History and Philosophy of Science   

James G. Lennox

Main Fields of Research:
[i] Classical Greek Philosophy and Science
[ii] Darwin and Darwinism
[iii] History and Philosophy of Biology

Other Areas of Interest:
[i] Epistemology
[ii] History and Philosophy of Medicine
[iv] Medical Ethics
[v] Environmental Ethics

Personal Information

UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH:
1977-1978: Instructor, History and Philosophy of Science

1978-1983: Assistant Professor of History and Philosophy of Science

1983-1993: Associate Professor of History and Philosophy of Science

1993-Present: Professor of History and Philosophy of Science

Administrative Appointments:
1993-1996: Department Chair, History and Philosophy of Science

1997-2005: Director, Center for Philosophy of Science

Secondary Appointments:
1978-Present: Department of Philosophy

1980-Present: Resident Fellow, Center for Philosophy of Science

1987-Present: Department of Classics

1990-1997: Faculty Associate, Center for Medical Ethics

1992-Present: Faculty Appointment, Rhetoric of Science Program

Degrees

James G. Lennox, Aristotle's Philosophy of Biology: Studies in the Origins of Life Science (Studies in Biology and Philosophy Series), Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2001a.

James G. Lennox, Aristotle: On the Parts of Animals, translation with introduction and commentary (Clarendon Aristotle Series), Oxford University Press, 2001b.

Gereon Wolters and James G. Lennox, editors, Concepts, Theories, and Rationality in the Biological Sciences, Konstanz University Press and Pittsburgh University Press, Konstanz, 1995.

Mary Louise Gill and James G. Lennox, editors, Self-Motion from Aristotle to Newton, Princeton University Press, Princeton, 1994.

Author of chapter 7, Philosophy of Biology in: Merrilee H. Salmon et al., An Introduction to the Philosophy of Science: A Text by Members of the Department of History and Philosophy of Science of the Universtiy of Pittsburgh , Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, 1992; reprinted Hackett, Indianapolis, 1999 .

Allan Gotthelf and James G. Lennox, editors, Philosophical Issues in Aristotle's Biology, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1987.

Selected Articles

1984
'Recent Philosophical Studies in Aristotle's Biology' Ancient Philosophy , IV [1984] pp. 73-82.

1985
'Demarcating Ancient Science: A Discussion of G.E.R. Lloyd's Science, Folklore and Ideology: the Life Sciences in Ancient Greece ', Oxford Studies in Ancient Philosophy , III [1985] pp. 307-324.

1994
‘Aristotle's Biology: Plain, but not Simple' (a review of D. M. Balme, Aristotle's De Partibus Animalium I and De Generatione Animalium I , revised edition), Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Vol. 25, No. 5 [1994], pp. 817-823.

Comments and Discussions

1978
J. D. G. Evans, Aristotle's Concept of Dialectic , Review of Metaphysics , XXXII [1978] pp. 353-354.

1979
Stephen Gaukroger, Explanatory Structures , Philosophy of Science , 46 [1979] pp. 652-654.

1980
Martha C. Nussbaum, Aristotle's De Motu Animalium , Philosophy of Science , 47 [1980] pp. 156-159.

1982
M. D. Grmek, R. S. Cohen, G. Cimino eds., On Scientific Discovery , Isis , 73 [1982] p. 112.

1983
Johannes Morsink, Aristotle on the Generation of Animals: a Philosophical Study , Isis 74 [1983] pp. 440-441.

1984
C. J. F. Williams, Aristotle's De Generatione et Corruptione , Journal of the History of Philosophy , 22/4 [1984] pp. 472-474.

Michael Ruse, ed., Nature Animated , Isis , 75 [1984] pp. 603-604.

1985
Anthony Preus, Aristotle and Michael of Ephesus on the Movement and Progression of Animals , International Studies in Philosophy , XVII/3 [1985] pp. 81-82.

1986
David Charles, Aristotle's Philosophy of Action , The Philosophical Quarterly , 36/145 [1986] pp. 543-549.

1988
Deborah Modrak, Aristotle: The Power of Perception , Ethics, Vol. 99, No. 1 (October 1988), p. 206.

1991
G. E. R. Lloyd, Problems and Methods in Greek Science: Selected Papers , The Times Literary Supplement [ October 25, 1991].

1993
Lindsay Judson, ed., Aristotle's Physics , Isis Vol 84: 2 [1993] pp. 361-363.

R. J. Hankinson, Method, Medicine and Metaphysics: Studies in the Philosophy of Ancient Science, in Phoenix, 47/1 (Spring), pp. 92-94. [JSTOR]

1994
R. J. Hankinson, Galen: On Therapeutic Method: Books I and II , Ancient Philosophy XIV (Fall 1994), pp. 448-452.

Robert J. Richards, The Meaning of Evolution: The Morphological Construction and Ideological Reconstruction of Darwin's Theory, in Philosophy of Science, 61/4 (December), pp. 673-675. [JSTOR]

1995
Chris Matthew Scriabarra, Ayn Rand: The Russian Radical , IOS Journal Vol. 5, No. 4 (Novemeber 1995), pp. 1-9; Reason Vol. 27, No. 9 (February 1996), pp. 62-65.

1996
David Depew and Bruce Weber, Darwinism Evolving, and Michael Bradie, The Secret Chain, Quarterly Review of Biology, Vol. 71 No. 2 (June 1996) pp. 265-266.

1997
Daniel Dennett, Darwin's Dangerous Idea , Review of Metaphysics , Vol LI (1997), pp. 652-654.

1998
Roger French, Ancient Natural Histories , International Journal of Classical Scholarship , Vol. IV No. 3 (Winter 1998), pp. 470-472.

Robert Mitchell, Nicholas S. Thompson, H. Lyn Miles, eds, Anthropomorphism, Anecdotes, and Animals , Quarterly Review of Biology , Vol. 73 (June 1998), p. 194.

1999
Larry Arnhart, Darwinian Natural Right: The Biological Ethics of Human Nature , Quarterly Review of Biology , Vol. 74 (September 1999), p. 333.

2002
Denis Des Chene, Life's Form: Late Aristotelian Conceptions of the Soul , Isis , Vol 93 (March 2002), 104-105.

2003
Keith Parsons, Drawing Out Leviathan: Dinosaurs and the Science Wars , Metascience , Vol 12 (March 2003), pp. 109-111. 2004

2004
John Dupré, Humans and Other Animals , Philosophical Quarterly 2004, 55, No. 218, pp.130-133.

2005
Viano, Cristina (ed.), Aristoteles Chemicus: Il IV libro dei Meteorologica nella traduizione antica e medievale, in Aestimatio: Critical Reviews in the History of Science 4 (2004) 138-147.

Johansen, Thomas, Plato’s Natural Philosophy, in Classical Review, 56, No. 1, pp 57-59.

Works in Preparation

(Only lectures given since 2000 are listed, from most to least recent. If a lecture has been delivered on more than one occasion, the occasions are listed together.)

• 'Function and History', Quadrennial Fellows Conference of the Center for Philosophy of Science, University of Pittsburgh (July 20-24, 2008); invited lecture, conference on "La notion de fonction: des sciences de la vie à la technologie (The Notion of Function: from the Life Sciences to Technology)", Collège de France (May 21-23, 2008).

• ‘Aristotle’s biology and its relevance to his metaphysics, ethics and politics’: 5 seminars given at the Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Bogotá, Colombia. (September 12-16, 2005).

• ‘The function concept: some history’, Workshop on Functions in Biology and Language, University of Catania, Sicily (May 21, 2005); Conference on Teleology: Ancient and Modern, Toronto, Canada (August 26-28).

• ‘Getting a Science Started: Aristotle on Entry Level Kinds’, University of Bologna, Italy (May 17, 2005); Eötvös University, Budapest, Hungary (June 5, 2004); University of West Virginia (February 12, 2004).

• ‘How not to study natural form: Aristotle on the prospects for a mathematical physics’, University of Texas, Austin (April 29, 2005).

• ‘The Evolution of Darwinian Thought Experiments’, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis (April 16, 2005).

• ‘The Evolution of Darwinian Thought Experiments’; ‘Thought Experiments in Evolutionary Biology Today’, Evolucionismo: Enfoques Actuales, Universidad a Coruña, El Ferrol, Spain (March 10-11, 2005).

• ‘Conceptual’ Teleology in William Harvey’s De Conceptione’, Center for Philosophy of Science, University of Pittsburgh (February 22, 2005).

• ‘Experiment and Conceptual Innovation in William Harvey’s Science’ Philosophy of Science Association, Austin Texas (November 19, 2004).

• ‘The Unity and Purpose of On the Parts of Animals I’, Being, Nature and Life: A Conference Honoring Allan Gotthelf, University of Pittsburgh (October 3, 2004).

• ‘William Harvey on the Goal-directed Nature of Animal Generation', University of Edinbrugh, August 16-18, 2004.

• ‘Invited guest: European Ancient Philosophy Reading Group: On Parts of Animals I. 1: this year the focus of discussion was my translation and commentary of Aristotle’s On the Parts of Animals (April 1-4, 2004).

• Two Lectures to Honors College : 1. ‘Classical Studies: Who Needs It?'; 2. ‘Aristotle: Creator of Life Science': Ashland University : March 4, 2004.

• ‘Aristotle on Entry Level Kinds': West Virginia University, February 12, 2004; Central European University, Budapest Hungary, June 3, 2004.

• ‘Ayn Rand on Concepts, Context and the Advance of Science' Ayn Rand Society of the APA Eastern Division, December 28, 2003.

• ‘Post. An I. 13 and the Problem of Physics II. 2', Paris : Workshop on Posterior Analytics , June 15-18, 2003.

• ‘Aristotle's uses of hypotheses in De Caelo', Delphi, Greece: Athens-Pittsburgh Conference, June 2-6, 2003.

• ‘Aristotle on the Possibility of Subordinate Natural Sciences' University of Paris, June, 2002.

• ‘The Place of Biology in Aristotle's Natural Philosophy': Princeton Ancient Philosophy Colloquium (December, 2001); University of Notre Dame (February, 2002); University of Cincinatti (February, 2002); University of Catania, Sicily (May, 2002); University of Bologna (May, 2002), Keeling Conference on Ancient Philosophy, University of London ( November 4-7, 2003); University of Georgia, (January 29, 2004).

• ‘What is the Good of an Adaptation?': University of Houston (November, 2001); University of Florence (May, 2002).

• ‘Aristotle on the Unity and Disunity of Science': National Technical University of Athens, Athens, Greece, May 18, 1999; St. Louis University, St. Louis Mo. (The Leonard J. and Elizabeth Eslick Lectures), Oct. 13, 1999; University of Florence, Florence, Italy, November 5, 1999; University of Rochester, Rochester NY, March 17, 2000; University of Toronto, February 2, 2001.

• ‘History and Philosophy of Science: A Phylogenetic Approach', University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria, May 23, 1999; Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, Rio di Janeiro, July 1, 2000.

• ‘Aristotle and the Origins of Life Science', Bayer Lecture, Carnegie Science Center, March 26, 2000.

Dissertation Direction

External Dissertation Examiner

Professional Honors

CONFERENCE ORGANIZATION
1997-2005: As Director of the Center for Philosophy of Science, I was responsible for organizing or co-organizing 3-4 conferences a year, our Annual Lecture Series, and our twice-weekly lunchtime colloquia.

1993: Pittsburgh/Konstanz Conference on the Philosophy of Biology: co-chair [with Gereon Wolters of Konstanz ] of the program committee.

1991: University Honors College Lecture Series: 'Three Lectures on the History, Philosophy and Current Status of Neo-Darwinism'.

1990: 'Self-motion from Aristotle to Newton ' [with Mary Louise Gill and Steven Strange]

1986: 'Science and Philosophy in Classical Greece ' [with Alan Bowen]

1983: 'Functional Explanation in Biology and Anthropology' [with Merrilee Salmon]

PROGRAM PARTICIPATION AND ORGANIZATION
1989-Present: Directed the re-organization of the Classics and Philosophy Program into the Classics, Philosophy and Ancient Science Joint Ph.D. Program , approved by the three related departments and the Dean of Graduate Studies in 1989. This re-organization successfully integrated the Department of History and Philosophy of Science into the Classics and Philosophy Program, which it replaced. The expanded joint program adds a strong concentration in Ancient Science, with specialists in Ancient Mathematics, Harmonics, Astronomy, Physics, Biology and Medicine, to the traditional strengths in Classics and Philosophy.

1990, 1993 : Environmental Ethics faculty member, University Honors College 'Yellowstone Field Program' [July/August].

UNIVERSITY SERVICE
1989-94: FAS Tenure Council (Alternate)

1990-96: FAS, Faculty Council

1993-96: Humanities Council

1997-2005: Dean's Council; Working Group on Library and Information Technology

DEPARTMENTAL SERVICE
1978-1993, 1999-2000: Undergraduate Advisor

1983-present: Co-Director, Certificate Program in the Foundations of Medicine

1991-1992: Mellon Fellowship Committee

1989-1992: Departmental Colloquium Committee

1993-1996: Department Chairperson

Professional Memberships

JOURNALS, EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBER
1989-Present: History of Philosophy Quarterly
1991-Present: Philosophy of Science
2001-Present: International Studies in the Philosophy of Science
2003-Present: Rhizai: Journal for Ancient Philosophy and Science

JOURNALS, REFEREE
American Philosophical Quarterly
Ancient Philosophy
Biology and Philosophy
Isis
Phoenix
Systematic Zoology
Perspectives on Science
Quarterly Review of Biology
Journal of the History of Biology
Journal for the History of Medicine and the Allied Sciences

PUBLISHERS, REFEREE
Oxford University Press
Cambridge University Press
Princeton University Press
Edinburgh University Press
University of Pittsburgh Press

FOUNDATIONS, REFEREE
Guggenheim Foundation
National Science Foundation [Advisory Committee]
National Endowment for the Humanities [Advisory Committee]