Philosophy of Science research activities
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Philosophers and scientists at the University of Guelph engage in research that bridges disciplinary boundaries. Many of our faculty are trained in the sciences and carry out collaborative research with members of other departments across the university. Often there are related research and employment opportunities for grad students. Some current projects are described below.
The biodiversity concept is notoriously difficult to define, despite its centrality to conservation biology and ecology. This project analyzes the concept of biodiversity as it is employed within different disciplines. Our aim is to understand how this concept has been modified and refined to serve a range of different epistemic, practical and normative ends. This project is funded by the Environmental Sciences Research Initiative. Lead investigator: Stefan Linquist (Philosophy)
The (mis)attribution of functions to ‘jumping genes' There is disagreement over whether transposable elements or ‘jumping genes' are best characterized as harmful genetic parasites or, alternatively, as providing essential organism-level functions. This project aims to clarify this debate by drawing on the philosophical analysis of functions and multi-level selection theory. Lead investigator: Ryan Gregory (Integrative Biology)
Making randomized controlled trials more useful A year ago, the Canadian Medical Association Journal in conjunction with the Journal of Clinical Epidemiology, published a series of papers addressing the question of how to make RCTs more useful. The thinking among those who want to enact change in research method is that "pragmatic" RCTs are the way to go. The pragmatic RCT is contrasted to the more 'objective' explanatory RCT, addressing the question of can this intervention work under the 'usual' conditions rather than the ideal conditions. I am currently analysing this discussion. Lead investigator: Maya Goldenberg (Philosophy)
Emergence and reduction in physics and biology This project analyzes concepts of reduction and emergence as applied to the fields of molecular biology and physics, with a focus on practices of modeling and idealization in these fields. Unfortunately, the growing interest in reduction and emergence has been matched by a growing muddle of terms, concepts, approaches and theories. We aim to clear up these confusions and articulate the interesting and substantive questions that remain (for some do remain). Lead investigator: Andrew Wayne (Philosophy)
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