Lee Cameron McIntyre (born 1962) is an American author, researcher, and academic. He is a

research fellow A research fellow is an academic research position at a university or a similar research institution, usually for academic staff or faculty members. A research fellow may act either as an independent investigator or under the supervision of a p ...

at the Center for Philosophy and History of Science at

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a Private university, private research university in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. BU was founded in 1839 by a group of Boston Methodism, Methodists with its original campus in Newbury (town), Vermont, Newbur ...

and an instructor in ethics at

Harvard Extension School Harvard Extension School (HES) is the Continuing education, continuing education School of Harvard University, a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1910, it is o ...

. He has published numerous nonfiction book and articles on the philosophy of the social sciences and attempts to undermine science. In 2023, he became a fellow with the

Committee for Skeptical Inquiry The Committee for Skeptical Inquiry (CSI), formerly known as the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal (CSICOP), is a program within the U.S. non-profit organization Center for Inquiry (CFI), which seeks to " ...

Early life

McIntyre was born in 1962 in

Portland, Oregon Portland ( ) is the List of cities in Oregon, most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon, located in the Pacific Northwest region. Situated close to northwest Oregon at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, ...

. He earned a

B.A. A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree ...

philosophy of social science Philosophy of social science examines how social science integrates with other related scientific disciplines, which implies a rigorous, systematic endeavor to build and organize knowledge relevant to the interaction between individual people and ...

from

Wesleyan University Wesleyan University ( ) is a Private university, private liberal arts college, liberal arts university in Middletown, Connecticut, United States. It was founded in 1831 as a Men's colleges in the United States, men's college under the Methodi ...

and an

M.A. A Master of Arts ( or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA or AM) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Those admitted to the degree have ...

and Ph.D. in

philosophy Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

from the

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

. McIntyre's doctoral dissertation was on the status of law-like explanations in the

social sciences Social science (often rendered in the plural as the social sciences) is one of the branches of science, devoted to the study of society, societies and the Social relation, relationships among members within those societies. The term was former ...

Career

From 1991 to 1992, McIntyre was a research associate at the

Boston University Center for Philosophy and History of Science Boston University Center for Philosophy and History of Science is an interdepartmental, interuniversity forum on the nature of science, and each year organizes the Boston Colloquium for Philosophy of Science. History The Center for Philosophy and ...

. In 1992, he was a visiting lecturer at

Tufts Tufts University is a private research university in Medford and Somerville, Massachusetts, United States, with additional facilities in Boston and Grafton, as well as Talloires, France. Tufts also has several Doctor of Physical Therapy progr ...

Experimental College. He was an assistant professor of philosophy at

Colgate University Colgate University is a Private university, private college in Hamilton, New York, United States. The Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college was founded in 1819 as the Baptist Education Society of the State of New York ...

from 1993 to 1999. McIntyre was a visiting scholar at the

Santa Fe Institute The Santa Fe Institute (SFI) is an independent, nonprofit theoretical research institute located in Santa Fe, New Mexico, United States and dedicated to the multidisciplinary study of the fundamental principles of complex adaptive systems, inc ...

in 1997. In 2000, McIntyre became a special assistant to the executive dean of the faculty and arts and sciences at

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

. In addition, he was an instructor of ethics at the

and was the executive director of the Institute for Quantitative Social Science at

. He is a research fellow at the Boston University Center for Philosophy and History of Science. McIntyre was an associate editor in the research department of the

Federal Reserve Bank of Boston The Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, commonly known as the Boston Fed, is responsible for the First District of the Federal Reserve, which covers New England: Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Vermont and all of Connecticut excep ...

. In 2023, he became a fellow with the

Body of work

Nonfiction books

Many of McIntyre's nonfiction books are concerned with the nature of scientific knowledge generation and validation. These include ''Explaining Explanation: Essays in the Philosophy of the Special Sciences,'' ''Laws and Explanation in the Social Sciences'', ''Dark Ages: The Case for a Science of Human Behavior'', and ''Respecting Truth: Willful Ignorance in the Internet Age''. In his 2018 book ''Post-Truth'', he explored the environment and "atmosphere" surrounding the concept of post-truth. Carlos Lozada, reviewer for ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

'', wrote that ''Post-Truth'' "convincingly tracks how intelligent-design proponents and later climate deniers drew from postmodernism to undermine public perceptions of evolution and climate change." In his 2019 book, ''The Scientific Attitude: defending science from denial, fraud, and pseudoscience'', McIntyre describes scientific thinking and the

demarcation problem In philosophy of science and epistemology, the demarcation problem is the question of how to distinguish between science and non-science. It also examines the boundaries between science, pseudoscience and other products of human activity, like ...

as a willingness to revise an opinion after discovering new evidence. ''

Publishers Weekly ''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of ...

'' said that the book "articulates why the pursuit of scientific truths, even if inevitably flawed and subject to human error, matters."

Harriet Hall Harriet A. Hall (July 2, 1945 – January 11, 2023) was an American family medicine, family physician, U.S. Air Force flight surgeon, author, Science communication, science communicator, and scientific skepticism, skeptic. She wrote about alterna ...

reviewed the book for ''

Skeptical Inquirer Magazine ''Skeptical Inquirer'' (S.I.) is a bimonthly American general-audience magazine published by the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry (CSI) with the subtitle "The Magazine for Science and Reason". The magazine initially focused on investigating clai ...

'' and wrote that MacIntyre tries to explain science by explaining what it is not. ''The Scientific Attitude'' was also reviewed in ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

''. MacIntyre was also the co-editor of three anthologies: ''Readings in the Philosophy of Social Science'', ''Philosophy of Chemistry'', and ''Philosophy of Chemistry, 2nd edition''.

Essays and articles

McIntyre is the author of numerous philosophical essays that have appeared in ''

Biology and Philosophy ''Biology & Philosophy'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal that publishes articles about philosophy of biology, broadly understood to span conceptual, theoretical, and methodological issues in the biological sciences. The journal was founded by ...

'', ''

The Chronicle of Higher Education ''The Chronicle of Higher Education'' is an American newspaper and website that presents news, information, and jobs for college and university faculty and student affairs professionals, including staff members and administrators. A subscription ...

,'' ''

The Humanist ''The Humanist'' is an American bi-monthly magazine published in Washington, D.C. It was founded in 1941 by American Humanist Association. It covers topics in science, religion, media, technology, politics and popular culture and provides ethica ...

'', ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', '' Perspectives on Science, Philosophy of the Social Sciences'', ''

Synthese ''Synthese'' () is a monthly peer-reviewed academic journal covering the epistemology, methodology, and philosophy of science, and related issues. The name ''Synthese'' (from the Dutch for '' synthesis'') finds its origin in the intentions of its f ...

'', '' Teaching Philosophy'', ''

Theory and Decision Theory and Decision is a peer-reviewed multidisciplinary journal of decision science published quarterly by Springer Science+Business Media. It was first published in 1970. The current editor-in-chief is Mohammed Abdellaoui. The journal publishe ...

'', and ''

The Times Higher Education Supplement ''Times Higher Education'' (''THE''), formerly ''The Times Higher Education Supplement'' (''The THES''), is a British magazine reporting specifically on news and issues related to higher education. Ownership TPG Capital acquired TSL Education ...

.'' ''

New Statesman ''The New Statesman'' (known from 1931 to 1964 as the ''New Statesman and Nation'') is a British political and cultural news magazine published in London. Founded as a weekly review of politics and literature on 12 April 1913, it was at first c ...

'' published his article, "Why Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin Lie... and Why They Are So Good At It" in January 2018''.'' His "How to Reverse the Assault on Science" was published in the ''

Scientific American ''Scientific American'', informally abbreviated ''SciAm'' or sometimes ''SA'', is an American popular science magazine. Many scientists, including Albert Einstein and Nikola Tesla, have contributed articles to it, with more than 150 Nobel Pri ...

'' b''log'' in 2019. McIntyre's article "Flat Earthers and the Rise of Science Denial in America" was reprinted as the cover story of ''

Newsweek ''Newsweek'' is an American weekly news magazine based in New York City. Founded as a weekly print magazine in 1933, it was widely distributed during the 20th century and has had many notable editors-in-chief. It is currently co-owned by Dev P ...

'' on July 14, 2019.

Fiction

McIntyre also writes suspense fiction. His novel ''The Sin Eater'' is a thriller published in 2019.

Presentations

Michael Shermer Michael Brant Shermer (born September 8, 1954) is an American science writer, historian of science, executive director of The Skeptics Society, and founding publisher of '' Skeptic'' magazine, a publication focused on investigating pseudoscientif ...

invited McIntyre to present on his program ''Science Salon # 77: The Scientific Attitude: Defending Science from Denial, Fraud, and Pseudoscience''. On March 17–20, 2021, McIntyre presented at the first Global Congress on Scientific Thinking and Action; in his presentation, "Science Denialism", he discussed his conversations with

flat earth Flat Earth is an archaic and scientifically disproven conception of the Figure of the Earth, Earth's shape as a Plane (geometry), plane or Disk (mathematics), disk. Many ancient cultures, notably in the cosmology in the ancient Near East, anci ...

believers, which would become the basis of his book, ''How to Talk to a Science Denier''. He stressed the importance of face-to-face conversations and gaining the trust of the people you are trying to convince.

Awards and recognition

His book ''Post-Truth'' was named book of the week by

Fareed Zakaria Fareed Rafiq Zakaria (; born January 20, 1964) is an Indian-born American journalist, political commentator, and author. He is the host of CNN's '' Fareed Zakaria GPS'' and writes a weekly paid column for ''The Washington Post.'' He has been a c ...

CNN Cable News Network (CNN) is a multinational news organization operating, most notably, a website and a TV channel headquartered in Atlanta. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable ne ...

. It was also the winner of the CHOICE Outstanding Academic Titles for 2018.

Selected publications

Book

Articles

* "Editorial Introduction: Empiricism in the Philosophy of Social Science". ''

''. vol. 97, no. 2 (1993): 159. * "Complexity and Social Scientific Laws". ''

''. vol. 97, no. 2 (1993): 209–227. * "The Case for the Philosophy of Chemistry" with Eric R. Scerri. ''

''. vol. 111, no. 33 (1997): 213–232. *
The Dark Ages of Social Science
. ''

'' (2007)''.'' *
Making Philosophy Matter—or Else
. ''

'' (December 11, 2011). *
The Attack on Truth
. ''

'' (June 8, 2015). *
The Price of Denialism
. ''

'' (November 7, 2015) *
Why Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin Lie... and Why They Are So Good at It
. ''

'' (January 3, 2018) *
Flat Earthers, and the rise of science denial in America
. ''

'' (May 14, 2019). *
How to Reverse the Assault on Science
. ''

''. (May 22, 2019).

References

External links

Lee C. McIntyre homepage

Climate Science in an Age of Misinformation. (YouTube Video) Lecture at University of Rhode Island

Truth in an Era of Fake News - Harvard Humanist Club
(video)
"The Roots of the Post-Truth Era," The Brian Lehrer Show (NPR)

"Fake News Feels Good," The Colin McEnroe Show (NPR)

Lee McIntyre on Post-Truth in Today’s Society (PBS)
{{DEFAULTSORT:McIntyre, Lee C. Boston University faculty 20th-century American philosophers University of Michigan alumni Wesleyan University alumni Living people American philosophers of social science Catlin Gabel School alumni Year of birth missing (living people) Harvard Extension School faculty