History & Philosophy of the Sciences

"To remain ignorant of things that happened before ye were born is to remain a cabin boy."

— Cicero

Research Focus

"Understandin' the foundations of scientific knowledge, savvy?"

Me academic pursuits center on understandin' the foundations of scientific knowledge, specifically focused on philosophical questions surroundin' scientific realism and the historical development of classical electrodynamics.

Rather than judgin' the debate on purely epistemic grounds, I explored the pragmatic motivations fer adoptin' either position. What does it mean fer workin' scholars — and fer society — when we commit to one view o'er another?

Scientific Realism — The view that our best scientific theories describe reality as it truly be

Anti-Realism — Skepticism about whether theories reveal truth, or merely "save the phenomena"

Pragmatic Turn — Shiftin' focus from epistemics to the practical consequences of our commitments

"What hangs on takin' science literally? And what do we lose when we don't, arr?"

Academic Credentials

REF: DEGREE•DOCTORATE

PhD, History & Philosophy of Science

University of Toronto

Institute fer the History and Philosophy of Science and Technology

A Pragmatic, Existentialist Approach to the Scientific Realism Debate
Supervisor: James Robert Brown • 2017

SSHRC Doctoral Fellowship

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REF: DEGREE•MASTER'S

MA, Philosophy

University of Victoria

Department of Philosophy

2009

SSHRC Graduate Scholarship

Winner: Kenneth Rankin Best MA Thesis Prize

REF: DEGREE•UNDERGRADUATE

BA with Distinction, Philosophy

University of Alberta

Minor in Sociology

2006

Jason Lang Scholarship

REF: PUBLICATIONS•LIBRARY

Selected Publications & Works

The pragmatic turn in the scientific realism debate

Synthese (2024)

with S.C. Boucher • DOI: 10.1007/s11229-024-04528-9

A pragmatic, existentialist approach to the scientific realism debate

Synthese (2017)

Vol. 194, Issue 9, pp. 3327–3346

Review of Bas van Fraassen, Scientific Representation: Paradoxes of Perspective

Spontaneous Generations (2009)

Vol. 3, No. 1, pp. 236-238

Towards a Philosophy of Commercialized Science

Metascience (2013)

Review of Hans Radder

Editor's Introduction: Science and Public Controversy

Spontaneous Generations (2011)

Vol. 5, No. 1

REF: TEACHING•PEDAGOGY

Teaching Experience

Undergraduate & Graduate Instruction

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Philosophy of Science

Scientific Realism

Scientific Revolutions

Epistemology

Formal Logic

Introductory Philosophy

History of Ancient Science

History of Modern Science

Science as Social Problem

Individual InstructionWorld Class Private Tutoring, Arr! →

Me background as an educator and researcher shapes everythin' else I do, savvy?

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