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Matt Brewer

@mattbrewer.bsky.social

PhD Candidate in Philosophy at Boston University 🌎Philosophy of Geosciences, Plate tectonics🌍 he/him

11 Posts339 Follower 175 Folgt

Alisa Bokulich @alisabokulich.bsky.social · 3w ago

I am trying to cut down on my travel, so sorry to miss #SPSP as well this year (#HPS has so many valuable conferences!!), but happy @matildecarrera.bsky.social & @mattbrewer.bsky.social are there from our #PhiGeo research group--check out their awesome talks tomorrow 👇

Thursday 16 July
4B. Symposium: "Ethical and Methodological Challenges in Human Population Genetics" (Cormack Room, University Centre)
Chair: Hannah Allen
Celso Neto (symposium organizer), Signal and noise in human population genetics Yasmin Haddad, Adequacy-for-purpose and ancestry inference
Matilde Carrera, Underdetermination in demographic inferences: The case of parameter
unidentifiability

Thursday 16 July
4G. Symposium: "Paleosciences Beyond Earth: Evidence, Narrative, and (the Limits of) Analogy" (Seminar Room 2, HPS Department)
Chair: Matthew Lund
Franziska Reinhard (symposium organizer), Martian-Leopard Spots, Iteration, and One-Shot
Science
Siyu Yao, From Hot Jupiter to Jupiter: Narratives, Knowledge-How, and Exoplanetary Science as
Epistemic Resource
Matthew Brewer, Classification, Analogical Reasoning, and Uniformitarian Assumptions in
Planetary Science

Sabina Leonelli@sabinaleonelli.bsky.social · 3w ago

Hasok Chang opening the 11th biennial conference of the Society for the Philosophy of Science in Practice #spsp2026 - as ever, fantastic to see so many dear friends and beautiful minds together in one (large!) room! #philsci spspcambridge2026.com

Alisa Bokulich @alisabokulich.bsky.social · 2mo ago

More good news from #Phi-Geo Research Group: my PhD student @mattbrewer.bsky.social was awarded 3yr postdoc @ Uni Edinburgh as part of Jo Wolff's very cool ERC project on "Dematerialisation of Science” to conduct research on philosophy of digital archaeology. Congrats Matt! 🎉 #philsci 🏺

Alisa Bokulich @alisabokulich.bsky.social · 3mo ago

A Phi-Geo research group fieldtrip today to see the Holyoke dinosaur footprints in situ & a behind-the-scenes tour of the Beneski museum.

Miguel & Matilde pointing to some dino tracks

Matt & a cast of a large jaw bone of a T-Rex

Alisa Bokulich @alisabokulich.bsky.social · 3mo ago

@matildecarrera.bsky.social & @mattbrewer.bsky.social will be there representing the Phi-Geo group!

Anna Alexandrova @annaalexandrova.bsky.social · 4mo ago

If you are planning to attend, the registration is open. We @hpscambridge.bsky.social are pouring our hearts into this conference and it will be amazing. Even though my own submission was not accepted! #philsci #philsky #hps #metascience

Society for the Philosophy of Science in Practice 2026 Conference | SPSP Cambridge 2026

The Society for the Philosophy of Science in Practice 2026 Conference at the Department of History and Philosophy of Science at the University of Cambridge

spspcambridge2026.com

Alisa Bokulich @alisabokulich.bsky.social · last yr.

Congratulations to @matildecarrera.bsky.social on her superb defense today of a fantastic dissertation prospectus! She is now officially ABD! 🎉 #philsci #phigeo

A woman smiling in front of ppt screen that reads "Philosophy of
Paleoanthropology
Data, Underdetermination and Evidence about Past Human Populations

Prospectus Defense
Matilde Carrera
BU
PHILOSOPHY OF THE
GEOSCIENCES
RESEARCH GROUP

Alisa Bokulich @alisabokulich.bsky.social · last yr.

Congrats to Phi-Geo grad Matilde Carrera @matildecarrera.bsky.social for being accepted to the competitive AI & Data Ethics Summer Institute at Northeastern this summer, as well as accepted to the upcoming AAAS Workshop: Catalyzing Advocacy in Science & Engineering, April 6-9 in D.C. 🙌 #philsci

Matilde Carrera has been offered to be part of a competitive summer program at Northeastern University intended for graduate students with advanced training in applied ethics, ethical theory, philosophy of science, or other areas with potential research applications to Al and big data. (AIDE Summer - the Ethics Institute -Northeastern University,_Summer 2025)
• Matilde Carrera has also been selected as one of four PhD students from Boston University through a competitive, merit-based process to attend the Catalyzing Advocacy in Science and Engineering workshop.
This workshop, sponsored by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), focuses on the role of science in policy making and the federal policy-making process. (CASE Workshop: Catalyzing Advocacy inScience and Engineering, April 6-9, 2025, Washington, D.C.)

Alisa Bokulich @alisabokulich.bsky.social · last yr.

Congratulations to Dr. Castillo Brache @leticiacastillo.bsky.social on successfully defending her PhD dissertation this morning!!! Woo-hoo!!! 🙌🎓🌟 🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉 Thank you to Profs. Samia Hesni, @rachelankeny.bsky.social, & @miguelohn.bsky.social for serving on her committee 🙏 #philsci #phigeo

Leticia smiling & giving brief overview of dissertation. Slide says Boston University | April 2025
HIDDEN NARRATIVES IN GEOSCIENTIFIC RESEARCH:
TOWARD DEVELOPING MORE
ETHICAL SCIENTIFIC
PRACTICES
Leticia A. Castillo Brache
Dissertation Defense

Alisa & Leticia smiling at successful conclusion of defense with a vase flowers & zoom screen with some remote audience & committee members.

Alisa Bokulich @alisabokulich.bsky.social · last yr.

A wonderful #HistGeo talk today by global historian Ben Goosen on "Inventing Earth: A New History of the 1957-1958 International Geophysical Year" followed by a lunch with him & our #PhiGeo reaearch group. #histsci

A man in board room with wood paneling giving a talk next to a screen with slide saying "Project Planet".

Photo of Ben next to following text: Pardee Research Seminar Series
WITH:
Ben Goossen
Assistant Professor of International History, Pardee School of Global Studies
Inventing Earth: A New History of the 1957-1958 International Geophysical Year
Knowledge of planet Earth as a set of interconnected environmental systems is fundamental to present-day efforts to address global environmental challenges, including climate change. Among the most consequential projects in the history of Earth science was the 1957-1958 International Geophysical Year (IGY), a crash program to study the planet through worldwide collaboration. In the midst of the Cold War and global decolonization, tens of thousands of scientists and citizen volunteers from East and West, North and South, crossed political and ideological lines for the IGY. What they discovered shapes much of what we know about our common planetary home today.
March 24, 2025 12:00 PM - 1:15 PM
121 Bay State Road
Register here
BU
Boston University Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies

Alisa Bokulich @alisabokulich.bsky.social · last yr.

A nice Phi-Geo group trip to @harvardmuseums.bsky.social to see exhibit Measuring Difference & hear a wonderful presentation by @chattyprofessor.bsky.social, artist Nancy Friedemann-Sánchez & #histmed Pablo Gómez, who spoke about roots of medical data about bodies in Atlantic slave trade. #philsci

Alisa, Leticia, Matilde & Matt standing in front of Mexico's standard of length the Castilian vara brass bar. Sign says Measuring Difference. This vara was seized during the 1847 U.S. invasion of Mexico City by an army engineer.

Gabriela Soto Laveaga | Nancy Friedemann-Sánchez | Pablo Gómez sitting on stage in conversation

Three grad students next to display with Humboldt's famous Mount Chimborazo elevation diagram.

Federica Rocky Bocchi @federicabocchi.bsky.social · last yr.

In these uncertain times, this is something to look forward to. I will present a brand new project, "When Adequacy is Inadequate: a Pragmatist Approach to Accurate Measurement Democratization," with Carlos Santana. »https://www.centerphilsci.pitt.edu/event/pragmatism-and-measurement-2/

Alisa Bokulich @alisabokulich.bsky.social · 2y ago

Thank you to my co-symposiasts Carlos Santana & Meghan Page for their fantastic talks, Lydia Patton for inviting us to do a session on #phigeo at #APAEastern25, & @mattbrewer.bsky.social for moderating! #philsci #philsky

The HOPOS Journal@hoposjournal.bsky.social · 2y ago

Alisa Bokulich @alisabokulich.bsky.social speaking on scientific types at the APA Eastern 2025. @apaphilosophy.bsky.social #philsky #philsci

Alisa Bokulich @alisabokulich.bsky.social · 2y ago

It was great having some of the Phi-Geo grads give short presentations of some relevant material from their research to my "Gender, Race, & Science" class today (Thank you @mattbrewer.bsky.social @matildecarrera.bsky.social & @leticiacastillo.bsky.social!!!)

Leticia in front of screen "incorering Hidden Narratives in the Use of Unethical Geoscientific
Research Practices"

Matt in front os screen text
""Women's Work" in Science
Two Cases: The "Hobbyist" and the "Computer"
Matt Brewer brewer@bu.edu
PH 436/636
December 3
BOSTON UNIVERSITY
BU
PHILOSOPHY OF THE GEOSCIENCES

Matilde in front of chalkboard. &
screen "Debunking Racial Thoughts in Population Genetics"

Miguel Ohnesorge @miguelohn.bsky.social · 2y ago

1st-ever symposium on philosophy of seismology: @alisabokulich.bsky.social on Peircean abduction & inverse modelling, @terumiyake.bsky.social on 'problem of the missing model' in seismology, optics, and thermal physics; @cristianlarph.bsky.social on quantification in seismology (joint work with me).

Alisa Bokulich@alisabokulich.bsky.social · 2y ago

Thanks to my co-symposiasts @terumiyake.bsky.social @cristianlarph.bsky.social & @miguelohn.bsky.social for a great session & conversation today! Although we missed Susan Hough, it was nice to have an extended Q&A w/ audience. That's a wrap for #PSA24! Already looking fwd to #PSA26 in San Diego...

Alisa Bokulich @alisabokulich.bsky.social · 2y ago

A lovely Phi-Geo & friends dinner @ #PSA24: @rachellaudan.bsky.social Aja W, @miguelohn.bsky.social @terumiyake.bsky.social @mattbrewer.bsky.social AndrewZ @leticiacastillo.bsky.social Kailyn S @federicabocchi.bsky.social @matildecarrera.bsky.social Carlos S, Katherine V @cristianlarph.bsky.social

14 people sitting around a table in restaurant

Alisa Bokulich @alisabokulich.bsky.social · 2y ago

Some of the Boston University #PSA24 group out on Bourbon St.

6 people standing on Bourbon St. from left: Matt, Federica, Kailyn, Alisa, Leticia, Matilde

Alisa Bokulich @alisabokulich.bsky.social · 2y ago

The Philosophy of Geosciences Research Group at BU, Φ-Geo, is dedicated to exploring topics in the philosophy of the geosciences (historical & current Earth sciences), broadly understood. We have a big group heading to #PSA24 ⚒️ next week--check out our upcoming talks bokulich.org/%cf%86-geo-g... 🧵 ⬇️

Matilde Carrera @matildecarrera.bsky.social · 2y ago

Some months ago @mattbrewer.bsky.social and I wrote a review for Suárez’s latest book “Inference and Representation. A Study in Modelling Science” and now it’s finally out on BJHS! www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

Mauricio Suárez, Inference and Representation: A Study in Modeling Science Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2024. Pp. 328. ISBN 978-0-226-83004-9. $35.00 (paper). | The British Journal for the Hi...

Mauricio Suárez, Inference and Representation: A Study in Modeling Science Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2024. Pp. 328. ISBN 978-0-226-83004-9. $35.00 (paper).

cambridge.org

Extinct blog @extinctblog.bsky.social · 2y ago

Ever wonder why the Cambrian explosion is called "the Cambrian explosion"? Or how it survived declining enthusiasm for the concept of "explosive evolution" to become the last explosion standing? Get the scoop on Extinct: www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2024...

Future-Proof Explosion? — Extinct

In which Max considers the history of the expression “Cambrian explosion” and asks whether it’s here to stay

extinctblog.org

Alisa Bokulich @alisabokulich.bsky.social · 2y ago

💥New paper by @matildecarrera.bsky.social @miguelohn.bsky.social & me💥"Rising Tides & Method of Residues: Anomaly-Driven Research in #Geosciences" traces roots J. Herschel & Whewell's method in their paleoclimate & tidology, & MoR in discovery solid-body tide #HPS #19thC bokulich.org/wp-content/u...

Forthcoming in C. Cleland and M. Dietrich (eds.) Anomalies in Science. Springer.
Rising Tides and the Method of Residues:
Anomaly-Driven Research in the Geosciences
A. Bokulich, Boston University
M. Carrera, Boston University
M. Ohnesorge, Cambridge University
1. Introduction
1
2. The Historical Roots of the Method of Residues: Herschel, Whewell, and the Geosciences
2
2.1 Herschel's Method of Residues and the Geosciences
3
2.2 Whewell's Iterative Method of Residues and Tidal Research
6
3. The Method of Residues in Solid-Body Tide Research
9
3.1 Solid-Body Tides
10
3.2 First Predictions and Detections
11
3.3 From Residues to the Love-Shida Model to More Residues
12
4. Residue-Driven Research: How Anomalies Advance Science
18
4.1 Taxonomizing Residues.
18
4.2 The Method of Residues Refined
21
4.3 The Scope of the Method of Residues
23
5. Conclusions
26
References

Alisa Bokulich @alisabokulich.bsky.social · 2y ago

Congratulations to Phi-Geo grad @leticiacastillo.bsky.social who has been awarded the BU Institute for Global Sustainability 2024 Peter Fox-Penner Graduate Student Award (given for significant contributions to research or practice in sustainability & climate change &/or equity & justice)! 🎉 #philsci

Extinct blog @extinctblog.bsky.social · 2y ago

This week, a first: an Extinct double feature! You read Matt Brewer's fascinating post on negative evidence in debates about the origin of plate tectonics. Now chase that high with a new Problematica on "arguments from absence" in the historical sciences... www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2024...

Evidence of absence — Extinct

In which Max considers the suggestion that archeology is distinctive in its frequent use of arguments from absence, and finds it wanting

extinctblog.org

Extinct blog @extinctblog.bsky.social · 2y ago

New post! Matt Brewer (PhD candidate at BU) writes about the (geological) origin of the phrase "absence of evidence is not evidence of absence," and defends arguments from absence in the context of debates about the origin of plate tectonics. Check it out! www.extinctblog.org/extinct/anci...

Ancient Plates and Pirate Anchors: When Should we Treat Absence of Evidence as Evidence of Absence? — Extinct

In which Matt Brewer discusses the (geological!) origin of the phrase "absence of evidence is not evidence of absence" and considers arguments from absence in contemporary paleogeology

extinctblog.org

Alisa Bokulich @alisabokulich.bsky.social · 2y ago

New Extinct Blog post from our Phi-Geo Research Group grad student @mattbrewer.bsky.social ⚒️ 🧪 #HPS #philsci #geoscience

Extinct blog@extinctblog.bsky.social · 2y ago

Alisa Bokulich @alisabokulich.bsky.social · 2y ago

Conference program for "Pragmatism & The Philosophy of Science" Sept 27-29 @ Western (Ontario) University is up! Speakers incl @hkandersen.bsky.social, Ken Waters, @huwprice.bsky.social, Ari Duwell, @rovelli.bsky.social, Jim Woodward, Laura Ruetsche, & me. #philsci www.rotman.uwo.ca/event/pragma...

Sept 27:
Time
Description
09:00 Breakfast and Coffee; Introduction and conference kick-off
09:30 Invited Talk by Ken Waters – Pursuing Metaphysics by Examining Successful Investigative Practices
10:30 Contributed talk by Tushar Menon – Scientific realism as a normative notion (twice over)
11:00 Coffee break
11:30 Invited talk by Holly Andersen – Measuring Modality
12:30 Lunch (TBD, WIRB 4190)
02:00 Contributed talk by Armond Duwell – Problems and Possibilities: A Pragmatic Account of Scientific Understanding
02:30 Contributed talk by Nickolas Boylan – Why Truth Matters
03:00 Contributed talk by Kabir Singh Bakshi – Scientific Progress, Zetetic Epistemology, and Lessons from Pragmatist Philosophy of Science
03:30 Coffee break
04:00 Invited talk by Alisa Bokulich – The Geodetic & Metrological Roots of C.S. Peirce’s Pragmatism
05:00 End of day 1 of the conference

Sept 28:
Time
Description
09:00 Breakfast and Coffee
09:30 Invited talk by Huw Price – Sidestepping the Rhinoceros – Copernicus, Pragmatism and Quantum Entanglement
10:30 Contributed talk by Patrick Fraser – Knowledge-How and the Semantics of Physical Theories
11:00 Coffee break
11:30 Contributed talk by Margrette Gress – How Standpoint Can Matter In Physics
12:00 Lunch & Poster Session (TBD, WIRB 4190)
02:30 Invited talk by Carlo Rovelli – The Two Thermodynamic Roots of Causation: A Lesson from Pragmatism
03:30 Coffee break
04:00 Contributed talk by Jason DeWitt – Causal Pragmatism without Causal Perspectivalism
04:30 Contributed talk by Shimin Zhao – Why we need the notion of probabilistic causation: a functional perspective
05:00 Invited talk by Jim Woodward – Structural Realism and the Dependency Account of Explanation
06:00 End of day 2

Sept 29:
Time
Description
09:00 Breakfast and Coffee
09:30 Contributed talk by John Dougherty – Pragmatism and the interpretation of physical theories
10:00 Contributed talk by Pascal Rodriguez Warnier – Resource theories and the pragmatist tradition (with a study case)
10:30 Coffee break
11:00 Invited Talk by Laura Ruetsche – That’s Entertainment: Pragmatism and the Interpretation of Physical Theory
12:00 Lunch (TBD, WIRB 4190)
02:00 End of the PPS conference

Alisa Bokulich @alisabokulich.bsky.social · 2y ago

Congratulations to @mattbrewer.bsky.social on successfully defending his PhD dissertation prospectus "Evidence, Classification, & Explanation: Towards a Philosophy of Plate Tectonics" today--he's now ABD! 🎉(& thanks to @miguelohn.bsky.social & Rachell Powell for serving on the committee) #philsci

Extinct blog @extinctblog.bsky.social · 2y ago

Tune in for the penultimate PhilPalaeo "Roadshow" talk tomorrow, with Matt Brewer of BU. (Apologies to Matilde Carrera, also at BU, whose talk I forgot to advertise last week!) The talk will take place at 11 AM EDT. Link w/i www.extinctblog.org/palaeonews/2...

Penultimate PhilPaleo "Roadshow" Talk Tomorrow (Matt Brewer) — Extinct

extinctblog.org

Chris Rowan @allochthonous.bsky.social · 2y ago

⚒️ The debate over when plate tectonics started is so philosophically interesting. How do you assess the relative reliability of very different evidence; how uniformitarianism itself is stressed when faced with the drastic changes of a planet over Deep Time.

Michael Anenburg@manenbu.bsky.social · 2y ago

"I summarize evidence from the six evidentiary types and conclude that we do not know when plate tectonics initiated. Claiming we do forestalls the day when we might truly understand an event at the heart of Earth history and habitability." doi.org/10.1144/jgs2...

Alisa Bokulich @alisabokulich.bsky.social · 2y ago

Good news keeps rolling in: Phi-Geo faculty member @miguelohn.bsky.social also had his #PSA24 paper on how seismologists quantified earthquake size precisely by excluding stakeholder values from measure design & testing accepted! Shaping up to be great meeting for philosophy of geosciences! 🎉

WE SHOULD NOT ALIGN QUANTITATIVE MEASURES WITH STAKEHOLDER VALUES
Miguel Ohnesorge*
4345 words (excl. bibliography)
There is a growing consensus among philosophers that quantifying value-laden concepts can be epistemically successful and politically legitimate if all value-laden choices in the process of quantification are aligned with stakeholder values. I argue that proponents of this view have failed to argue for its basic premise: successful quantification is sufficiently unconstrained so that it can be achieved along specific, stakeholder-relative pathways. I then challenge this premise by considering a rare example of successful value-laden quantification in seismology. Seismologists quantified earthquake size precisely by excluding stakeholder values from measure design and testing.
1. Introduction
Quantification is a divisive topic. Traditional proponents of quantification stress its epistemic value
and historical importance in physical science. Traditional sceptics highlight h

My argument consists of two parts. The first part illustrates what I call the alignment approach to
quantification and shows that it presumes a basic but unsubstantiated premise. Proponents of the
alignment approach argue that political legitimacy should be added "as an additional layer of security (...] to the familiar scientific process covered in textbooks on measurement" (Fabian and
Alexandrova 2022, 6; similarly: Duque, Tal, and Barbic 2024, 9). While they disagree on how to operationalize legitimacy, they agree that it requires a procedure for aligning value-laden choices
with the values of relevant stakeholders. All operationalizations of the alignment approach presume that the empirical constraints on quantitative measurement are loose enough to reach
quantification along multiple, stakeholder-specific pathways. Proponents of the alignment approach have yet to provide evidence that this basic premise is correct.
The second part of my argument casts doubts on the basic premise.