About me

I am a philosopher of science working mainly on evolutionary theory, scientific explanations, classification in the sciences, natural kinds, connections between classification and nature conservation, and research ethics and responsibility. Officially I am Professor of Philosophy of Science and Technology in the Institute of Philosophy at Leibniz Universität Hannover, with a cross appointment as Professor in the Centre for Ethics and Law in the Life Sciences (CELLS). Next to the day job I also am: Associated Faculty in the Socially Engaged Philosophy of Science Group (SEPOS) at Michigan State University; an elected Fellow of The Linnean Society of London; Council Member of the International Society for the History, Philosophy and Social Studies of Biology (ISHPSSB); a founding member and current member of the Steering Committee of the German Society for the Philosophy of Science (Gesellschaft für Wissenschaftsphilosophie, GWP); one of three founders and Editors in Chief of the Springer book series History, Philosophy and Theory of the Life Sciences; and one of three Editors in Chief of the Journal for General Philosophy of Science.

 

I come from The Hague on the Dutch North Sea coast. I was educated at Aloysius College and Leiden University, and I am an alumnus of L.V.V.S. Augustinus in Leiden. I divide my time between East Lansing, Michigan, and Hannover, Germany. But: Zoo ik ièts ben, ben ik een Hagenaar.

 

(Banner picture: sunrise over Maumee Bay, Lake Erie, seen from Lost Peninsula, Toledo, Ohio; smaller picture: some friends and I at the Eastern Market in Detroit.)

 

about The hannover philosophy of the life sciences group

At my university I run a small working group in the philosophy of the life sciences ("the Reydon Lab", I suppose). The group currently consists of the following people:

  • Karim Baraghith (postdoc in the DFG-ANR project The Explanatory Scope of Generalized Darwinism).
  • Hugh Desmond (postdoc in the Templeton project Agency and Agential Explanation in the Evolutionary Sciences).
  • Martina Valković (PhD student in the DFG-ANR project The Explanatory Scope of Generalized Darwinism).
  • Ina Gawel (PhD student funded by DFG GRK 2073).
  • Martin Wasmer (PhD student in the BMBF project The Ontological Status of Genome Edited Organisms).
  • Koko Kwisda (PhD student, not on project funding).
  • Frank M. Fischer (PhD student, not on project funding). 

Alumni:

  • Stefano Canali (former PhD student funded by DFG GRK 2073). Dissertation: The Role of Data and Technology in Contemporary Biomedicine: Integrating Evidence to Study the Relation Between Disease and the Environment (co-supervised with Sabina Leonelli). After his PhD and a follow-up postdoc in Hannover, Stefano landed a postdoc position at the Politecnico di Milano.
  • Celso Neto (former PhD student, not on project funding). Dissertation: Biological Lineages in Philosophical Focus. Celso started his PhD in Hannover, moved to finish his PhD at the University of Calgary under the supervision of Marc Ereshefsky (and me as a committee member) and from there went on to a postdoc position at Dalhousie University.
  • Yasmin Bauer (former Master's student, M.Ed. with Philosophy major). Thesis: Evolutionary Genealogies of Morality.
  • Antonio Juračić (former Master's student, M.A. Philosophy of Science). Thesis: Does Our Existence Truly Precede Our Nature? Existentialism vs. Genetic Determinism.
  • Philipp Kloth (former Master's student, M.A. Philosophy of Science). Thesis: Big Data in der Biologie: Epistemologie und praktische Herausforderungen.
  • Vitor Lécio Fontanella (former Master's student, M.A. Philosophy of Science). Thesis: Understanding and Its Transmission in Science Education.
  • Verena Pröll (former Master's student, M.A. Philosophy of Science). Thesis: Limitarianism for Future: How Limiting Wealth Could Lead to a More Just and Sustainable Society.
  • Anna Weiß (former Master's student, M.A. Philosophy of Science). Thesis: Über Entscheidungskriterien in der Risikoethik.
  • Kathrin Wysocki (former Master's student, M.Ed. with Philosophy major). Thesis: Species Pluralism: Epistemological Justifiability of Different Approaches.

 

CONTACT

Institute of Philosophy

Leibniz Universität Hannover

Lange Laube 6 (Room 217)

30159 Hannover, Germany

Email: reydon [at] ww [dot] uni-hannover.de

Web:  LUH Institute of Philosophy

Map: here

 

Centre for Ethics and Law in the Life Sciences (CELLS)

Leibniz Universität Hannover

Otto-Brenner-Straße 1 (Room 811)

30159 Hannover, Germany

Email: thomas [dot] reydon [at] cells [dot] uni-hannover.de

Web: CELLS

Map: here