I’m Associate Professor at University of Leeds’ School of Philosophy, Religion, and History of Science. I mainly research philosophy of science, covering various topics in epistemology and metaphysics of science.
Much of my work is on scientific realism and scientific explanations, and their intersection. I often study these topics in relation to history and philosophy of physics. My recent work includes editing a handbook of scientific realism, a collection of new essays on non-causal explanation, and a volume on scientific realism and quantum physics. I am currently finishing a monograph on scientific realism.
I also work on laws of nature, reduction/emergence, and other topics in metaphysics of science, as well as selected topics in philosophy of physics. Other prominent research interests include philosophical naturalism, and models and representation. I’m keen to work with motivated PhD students in any of these broad areas.
As you might expect, I regularly teach philosophy at all university levels and do all kinds of academic service. I also do my best to support the great international community of scholars working in the philosophy of science. In 2016-19 I served as a member of the executive committee of the British Society for the Philosophy of Science. Currently I’m supporting the society’s journal BJPS as an Associate Editor. If you are interested in philosophy of science, do consider joining the BSPS – it’s fantastic!
Some recent research and public talks:
- September 17-18. 2020: ‘Understanding-first approach to non-causal explanations’
Ernst Mach workshop IX, Prague. - January 16-17. 2020: ‘Quantum Theory, Progress and Scientific Realism’
How Quantum Mechanics Changed Philosophy workshop, Wuppertal. - October 12. 2019: ‘What do we know about the nature of light?’
Sidmouth Science Festival. - February 5-6. 2019: ‘Explanatory power: Modal vs. pragmatic dimensions’
Scientific Understanding and Representation (SURe), Bordeaux. - January 10-11. 2019: ‘Which explanations in science are metaphysical (and why)’
Metaphysical Explanation in Science workshop (FraMEPhys), Birmingham. - December 11. 2019: ‘Photons: do we know how to make sense of quantum physics?’
HPS-in-Focus, Leeds. - November 27. 2019: ‘Light: does physics tell us what it is?’
HPS-in-Focus, Leeds. - November 20. 2019: ‘Skepticism about scientific knowledge: history and current relevance’
HPS-in-Focus, Leeds.
Juha Saatsi 