Research

Publications

Books

• Carnap, Tarski, and Quine at Harvard: Conversations on Logic, Mathematics and Science
  (2013) Open Court Press (in its Full Circle series).
• Free Logic: A Generalization
  In the Cambridge Elements: Philosophy and Logic Series, Armour-Garb and Kroon, editors.
  Cambridge University Press. In preparation.
• The Collected Works of Rudolf Carnap, Vol. 7: Studies in Semantics.
  Co-edited with Steve Awodey.
  Under contract with Oxford University Press.

Articles and Chapters

• "Confused Terms in Ordinary Language" (with James Beebe)
  (2020) Journal of Logic, Language, and Information 29: 197-219.
  penultimate draft | published version (subscription required)
• "The Ontogeny of Quine's Ontology: Pythagoreanism, Nominalism, and the Role of Clarity"
  (2020) Quine: Structure and Ontology, Frederique Janssen-Lauret and Gary Kemp (eds.), Oxford University Press: 117-146.
  penultimate draft
• "How to Be a Historically Motivated Anti-Realist: The Problem of Misleading Evidence"
  (2019) Philosophy of Science 86: 906-917.
  penultimate draft | published version (subscription required)
• "Should a Historically Motivated Scientific Anti-Realist Be a Stanfordite?"
  (2019) Synthese 196: 535-551.
  penultimate draft | published version (subscription required)
• "The Rise of 'Analytic Philosophy': When and how did people begin calling themselves 'analytic philosophers'?"
  (2017) Innovations in the History of Analytical Philosophy, Sandra Lapointe and Chris Pincock (eds.), Palgrave.
  penultimate draft

• "Replies to Creath, Ebbs, and Lavers" (Symposium on Carnap, Tarski, and Quine at Harvard).
  (2016) Metascience 25: 43-49.
  penultimate draft | published version (subscription required)
• "Can the Pessimistic Induction be Saved from Semantic Anti-Realism about Scientific Theory?"
  (2014) British Journal for the Philosophy of Science 65: 521-548.
  penultimate draft | published article (subscription required)
• "Quine's Evolution from 'Carnap's Disciple' to the Author of 'Two Dogmas'"
  (2011) HOPOS: The Journal of the International Society for the History of Philosophy of Science 1: 291-316.
  penultimate draft | published article (subscription required)
• "From the Pessimistic Induction to Semantic Anti-Realism"
  (2011) Philosophy of Science 78: 1131-1142.
  penultimate draft | published article (subscription required)
• "The No-Miracles Argument for Realism: Inference to an Unacceptable Explanation"
  (2010) Philosophy of Science 77: 35-58.
  penultimate draft | published article (subscription required)
• "The Identical Rivals Response to Underdetermination" (with P.D. Magnus)
  (2010) New Waves in Philosophy of Science, Palgrave Macmillan: 112-130.
  penultimate draft in pdf
• "Tarski's Nominalism"
  (2008) New Essays on Tarski and Philosophy, D. Patterson (ed.), Oxford University Press: 225-246.
  penultimate draft in rich text format
• "Too Much Reference: Semantics for Multiply-Signifying Terms"
  (2008) Journal of Philosophical Logic 37: 239-257.
  penultimate draft | published article (subscription required)
• "The Large-Scale Structure of Logical Empiricism: Unity of Science and the Rejection of Metaphysics"
  (2005) Philosophy of Science 72: 826-838.
  penultimate draft | published version (subscription required)
• "Was Tarski's Theory of Truth Motivated by Physicalism?"
  (2004) History and Philosophy of Logic 25: 265-280.
  penultimate draft | published version (subscription required)
• "How to be an Anti-reductionist about Developmental Biology"
  (2004) Biology and Philosophy 19: 75-91.
  penultimate draft | published version (subscription required)

Book Reviews, etc.

• Theoretical Virtues in Science: Uncovering Reality through Theory, by Samuel Schindler.
  (2018) Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews.
  Freely available online here
• "匹兹堡大学科学史与科学哲学系 — 过去与现在" ("The Department of History & Philosophy of Science at the University of Pittsburgh: Past & Present")
  (2018) 清华西方哲学研究 (Tsinghua Studies in Western Philosophy): 142-144.
  penultimate draft
• Ontology Made Easy, by Amie Thomasson.
  (2016) Metascience 25: 497-500.
  penultimate draft | published version
• Empiricism at the Crossroads: The Vienna Circle's Protocol-Sentence Debate Revisited (2nd ed.), by Thomas Uebel.
  (2011) Metascience 20: 373-376.
  penultimate draft | published version (subscription required)
• The Cambridge Companion to Logical Empiricism, Richardson and Uebel (eds.)
  (2008) Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews.
  Freely available online here

Presentations

• "Taking Instrumentalism (More) Literally"
  Reviving Instrumentalism in Philosophy of Science, Durham University, July 2019
• "Confusion as a Scientific Defect"
  Understanding Defectiveness in the Sciences, UNAM, June 2019
• "Multiply-Signifying Names in Ordinary Language" (with James Beebe)
  Society for Exact Philosophy (SEP), May 2018
• "The Ontogeny of Quine's Ontology: Nominalism, Pythagoreanism, Platonism"
  - Glasgow-Nottingham International Conference on Quine, December 2015
  - Society for History of Philosophy of Science (HOPOS), June 2016
  - Society for the Study of the History of Analytic Philosophy (SSHAP), June 2018
• "How to be a Historically Motivated Anti-Realist"
  - Congress for Logic, Methodology, and Philosophy of Science (CLMPS), August 2015
  - Pittsburgh Center for Philosophy of Science, February 2017
  - Philosophy of Science Association (PSA) Biannual meeting, November 2018
• Author Meets Critics: Carnap, Tarski, and Quine at Harvard
  American Philosophical Association (APA), Pacific Division, April 2015
• "Logics for Confused or Ambiguous Terms: Motivations, Model Theory, Proof Theory"
  Buffalo Logic Colloquium, February 2015
• "Should a Historically Motivated Anti-Realist be a Stanfordite?"
  Philosophy of Science Association (PSA) Biannual Meeting, November 2014
• "Make New Inductions, but Keep the Old"
  Science: The Real Thing? conference, Lingnan University, Hong Kong, May 2014
• "Carnap's Semantic Project: What Was It? Why Did So Many People Hate It?"
  Society for History of Philosophy of Science (HOPOS), July 2014
• "The Beginnings of 'Analytic Philosophy' as an Actor's Category"
  - Periodization, Relevance, and Method in the History of Analytic Philosophy Workshop, April 2015
  - Innovations in the History of Analytic Philosophy Conference, January 2015
  - SUNY Albany Philosophy Department Colloquium, November 2012
  - Society for the Study of the History of Analytic Philosophy (SSHAP), May 2012
• "Unacceptable Explanations in the Biological Sciences"
  International Society for the History, Philosophy, and Social Studies of Biology (ISHPSSB), July 2009
• "The Limits of Scientific Explanation and the No Miracles Argument for Realism"
  Philosophy of Science Association Biannual Meeting, November 2008
• "From the Pessimistic Induction to Semantic Anti-Realism"
  - University of Utah Colloquium, September 2008
  - University of California, San Diego Colloquium, May 2008
• "How Did Quine Get from 'Truth by Convention' to 'Two Dogmas of Empiricism'?"
  Seventh Congress of the Society for History of Philosophy of Science (HOPOS), June 2008
• "Too Much Reference: Semantics for Multiply-Signifying Terms"
  American Philosophical Association, Eastern Division Meeting, 2005

Commentaries

• Comments on Bradford Skow, "Explanations, Why-Questions, Reasons, and Causes"
  Creighton Club (the New York State Philosophical Association), October 2014
• Comments on Brad Wray, "Success and Truth in the Realism/ Anti-Realism Debate"
  The Creighton Club (the New York State Philosophical Association), November 2010
• Comments on Barry Ward, "Taking the Ravens Paradox with a Grain of Salt"
  American Philosophical Association, Pacific Division Meeting, 2007 | MS Word