Faculty & Staff
Marco J. Nathan
Associate Professor
Sturm Hall 264
2000 E. Asbury Ave.
Phone: 303-871-2767
Email: marco.nathan@du.edu
Areas of expertise/research interests
- Philosophy of Science, Philosophy of Biology, Philosophy of Neuroscience, Psychology and Cognitive Science (AOS)
- Philosophy of Mind and Language, Logic, Philosophy of Economics, Metaphysics, Epistemology (AOC)
Current research and projects
My main area of research is the philosophy of science, with particular emphasis on the fields of biology, psychology, neuroscience, and economics. In the philosophy of biology, I have published various articles on how empirical advances in the fields of molecular biology, molecular medicine, and evolutionary theory reshape central concepts in general philosophy of science, such as causation, explanation, counterfactuals, dispositions, and unification. In the philosophy of psychology, I have analyzed how advancements in neuroimaging ( focusing, in particular, on reverse inference ) can support and develop our current cognitive theories. I am currently working on applying his views to the fields of neuroeconomics and decision-making. Specifically, I am writing a book on how the process of "black-boxing” works in the natural and social sciences. This monograph bring together, develops, and extends some of my views on biology, psychology, and economics. I have recently co-edited a collection of articles, in collaboration with Giovanni Boniolo, entitled Philosophy of Molecular Medicine: Foundational Issues in Research and Practice, published by Routledge in 2017.
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. In addition, I've held visiting appointment in the Foundations and Ethics of the Life Sciences program at the European School of Molecular Medicine, at the University of Urbino (Italy), and at the University of Macau. 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, and in 2013, I received the Columbia University Graduate School of Arts and Sciences Distinguished Dissertation Award.
Education
PhD, Columbia University
MA/BA, University of Milan
Publications
- "Pluralism is the Answer! What is the Question?" Philosophy and Theory in Biology (forthcoming).
- "An Ecological Approach to Modeling Disability" Bioethics (Online first), (with J.M. Brown).
- "The Nature of Species in Evolution" (with J. Cracraft) to appear in S. Scheiner and D. Mindel (eds), The Theory of Evolution, University of Chicago Press
- "Unificatory Explanation," British Journal for the Philosophy of Science, 68(1), pp. 163-86, 2017.
- "The Future of Cognitive Neuroscience? Reverse Inference in Focus" (with G. Del Pinal), Philosophy Compass 12, e12427, 2017.
- Counterfactual Reasoning in Molecular Medicine" In Boniolo & Nathan (eds.) Philosophy of Molecular Medicine: Foundational Issues in Theory and Practice, New York: Routledge, 2017.
- "Introduction" (with G. Boniolo). In G. Boniolo & M.J. Nathan (eds.) Philosophy of Molecular Medicine: Foundational Issues in Theory and Practice, pp. 1-12, New York: Routledge, 2017.
- "Can There Be Science Without Philosophy?" (with C. Zoccali & D. Brancaccio) Nephrology Dialysis Transplantation 31, pp. 1977-81, 2016.
-
"
Causality at the Dawn of the 'Omics' Era in Medicine and Nephrology" (with C. Zoccali & D. Brancaccio)
Nephrology Dialysis Transplantation 31, pp. 1381-85, 2016.
- "Two Kinds of Reverse Inference in Cognitive Neuroscience" (with G. Del Pinal) in Leefman & Hildt (eds.) The Human Sciences after the Decade of the Brain, Elsevier, pp. 121-39, 2017.
- "The Idealization of Causation in Mechanistic Explanation" (with A.C. Love, Philosophy of Science 82, pp. 761-74, 2015.
- "Redundant Causality and Robustness" Minnesota Studies in the Philosophy of Science (forthcoming)
- "Mapping the Mind: Bridge Laws and the Psycho-Neural Interface" Synthese, 193, pp. 637-57 (with G. Del Pinal)
- "A Simulacrum Account of Dispositional Properties," Nous, 49 (2), pp. 253-74, 2015, doi: 10.1111/nous.12031
- "Should a Scientist Be Elegant?" Hektoen International, 7(1), 2015, with D. Brancaccio
- "Molecular Ecosystems," Biology and Philosophy 29(1), pp. 101-22, 2014 doi: 10.1007/s10539-013-9400-4
- "There and Up Again. On the Uses and Misuses of Neuroimaging in Psychology," Cognitive Neuropsychology, 30(4), pp. 233-52, 2013 (with G. Del Pinal) dx.doi.org/10.1080/02643294.2013.846254
- "Causation by Concentration," British Journal for the Philosophy of Science, 55(2), pp. 191-212, 2014, doi:10.1093/bjps/axr056
- "Development and Natural Kinds: Some Lessons from Biology," Synthese, 191, pp. 539-56, 2014 (with A. Borghini).
- "The Importance of Being Elegant. A Discussion of Elegance in Nephrology and Biomedical Science" (with D. Brancaccio) Nephrology Dialysis Transplantation 28, pp. 135-88, 2013
- "Ectopic Breast Cancer: History, Literature Review, Case Report and Perspective Suggestions," Aesthetic Plastic Surgery 37(4), pp. 746-49, 2013 (with E. Francone, F. Murelli, M.S. Bruno, E. Traverso and D. Friedman)
- "The Varieties of Molecular Explanation," Philosophy of Science, 79(2), 233-54 (2012)
Edited Volumes
- Philosophy of Molecular Medicine: Foundational Issues in Theory and Practice, Routledge, 2016 (forthcoming) co-edited with Giovanni Boniolo. A preprint of the introduction (including a table of contents and a list of contributors) may be downloaded here.
CV
A copy of my CV (pdf) can be downloaded here.
For more information, please visit my Academia.edu webpage.