Michael Craig Weisberg (born October 20, 1976) is an American philosopher of science, currently Bess W. Heyman President's Distinguished Professor and Chair of Philosophy at the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universit ...

, where he also co-directs the Galápagos Education and Research Alliance. He is also Senior Faculty Fellow and Director of Postgraduate Programs for Perry World House and a Non-resident Senior Advisor for the

International Peace Institute The International Peace Institute (IPI, formerly the International Peace Academy) is an independent non-profit lobby group based in New York (beside the headquarters of the United Nations, with which IPI works closely). The institute has regiona ...

Education and career

Weisberg earned both a B.S. in chemistry and a B.A. in philosophy in 1999 from the

University of California, San Diego The University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego or colloquially, UCSD) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in San Diego, California. Established in 1960 near the pre-existing Scripps Insti ...

, where he studied with

Philip Kitcher Philip Stuart Kitcher (born 20 February 1947) is a British philosopher who is John Dewey Professor Emeritus of philosophy at Columbia University. He specialises in the philosophy of science, the philosophy of biology, the philosophy of mat ...

. He earned his Ph.D. in philosophy in 2003 at Stanford University under the supervision of

Peter Godfrey-Smith Peter Godfrey-Smith (born 1965) is an Australian philosopher of science and writer, who is currently Professor of History and Philosophy of Science at the University of Sydney. He works primarily in philosophy of biology and philosophy of mind, ...

. He has taught at the

since 2003. Weisberg is the

editor-in-chief An editor-in-chief (EIC), also known as lead editor or chief editor, is a publication's editorial leader who has final responsibility for its operations and policies. The highest-ranking editor of a publication may also be titled editor, managing ...

of the

peer-review Peer review is the evaluation of work by one or more people with similar competencies as the producers of the work (peers). It functions as a form of self-regulation by qualified members of a profession within the relevant field. Peer review ...

ed journal ''

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 b ...

''.

Philosophical work

Weiseberg is known for his research in

philosophy of science Philosophy of science is a branch of philosophy concerned with the foundations, methods, and implications of science. The central questions of this study concern what qualifies as science, the reliability of scientific theories, and the ulti ...

, especially the relationship between idealization and the use of models in biology and chemistry, as well as his work in social ecology and global climate policy. He has also studied

public understanding of science Public awareness of science (PAwS) is everything relating to the awareness, attitudes, behaviors, opinions, and activities that comprise the relations between the general public or lay society as a whole to scientific knowledge and organization. ...

References

External links

Personal faculty website
* {{US-philosopher-stub Living people 1976 births Academic journal editors Philosophers of science University of Pennsylvania faculty Stanford University alumni University of California, San Diego alumni 21st-century American philosophers