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| American Philosopher UCSD's Nancy Cartwright Photo: Farshid Bazmandegan. |
UC San Diego
Professor Recognized as One of World’s Most Influential Living Philosopher
GUEST BLOG / UCSD NEWS /
Asking questions is a matter of course
for University of California, San Diego philosopher Nancy Cartwright. Her
queries include, “What makes something evidence for something else?” and “Does
policy work define outcomes?” For her deep-thought work that “fills in gaps,”
as she explains, Cartwright is recognized as one of the world’s most
influential living philosophers according to The Best Schools, the University
of Edinburgh, and others.
But when
asked how it feels to be among the world’s leading thinkers, Cartwright states:
“If I thought it were true, it would be really great.”
But true it
seems to be of this deep thinker specializing in philosophy and methodology of
natural and social science, according to the stacks of evidence favoring her
exceptionalism.
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CARTWRIGHT
WINS 2017 LEBOWITZ PRIZE
The prize is awarded by the Phi Beta
Kappa Society (PBK) in conjunction with the American Philosophical Association
(APA). The prize is unusual in that its winners “must be two philosophers who
hold contrasting views on a chosen topic of current interest in philosophy,”
according to the APA. The two philosophers will present their views in a public
lecture and at an annual Lebowitz symposium held at one of the APA divisional
meetings.
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Her current work on the nature of
evidence for social and health policy in Britain, for example, led to the
recent publication entitled “Improving Child Safety: Deliberation, Judgement
and Empirical Research” by Cartwright, Eileen Munro, Jeremy Hardie and Eleonora
Montuschi (Centre for Humanities Engaging Science and Society, 2016).
Now, her
questions include “What do we actually learn from a randomized control trial?”
and “When is this information useful for extrapolation into other areas?”
According to Craig Callender, professor and former chair of the UC San Diego
Department of Philosophy, Cartwright has done “some really fantastic work here,”
with Angus Deaton, a recent Nobel Prize winner in Economics. Cartwright has
even been invited to testify on evidence before the British Parliament.
More
empirical proof indicating Cartwright’s excellence includes her recent receipt
of the 2017 Dr. Martin R. Lebowitz and Eve Lewellis Lebowitz Prize for
Philosophical Achievement and Contribution—a top honor recognizing outstanding
achievement in the field—awarded by the Phi Beta Kappa Society and the American
Philosophical Association (APA). She also was recognized this year as the 38th
Carus Lecturer by the APA at its recent annual conference in Seattle.
Jonathan Cohen, professor and chair of the UC San Diego Department of Philosophy said, “It's difficult to overstate the impact of Cartwright's research. For decades, she has set the intellectual agenda internationally on a diverse range of topics from scientific lawhood to causation to objectivity and evidence,” he said. “In all of these areas, Cartwright has changed the way philosophy is done by trenchantly and persuasively insisting that adequate accounts must make contact with and do justice to the practice of working scientists.”
Callender
supported this claim, affirming Cartwright’s major influence on philosophy of
science for almost five decades. “Where Nancy goes, the field has followed.
Broadly speaking, she has moved from philosophy of the natural sciences to
philosophy of the social sciences, in particular, from quantum mechanics to
economics,” he said.
Cartwright
began her career working in philosophy of quantum mechanics in the early 1970s,
a time when the field was composed almost entirely of men with beards, noted
Callender. “Today, that’s still true about the field. It couldn’t have been
easy for her,” he said. “But she thrived; and if the field is any more inviting
now, it’s because of the path she forged.”
Specializing
in causal inference, modeling and evidence-based policy, Cartwright’s
contributions to the field include work on laws of nature, scientific practice
and explanation.
“She showed
that the model of science linking these three things...often still taught in
schools...isn't at all right,” said Callender. “More than anyone else, she has
pushed the picture of science as disunified, a kind of patchwork of models
rather than a unity of method and laws.”
“What I most
admire about her intellectually is that she insists on working on philosophy
that matters. By spending time talking only to other philosophers, the subject
can become sterile and insular. Nancy doesn't fall into this trap,” noted
Callender. “Having what matters—to science, to society—always firmly in focus,
she picks new and important problems. Apart from intelligence, hard work, and
so on, I think this focus has been the key to her success.”
Cartwright
is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, a MacArthur Fellow, a
Fellow of the British Academy and Professor Emeritus at the London School of
Economics. She was honored by the University of St. Andrews in Scotland during
its 600th anniversary, along with Hillary Clinton and Dame Jane Goodall, and
Cartwright serves as co-director of the Centre for Humanities Engaging Science
and Society (CHESS) at Durham University in England, where she teaches part
time. Additionally, her distinctions include past president of the Philosophy
of Science Association, former president of the APA, former member of the U.S.
National Research Council’s Committee on Developing a Research Agenda for
Social Science Evidence for Use, and the list goes on.
Besides her
professional excellence, Cartwright also stands out in a more personal way.
According to Cohen, not only is Cartwright a world-leading, highly influential
and widely lauded scholar, she is also an inspiring teacher and advisor who
cares deeply about students.
“She is
generous with her time and support to students at all levels, and works
tirelessly on their behalf,” said Cohen. “She is a great friend to generations
of teachers, students and colleagues around the world.”
Callender
concurred. “Somehow she has turned most of her graduate students and colleagues
into a warm extended family, touching the lives as well as the intellects of
dozens of philosophers.”
While
Cartwright might not own up to her description as a most influential
philosopher or a “force of nature,” as Callender calls her, she does admit her
regard for students. “I love the students,” she said. “I still cry at
graduation.”
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The
Department of Philosophy in the No. 23 globally ranked Division of Arts and
Humanities at UC San Diego has grown to become an internationally ranked
department, committed to the highest standards of teaching and research. The
department strongly advocates interdisciplinary work, and it has close research
and teaching connections to a wide range of fields, including history, physics,
classical studies, psychology, linguistics, political science, biology, law,
mathematics and more. Graduates of its Ph.D. program are successfully placed in
top departments across the country and abroad.
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