Areas of Specialization
- Philosophy of Science
- Philosophy of Biology
- Value Theory
Areas of Competence
- Metaphysics
- Philosophy of Probability
- Philosophy of the Environment
- Logic/Critical Thinking
Academic Employment
- Associate Professor of Philosophy in the Department of Social Sciences and Humanities–Missouri Western State University (May, 2021 – present)
- Assistant Professor of Philosophy in the Department of Social Sciences and Humanities–Missouri Western State University (August, 2016 – May 2021)
- Postdoctoral Fellow in the Program for History and Philosophy of Science–University of Notre Dame (August, 2014 – May, 2016)
Education
- Ph.D. Philosophy, University of Maryland, College Park (2014)
- Dissertation: Mechanism and Chance: Toward an Account of Stochastic Mechanism for the Life Sciences
- Dissertation Committee: Lindley Darden (director), Aidan Lyon, Mathias Frisch, Peter Carruthers, Jessica Pfeifer
- M.A. Philosophy, Western Michigan University (2008)
- B.A. Philosophy, University of Puget Sound (2004)
Peer-Reviewed Publications
- “Vindicating Metaethical Naturalism: A Case for Final Causes in the Life Sciences (2023) Southwest Philosophy Review (39): 175-182
- “Causal Inference from Noise” with Nevin Climenhaga and Grant Ramsey (2021) Noûs 55 (1):152-170
- “Natural Selection and Mechanistic Regularity” (2016) Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences 57: 13-23
- “Toward a Propensity Interpretation of Stochastic Mechanism for the Life Sciences” (2015) Synthese. 192 (9):2921-2953.
- “Against Regular and Irregular Characterizations of Mechanisms” (2011) Philosophy of Science 78 (5): 914-925.
- “Sober and Elgin on Laws of Biology: A Critique” (2010) Biology and Philosophy 25:249-256.
Book Chapters
- “Mechanisms in Evolutionary Biology” (2018) Routledge Handbook of Philosophy of Mechanisms, Eds. Stuart Glennan and Phyllis Illari. 296-307.
Articles in Preparation
- Paper on Modal Explanation (with Grant Ramsey)
- Paper on Extending Evolutionary Individuality (with Caleb Hazelwood)
- Paper on Final Causes in the Life Sciences
Selected Presentations
- “Final Cause Explanations in Life Science” Canadian Society for History and Philosophy of Science Meeting, University of Alberta, Canada (May 2021)
- “The Case for Final Causes in the Life Sciences” International Society for the History, Philosophy, and Social Studies of Biology Meeting, Oslo, Norway (July 2019)
- “Dismantling the Holobiont Problem for Evolutionary Individuality” Philosophy of Science Association Biannual Meeting: Poster Session, Seattle, Washington (Nov 2018)
- “Extended Evolutionary Individuality: an Appeal to Multi-dimensional Heredity” Generalized Theory of Evolution Conference, University of Düsseldorf, Germany (Feb 2018)
- “Noise Inference Methods” Perspectives on Scientific Error, Tilburg, Netherlands (June 2017)
- “Ethics of Data Tagging for Big Data Science: A Case-Study on Racial Identifiers” SciDataCon, Denver (September 2016)
- “Natural Selection as a Mechanism: Process vs. Product Regularity” American Philosophical Association Central Division Meeting, Chicago (March 2016)
- “Causal-Possibility Explanations” (with Grant Ramsey) European Philosophy of Science Association Meeting, Düsseldorf, Germany (September 2015)
- “On the Role of Unactualized Possibilities in Biological Explanation” International Society for the History, Philosophy, and Social Studies of Biology Meeting, Montreal, Canada (July 2015)
- “Thinking about Stochastic Mechanisms” Invited Brown-bag Lecture, Program for the History and Philosophy of Science at the University of Notre Dame (November 2014)
- “Toward a Propensity Interpretation of Stochastic Mechanism for the Life Sciences” European Philosophy of Science Association, Helsinki, Finland (August 2013)
- “Grounding Probabilistic Generalizations in the Life Sciences: A Propensity Interpretation of Stochastic Mechanism,” International Society for the History, Philosophy, and Social Studies of Biology Meeting, Montpellier, France (July 2013)
- “Mechanism and Chance” University of Pittsburg/Carnegie Mellon University Graduate Student Conference (April 2013)
- “A Propensity Interpretation of Stochastic Mechanism: Lessons from Fitness, Selection, and Drift”, DC History and Philosophy of Biology Meeting, (March 2013)
- “Mechanism and Chance: Toward a Working Account of Stochastic Mechanism”, DC History and Philosophy of Biology Meeting, (June 2012)
- “Mechanisms, Regularity, and Stochasticity”, Invited Distinguished Alumni Speaker, Western Michigan University Graduate Conference, (Winter 2011)
- “Relocating Objectivity in Environment Ethics: an Appeal to Objective Reasons”; International Society for the History, Philosophy, and Social Studies of Biology Meeting, Salt Lake City, Utah, (Summer 2011)
- “Against Regular and Irregular Characterizations of Mechanisms”; Philosophy of Science Association Meeting, Montreal, Canada (Fall 2010)
Teaching Experience
- Missouri Western State University
- Ethics
- Introduction to Philosophy
- History and Philosophy of the Natural Sciences
- Philosophy of Biology
- Technology and Society
- Advanced topics in Philosophy of Evolutionary Biology
- Honors Colloquium on Free Will and Determinism
- Honors Colloquium on Freedom, Identity, and the Self
- Advanced topics in Ethical Theory: Metaethics
- Advanced topics in Practical Ethics: Immigration
- University of Notre Dame
- Philosophy and Biology
- Philosophy of Science
- Philosophy of Science (Graduate Survey Course)
- Mechanisms (Graduate Seminar)
- University of Maryland, College Park
- Metaphysics
- Philosophy of the Environment
- Philosophy of the Environment (Online Course)
- Western Michigan University
- Critical Reasoning
- Introduction to Ethics
Honors and Awards
- MWSU Award for Academic Advisor of the Year (2023)
- MWSU Student Honors Association Award for Most Influential Professor (2023)
- Alpha Chi Faculty Compass Award for Most Influential Professor (2019)
- LAS Faculty Development Award, Missouri Western State University (2016)
- Distinguished Graduate Student Teacher Award, University of Maryland, College Park (2014)
- International Society for the History, Philosophy, and Social Studies of Biology Student Travel Grant (2013)
- International Conference Student Support Award, University of Maryland, College Park (2013)
- Jacob K. Goldhaber Travel Grant, University of Maryland, College Park (2013)
- Moreland Perkins Graduate Fellowship, University of Maryland, College Park (2013)
- Brian Hull Award for the Best First Year Graduate Student (Co-recipient), University of Maryland, College Park (2011)
- History of Science Society Travel Grant for PSA Montreal (2010)
- Full-time Graduate Assistantship and Tuition Remission, University of Maryland, College Park (2009 – present)
- Full-time Graduate Assistantship and Tuition Remission, Western Michigan University (2006-2008).
- 2nd Place in Western Michigan University’s Annual Philosophy Essay Contest: “Defending Motivational Humeanism” (2008)
- D.H. Harder Humanities Scholarship, University of Puget Sound (2000).
- Dean’s Scholarship for Academic Merit, University of Puget Sound (2000).
Service
- MWSU Bachelor of General Studies Degree Coordinator (Fall 2022- Present)
- MWSU Ad Hoc Committee for General Studies Assessment (Fall 2019- Present)
- MWSU Western Excellence Award Committee Member (Fall 2019- Present)
- MWSU Academy for General Studies Assessment Participant (Fall 2018)
- MWSU General Studies Committee Secretary (2018-2019)
- Missouri Western Online Teaching Committee Member (2016)
- Missouri Western Peer Review/Syllabi Committee Member (2016)
- Notre Dame HPS Qualifying Paper Oral Examiner (2015)
- Philosophy Graduate Representative on the Advisory Panel for Arts and Humanities: Undergraduates Interested in Pursuing Graduate School (2012, 2013)
- Graduate Student Representative on the Program Review Committee for the Department of Philosophy at the University of Maryland, College Park (2013)
- Representative to the Dean’s Graduate Advisory Board (2011 – 2013)
- Committee Member, Referee, and Principal Organizer of the First Annual Western Michigan Graduate Student Philosophy Conference (2007).
Journal Refereeing
- Philosophy Compass
- Philosophy of Science
- Studies in History and Philosophy of Science
- Journal Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences
- British Journal for the Philosophy of Science
- Journal for General Philosophy of Science
- Philosophical Psychology
- Biology and Philosophy
- Synthese
Lane DesAutels 