About me

I am a philosopher of science and conceptual theoretical biologist working on conceptual questions in and about the life sciences. My main research interests are 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 and the Centre for Ethics and Law in the Life Sciences (CELLS) at Leibniz Universität Hannover. 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 am from The Hague, die mooie stad achter de duinen 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: Capital City River Run 5k, 2022, Lansing, Michigan.)

 


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