about me
I am an Associate Professor in the Logic and Philosophy of Science Department at the University of California, Irvine. I received my Ph.D. from the History and Philosophy of Science Department at the University of Pittsburgh, my M.A. in bioethics from the Center for Bioethics and Health Law at the University of Pittsburgh, and my M.D. from the University of California, Irvine. My research is supported by a National Science Foundation (NSF) CAREER award, a John Templeton Foundation Grant Award, and a Humboldt Experienced Researcher Fellowship, sponsored by the Munich Center for Mathematical Philosophy (MCMP) at Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (LMU).
research
My research concerns explanation and causation in biology, neuroscience, and medicine. This work involves interrelated projects that address: the nature of explanation in these sciences, different causal structures and explanation types, and the rationale that guides particular forms of causal reasoning in these domains.
publications
- Causation in Neuroscience: Keeping Mechanism Meaningful.
(With Dani S. Bassett)
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (2024).
JOURNAL WEBSITE - The Explanatory Nature of Constraints: Law-Based, Mathematical, and Causal.
Synthese (2023).
JOURNAL WEBSITE - Causal Constraints in the Life and Social Sciences.
Philosophy of Science (2023).
JOURNAL WEBSITE - What Is Social Structural Explanation? A Causal Account.
Nôus (2023).
JOURNAL WEBSITE - Causal Approaches to Explanation.
(With James F. Woodward)
Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (2023).
JOURNAL WEBSITE - Cascade Versus Mechanism: The Diversity of Causal Structure in Science.
The British Journal for the Philosophy of Science (Forthcoming).
JOURNAL WEBSITE - A Call for More Clarity Around Causality in Neuroscience.
(With David L. Barak, Earl K. Miller, Christopher I. Moore, Adam M. Packer, Luiz Pessoa, and Nicole C. Rust)
Trends in Neurosciences (2022).
JOURNAL WEBSITE PDF - Irreversible (One-hit) and Reversible (Sustaining) Causation.
(With James F. Woodward)
Philosophy of Science (2022).
JOURNAL WEBSITE PDF - Causes With Material Continuity.
Biology & Philosophy (2021).
JOURNAL WEBSITE PDF - Scientific Explanation.
(With James F. Woodward)
Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (2021).
JOURNAL WEBSITE - Tracers in neuroscience: Causation, constraints, and connectivity.
Synthese (2021).
JOURNAL WEBSITE PDF - Causal Concepts in Biology: How Pathways Differ from Mechanisms and Why It Matters.
The British Journal for the Philosophy of Science (2021). Editor's choice.
JOURNAL WEBSITE - Causal Explanation and the Periodic Table.
Synthese (2021).
JOURNAL WEBSITE PDF - Distinguishing Topological and Causal Explanation.
Synthese (2020).
JOURNAL WEBSITE PDF - Multiple Realizability from a Causal Perspective.
Philosophy of Science (2020).
JOURNAL WEBSITE PDF - Explanation in Contexts of Causal Complexity: Lessons from Psychiatric Genetics.
Minnesota Studies in Philosophy of Science volume
entitled "From Biological Practice to Scientific Metaphysics" (Forthcoming).
JOURNAL WEBSITE PDF - Causal Control: A Rationale for Causal Selection.
Minnesota Studies in Philosophy of Science volume
on "Causation in Biology" (Forthcoming).
JOURNAL WEBSITE PDF - The Doctrine of Specific Etiology.
Biology & Philosophy (2018).
JOURNAL WEBSITE PDF - Causal Selection and the Pathway Concept.
Philosophy of Science 85(4), 551-572 (2018).
JOURNAL WEBSITE PDF - Koch's Postulates: An Interventionist Interpretation.
(With James F. Woodward)
Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part C: Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences 59, 35-46 (2016).
JOURNAL WEBSITE PDF - Dynamical Models and Explanation in Neuroscience.
Philosophy of Science 82(1), 32-54 (2015).
JOURNAL WEBSITE PDF - Kinetics and Regioselectivity of Ring Opening of 1-Bicyclo[3.1.0]hexanylmethyl Radical.
(With Kantorowski, E.J., Le, D.D., Hunt, C.J.,
Barry-Holson, K.Q., and Lee, J.P.)
Journal of Organic Chemistry 74(4), 1593-6 (2008).
JOURNAL WEBSITE PDF
videos
- Commencement Address, University of Pittsburgh.
Graduate Speaker.
University of Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh, PA. May 2016. - New Faculty Interview, University of California, Irvine.
Faculty Interview.
University of California, Irvine. Irvine, CA. Aug 2017. - Causation in Science: UCI Experts On.
Faculty Discussion.
University of California, Irvine. Irvine, CA. April 2024.
contact
-
Department of Logic and Philosophy of Science
-
pitt.edu
academia.edu
jameswoodward.org
University of California, Irvine
3151 Social Science Plaza A
Irvine, CA 92697-5100
(587) 703-2517 (office)
rossl · at · uci · dot · edu
roslauren · at · gmail · dot · com
grant support
- NSF Career Award: Causal Explanation in Biology and the
Diversity of Causal Concepts.
Research Grant Awarded by National Science Foundation (NSF); Science, Technology, and Society Research Grant; 1945647; $403,419; 2020-2025; Award abstract
- Alexander von Humboldt Research Fellowship for Experienced Researchers.
Munich Center for Mathematical Philosophy (MCMP);
$32,300; 2021-2024.
- John Templeton Foundation Grant Award: Causal Selection, Structure, and Explanation in Biology
Research Grant Awarded by the John Templeton Foundation; $269,528; 2023-2026. Award abstract
- Causal Explanation in Neuroscience: Mechanisms and Pathways. (video link)
Human Brain Project Summit 2023: Keynote Address Achievements and future of digital brain research
Marseille, France. March 2023. - Causal Diversity: Capturing Distinctions Among Causation.
Giere Distinguished Lecture: Department of History and Philosophy of Science and Medicine
Indiana University Bloomington, September 2022. - Causal and Non-causal Explanation.
Brain Inspired Podcast: Paul Middlebrooks (video link)
September 2022. - Biology and its Philosophy.
Theory of Living Matter (TLM) group (video link)
University of Cambridge, UK. February 2022. - Tracers in Neuroscience: Causation, Constraints, and Connectivity.
Dutch Distinguished Lecture Series in Philosophy and Neuroscience (video link)
Radboud University; Nijmegen, Netherlands. March 2021. - The Explanatory Nature of Constraints: Law-based, Mathematical, and
Causal.
FraMEPhys (A Framework for Metaphysical Explanation in Physics) (video link)
Philosophy Dept., University of Birmingham. January 2021. - Causal Concepts in Biology: Distinguishing Pathways from Mechanisms.
Philosophy of Biology at the Mountains (POBAM) Workshop: Keynote Address
University of Utah. Salt Lake City, Utah. May 2018. - The Doctrine of Specific Etiology: The Influence of Germ Theory on Modern Medicine.
Medical Humanities Series
Irvine, California; January 2018. - Causal Concepts in Biology: How Pathways Differ From Mechanisms and Why it Matters.
Le Centre national de la recherche scientifique (CNRS), University of Bordeaux.
Bordeaux, France; November 2018. - The Doctrine of Specific Etiology.
Le Centre national de la recherche scientifique (CNRS), University of Bordeaux.
Bordeaux, France; November 2018. - Causal Heterogeneity and the Final Common Pathway Model.
Canadian Philosophical Association (CPA).
University of Calgary. Calgary, Canada. June 2016.
presentations
The full list of my presentations is available in my CV.
books
Cambridge University Press
Oxford University Press