University of Utah

Philosophy of Biology

A Lab Group and Center of Research 




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Research

Meetings, Workshops & Conferences

 International Society for History, Philosophy & Social Studies of Biology (ISHPSSB) General Meeting. (pdf) July 10-16, 2011 at the University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah.

 

The Evolution of Human Aggression: Lessons for Today's Conflicts. Feb. 25-27, 2009 at the University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah.


The Edges and Boundaries of Biological Objects. Mar. 13-15, 2008 at the University Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah.

Recent Publications

Downes, S. M. (forthcoming) "Moving past the levels of selection debate." Review of Samir Okasha Evolution and the Levels of Selection in Biology and Philosophy.


Haber, MH & Hamilton AH (invited - forthcoming) “Clade Selection and Levels of Lineage: A Reply to Rieppel.” Biological Theory.


Downes, S. M. (forthcoming) "Models, Pictures and Unified Accounts of Representation: Lessons from aesthetics for philosophy of science." In Perspectives on Science.


Plutynski, A. (forthcoming) "Should ID be Taught in Public Schools?"In Science and Education.


Piotrowska (forthcoming) "What Does it Mean to be 75% Pumpkin: The Units of Comparative Genomics." Philosophy of Science.


Haber, MH, Hamilton, AH, and Smith NR (2009)  “Social Insects and the Individuality Thesis: Cohesion and the Colony as a Selectable Individual.”  In Organization of Insect Societies: From Genome to Sociocomplexity. J. Gadau and J. Fewell, eds.  Harvard University Press. 570-587. 

 

Downes, S. M. (forthcoming in French) "Evolutionary Psychology, Adpatation and Design." InLecointre, G. (Eds.) L'evolutionnisme aujourd'hui.  Paris: Editions Syllepse.

 

Haber, MH, Hamilton AH, Odenbaugh J, Okasha S. (forthcoming) “Philosophy of Biology” in Philosophy of the Special Sciences, SUNY Press.

 

Downes, S. M. (forthcoming) "The Basic Components of the Human Mind Were Not Solidified During the Pleistocene Epoch." In F. Ayala and R. Arp (Eds.) Contemporary Debates in Philosophy of Biology. Blackwell.

 

Haber, MH & Benham (forthcoming 2008). “Moral Confusion and Developmental Essentialism in part-human hybrid research.”   American Journal of Bioethics. 8(12).




Sarkar, S. & Plutynski, A. (Eds.) (2008)  A Companion to The Philosophy of Biology. Blackwell.


Tabery, J. (2008) "R.A. Fisher, Lancelot Hogben, and the Origin(s) of Genotype-Environment Interaction."Journal of the History of Biology, 41: 717-761.


Downes, S. M. (2008) "Evolutionary Psychology" in Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.


Plutynski, A. (2008) "The Rise and Fall of the Adaptive Landscape." Biology and Philosophy, 3: 363-381.


Benham, B. (2008) "The Ubiquity of Deception and the Ethics of Deceptive Research." Bioethics 22(3): 147-56

 

Haber, MH. (2008) “Phylogenetic Inference.” In Blackwell Companion to the Philosophy of History and Historiography, Avi Tucker, ed. Blackwell. 231-242. 


Plutynski, A. (2008) "Ecology and the Environment" In The Oxford Handbook of Philosophy of Biology. Ruse (Eds.) New York: Oxford University Press.


Tabery, J. (2007) "Biometric and developmental gene-environment interactions Looking back, moving forward."Development and Psychopathology 19(4): 961-976.


Plutynski, A. (2007) "Drift: a Historical and Conceptual Overview."Biological Theory, 2(2): 156-167.


Benham, B. (2006) "Bioterrorism: Policy Considerations for the Research Institution." In Research Administration and Management, Kulakowski, E. & Chronister, L. (Eds.) Boston: Jones and Bartlett Publishers: 601-616


Darden, L. & Tabery, J. (2005) "Molecular Biology."Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.

Upcoming & Recent Talks 

(Tabery) "Interactive Predispositions," at Philosophy of Science Biannual meeting, Pittsburg, PA, Nov. 2008.


(Piotrowska) "What Does it Mean to be 75% Pumpkin: The Units of Comparative Genomics," at Philosophy of Science Biannual meeting, Pittsburg, PA, Nov. 2008.


(Plutynski) "Return of the Hopeful Monsters," at University of Chicago, for the Committee on the Conceptual and Historical Studies of Science, Oct. 2008


(Tabery) "Difference Mechanisms," at the Future Directions in Genetic Studies ISHPSSB off-year workshop, ST. Louis, MO, Aug. 2008.


(Jenson) Commentary on Matt Slater "Is Homeostasis too much to ask of natural kinds" APA Pacific Division Annual Meeting, Pasadena, CA, 2008.


(Orzechowski) "Immunology and Infectious Disease" at the Edges and Boundaries of Biological Objects Workshop, Salt Lake City, UT, Mar. 2008.


(Piotrowska) "DNA Barcoding," at the Edges and Boundaries of Biological Objects Workshop, Salt Lake City, UT, Mar. 2008.


(Jenson) "The Case for a Frequentist Interpretation of Fitness," at ISHPSSB 2007 Meeting, Exeter, England, July 2007.


(Piotrowska) "What Does it Mean to be 75% Pumpkin: The Units of Comparative Genomics" at ISHPSSB 2007 Meeting, Exeter, England, July 2007.

Recent Grants & Other Awards

(Plutynski) Environmental Humanities Professorship 2008-2009.


(Haber) NSF Workshop Grant "Edges & Boundaries of Biological Objects."


(Jenson) Obert C. Tanner Fellowship. Spring 2009


(Piotrowska) National Science Foundation Travel Grant, 2008.


(Piotrowska) Obert C. Tanner Fellowship. Fall 2008.


Course Offerings 

Spring 2009

(Haber) Phil 3370 Philosophy of Biology


(Tabery) Phil 3310 Science and Society


(Benham)Phil 2510 Genetic and Society


(Plutynski) Phil 4120 Early Modern Philosophy


(Downes) Phil 1000 Introduction: Survey of Philosophy


(Benham) Pysch 7966 Issues and Cognition & Neuroscience

Fall 2008

(Plutynski) Phil 6370 Philosophy of Biology


(Tabery) Phil 3520 Bioethics


(Downes) Phil 3440 Cognitive Science


(Downes) Phil 3350 History and Philosophy of Science


(Haber) Phil 3200 Deductive Logic


(Benham) Phil 1000 Introduction: Survey of Philosophy


Links



Lab Members & Associates

Stephen Downes                        Professor


Steve Downes's Research is in philosophy of Biology with a particular interest in the biology of human behavior. He has recently published on evolutionary psychology, adaptationism, and the levels of selection.



s.downes[at]utah.edu



Anya Plutynski                                         Associate Professor


Anya Plutynski's Research is in history and philosophy of science. She has worked primarily on the history of evolutionary biology in the early 20th century and on questions concerning the role of models and idealizations in scientific explanation.


plutynski[at]philosophy.utah.edu

 

 

Matt Haber                               Assistant Professor


Matt Haber's primary research interests are in philosophy of biology. He is most interested in conceptual issues surrounding commitments to phylogenetic thinking.

                                                     matt.haber[at] philosophy.utah.edu



Jim Tabery                        Assistant Professor


Jim Tabery (PhD, University of Pittsburg 2007) is a member of the Division of Medical Ethics and Humanities. He specializes in philosophy of science and bioethics, with a special focus on genetics.


jimtabery[at]gmail.com

  

Bryan Benham                        Assistant Professor, Lecturer


Bryan Benham's research interests focus on questions at the intersection of science and human values. He has particular interests in neuro-cognitive and genetic explanations of human behavior that have direct implications on notions of moral agency and concepts of self. In addition, he publishes on topics in research ethics, most recently on Bioethics.

 

                                                       bryan.benham[at]philosophy.utah.edu



Chris Jenson                              Graduate Student


Chris Jenson's research interests are in philosophy of biology, cognitive science, and philosophy of science. He is primarily interested in the biology of human behavior.


chris.jenson[at]utah.edu



Constance Orzechowski               Graduate Student




       Constance Orzechowski's research is in infectious disease, philosophy of disease, and Bioethics.

Monika Piotrowska                       Graduate Student



Monika Piotrowska's research is in philosophy of biology. She is interested in distinguishing between degrees of humanness found in organisms partially constituted of human parts.


monika.piotrowska[at] utah.edu