Faculty & Staff
Marco J. Nathan
Assistant Professor
Sturm Hall 257
2000 E. Asbury Ave.
Phone: 303-871-2063
Email: marco.nathan@du.edu
Areas of expertise/research interests
- philosophy of science, philosophy of biology (primary interests)
- metaphysics, epistemology, philosophy of mind and language, logic (secondary interests)
Current research and projects
My main areas of research are the philosophy of science and the philosophy of biology.
I am especially interested in how advances in molecular biology reshape central concepts in general philosophy of science, such as causation and explanation. I am also working on a number of independent projects that lie at the interface of philosophy of science, metaphysics and philosophy of mind.
My principal aim is to investigate the nature and foundations of dispositional properties, counterfactuals, natural kinds and psychological states.
Professional biography
I joined the Department of Philosophy at the University of Denver in fall 2012 after completing a PhD in philosophy at Columbia University.
During my graduate studies, I held visiting appointments at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City, and at the Laboratory for Stem Cell Biology and Pharmacology of Neurodegenerative Diseases at the University of Milan.
In 2011, I was awarded the Harriet Zuckerman Dissertation Fellowship in the History, Philosophy and Sociology of Science by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
Education
PhD, Columbia University
MA/BA, University of Milan
Publications
- "A Simulacrum Account of Dispositional Properties" Nous (forthcoming)
- "Development and Natural Kinds: Some Lessons from Biology" Synthese (forthcoming) (with A. Borghini)
- "Ectopic Breast Cancer: History, Literature Review, Case Report and Perspective Suggestions" Aesthetic Plastic Surgery (forthcoming) (with E. Francone, F. Murelli, M.S. Bruno, E. Traverso and D. Friedman)
- "The Importance of Being Elegant. A Discussion of Elegance in Nephrology and Biomedical Science" (with D. Brancaccio) Nephrology Dialysis Transplantation (forthcoming)
- "The Varieties of Molecular Explanation," Philosophy of Science, 79(2), 233-54 (2012)
- "Causation by Concentration," British Journal for the Philosophy of Science (2012), published online doi:10.1093/bjps/axr056