Research
My research is in the philosophy of science and early analytic philosophy. I have a particular interest in philosophical issues that came into focus between 1880 and 1920—the period that encompassed the transition from classical to modern physics and the emergence of modern logic. In philosophy of science my interests include interpretations of classical mechanics and accounts of geometrical representation before and after general relativity. In early analytic philosophy my interests include contrasting conceptions of logical analysis, particularly the evolution of Wittgenstein’s conception of analysis. A unifying theme in my research is the topic of representation—from the particular question of how mathematical geometry represents physical space, to the broader question of how to identify the representative content of a scientific theory, to the overarching question of how formal and natural languages represent the world.
My dissertation provides a novel interpretation of Heinrich Hertz’s major work, Principles of Mechanics, and argues that Hertz’s conception of analysis in Principles was a precedent for Wittgenstein’s conception of analysis in the Tractatus. This addresses an entrenched debate concerning whether the Tractatus includes an ontological theory. I argue that, despite certain appearances to the contrary, neither Hertz nor Wittgenstein was aiming to reveal fundamental ontological structure. Rather, their goal was to display the essential features of ordinary descriptions (in classical mechanics and in natural language respectively). The second chapter of my dissertation appears in Studies in History and Philosophy of Modern Physics (the pre-print is available here). An abstract of my dissertation is included on my CV.
For details of further research projects, please click on the boxes below.
My dissertation provides a novel interpretation of Heinrich Hertz’s major work, Principles of Mechanics, and argues that Hertz’s conception of analysis in Principles was a precedent for Wittgenstein’s conception of analysis in the Tractatus. This addresses an entrenched debate concerning whether the Tractatus includes an ontological theory. I argue that, despite certain appearances to the contrary, neither Hertz nor Wittgenstein was aiming to reveal fundamental ontological structure. Rather, their goal was to display the essential features of ordinary descriptions (in classical mechanics and in natural language respectively). The second chapter of my dissertation appears in Studies in History and Philosophy of Modern Physics (the pre-print is available here). An abstract of my dissertation is included on my CV.
For details of further research projects, please click on the boxes below.