and ongoing
HPS-related activities.
Recent HPS-related Workshops and Conference
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Spring 2005: Conference ("Nano Ethics")
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In Spring 2005 we co-hosted a five-day conference, Nano Ethics, exploring ethical and legal issues
raised by developments in nanotechnology and the larger convergence of technologies brought about
by those developments.
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Fall, 2004: Conference ("Synthesis and the Growth of Knowledge")
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In conjunction with USC's College of Liberal Arts, the USC Department of Physics, and the History of the
Philosophy of Science (HOPOS) Working Group, the Philosophy Department hosted a conference "Synthesis and
the Growth of Knowledge", examining Michael Friedman's work and ideas on the relationship between
history of philosophy and history of science. Speakers included: Nico Bertoloni Meli, Bill Newman, Mary Domski,
Noretta Koertge, Bill Demopoulos, Andrew Janiak, Daniel Sutherland, Alison Laywine, Paul Pojman, Thomas Ricketts,
Alan Richardson, Don Howard, John Norton, James Mattingly, Scott Tanona, Thomas Ryckman, Richard Creath, and
Michael Friedman.
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Spring 2004: Conference ("Imaging and Imagining Nanoscience and Engineering")
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This was a five-day conference exploring theoretical, pictorial and textual representations of nanoscale science and
engineering (NSE) from cross-disciplinary perspectives.
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Spring 2003: Workshop ("Bridging the Sciences and Humanities")
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This workshop was devoted to how to work across the disciplines. The focus was on environmental issues.
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Fall 2003: Conference ("Discovering the Nanoscale")
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In 2003 the Philosophy Department, in conjunction with the USC NanoCenter and Technische Universität Darmstadt,
hosted a four-day conference, Discovering the Nanoscale (along with a
follow-up conference held at Technische
Universität Darmstadt).
Other Units on Campus
In addition to activities expicitly sponsored by the Department of Philosophy, there are plenty of other
units on campus with HPS-related activities:
- USC Science Studies Group
- There is a broad group of faculty and students at USC interested in Science Studies. We meet
regularly for colloquia and other activities.
- USC NanoCenter
- USC hosts a thriving NanoCenter, and an substantial part of it is devoted to the societal and ethical
implications of nano-technology. Several core HPS faculty are involved, in one way or another, with this
center, which has procured some major NSF grants.
- Foundations of Quantum Theory Group
- The Department of Physics and Astronomy has a group of faculty and graduate students working in the
foundations of quantum theory.
- Theoretical Computer Science Seminar
- Steve Fenner, a computer scientist with interests in quantum computing and other matters theoretical,
runs a very interesting multi-disciplinary seminar in theoretical computer science.
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