My research focuses on central issues in the philosophy of science and metaphysics, including topics in the philosophy of physics and biology. Much of this work revolves around epistemological debates concerning scientific realism (especially versions of entity realism and structural realism), antirealism, and empiricism, as well as metaphysical issues such as the nature of dispositions, causation, laws of nature, and natural kinds. My current work concerns scientific models, representation, and attendant issues such as the nature of abstraction and idealization, and the consequences these practices have for concepts such as knowledge and truth, as well as the relationship between science, metaphysics, and the philosophy of science.
PUBLICATIONS
3. 'Ancient Skepticism, Voluntarism, and Science', International Journal for the Study of Skepticism (forthcoming).
2. 'Explanation, Inference, Testimony, and Truth: Essays Dedicated to the Memory of Peter Lipton', Studies in History and Philosophy of Science (ed.) (2010).
1. A Metaphysics for Scientific Realism: Knowing the Unobservable (2007), Cambridge University Press.
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27. 'Suspension of Belief and Epistemologies of Science', International Journal for the Study of Skepticism' (forthcoming).
26. ‘Saving the Scientific Phenomena: What Powers Can and Cannot Do’, in J. D. Jacobs (ed.), Putting Powers to Work, Oxford University Press (forthcoming). [PDF]
25. ‘Dispositions for Scientific Realism’, in J. Greco & R. Groff (eds.), Powers and Capacities in Philosophy: The New Aristotelianism, Routledge (forthcoming). [PDF]
24. ‘On the Prospects of Naturalized Metaphysics’, in D. Ross, J. Ladyman, & H. Kincaid (eds.), Scientific Metaphysics, Oxford University Press (forthcoming). [PDF]
23. ‘Sur l’existence des lois: les pouvoirs causaux dans la nature’, in B. Feltz (ed.), La nature en éclats, Bibliothèque philosophique de Louvain, Peeters (forthcoming). [PDF]
22. 'Realism in the Desert and in the Jungle: Reply to French, Ghins, and Psillos', Erkenntnis (forthcoming). [PDF]
21. 'Truth and the Sciences', in M. Glanzberg (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Truth, Oxford University Press (forthcoming). [PDF]
20. 'Ontological Priority: The Conceptual Basis of Non-Eliminative, Ontic Structural Realism', in E. M. Landry & D. P. Rickles (eds.), Structural Realism: Structure, Object, and Causality (2012), Western Ontario Series in Philosophy of Science, Springer. [PDF]
19. 'Scientific Realism: Interview with Anjan Chakravartty', Sophia 14 (2011). [LINK] [PDF]
18. ‘Scientific Realism and Ontological Relativity’, The Monist 94 (2011): 157-180. [PDF]
17. ‘Scientific Realism’, The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (2011). [LINK]
16. 'A Puzzle about Voluntarism about Rational Epistemic Stances', Synthese (2011) 178: 37-48. [PDF]
15. 'Perspectivism, Inconsistent Models, and Contrastive Explanation', Studies in History and Philosophy of Science (2010) 41: 405-412 (A4 column format). [PDF]
14. 'Truth and Representation in Science: Two Inspirations from Art', in R. Frigg & M. C. Hunter (eds.), Beyond Mimesis and Convention: Representation in Art and Science (2010), Boston Studies in the Philosophy of Science, Springer. [PDF]
13. 'Metaphysics Between the Sciences and Philosophies of Science', in P. D. Magnus & J. Busch (eds.) New Waves in Philosophy of Science (2010), Palgrave Macmillan. [PDF]
12. 'Informational versus Functional Theories of Scientific Representation', Synthese (2009) 72: 197-213. [PDF]
11. 'What You Don't Know Can't Hurt You: Realism and the Unconceived', Philosophical Studies (2008) 137: 149-158. [PDF]
10. 'Inessential Aristotle: Powers without Essences', in R. Groff (ed.) Revitalizing Causality: Realism about Causality in Philosophy and Social Science (2008), Routledge. [PDF]
9. 'Six Degrees of Speculation: Metaphysics in Empirical Contexts', in B. Monton (ed.) Images of Empiricism (2007), Oxford University Press. [PDF]
8. 'Causal Realism: Events and Processes', Erkenntnis (2005) 63: 7-31. [PDF]
7. 'Structuralism as a Form of Scientific Realism', International Studies in the Philosophy of Science (2004) 18: 151-171. [PDF]
6. 'Stance Relativism: Empiricism versus Metaphysics', Studies in History and Philosophy of Science (2004) 35: 173-184. [PDF]
5. 'The Structuralist Conception of Objects', Philosophy of Science (2003) 70: 867-878. [PDF]
4. 'The Dispositional Essentialist View of Properties and Laws', International Journal of Philosophical Studies (2003) 11: 393-413.[PDF]
3. 'The Semantic or Model-Theoretic View of Theories and Scientific Realism', Synthese (2001) 127: 325-345. [PDF]
2. 'Semirealism', Studies in History and Philosophy of Science (1998) 29: 391-408. [PDF]
1. Irving, T. C., J. Dunnings, A. Chakravartty, and B. M. Millman, 'The Effect of High pH and Crosslinking on the Filament Lattice of Vertebrate Striated Muscle', Biophysical Journal (1988) 53: 565a.
8. Review of S. Mumford & R. L. Anjum, Getting Causes from Powers, in British Journal for the Philosophy of Science (forthcoming).
7. Review of B. Ellis, The Metaphysics of Scientific Realism, in Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews (2010). [LINK]
6. Review of A. Bird, Nature's Metaphysics: Laws and Properties, in Metascience (2009) 18: 75-79. [PDF]
5. Review of I. Niiniluoto, Critical Scientific Realism, in Philosophy and Phenomenological Research (2005) 69: 227-230. [PDF]
4. Review of E. Agazzi & M. Pauri (eds.), The Reality of the Unobservable: Observability, Unobservability and Their Impact on the Issue of Scientific Realism, in British Journal for the Philosophy of Science (2003) 54: 359-363. [PDF]
3. Review of N. Cartwright, The Dappled World: A Study in the Boundaries of Science, in Philosophy and Phenomenological Research (2003) 66: 244-247. [PDF]
2. Review of C. Norris, Quantum Theory and the Flight From Realism: Philosophical Responses to Quantum Mechanics, in Metascience (2001) 10: 483-487. [PDF]
1. Review of N. Maxwell, The Comprehensibility of the Universe: A New Conception of Science, in Times Higher Education Supplement (1999): 24 September.
Meta-Scientific Ontology: An Enquiry Concerning Naturalist Metaphysics and Voluntarist Epistemology (book in preparation).