Department of Philosophy

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Lina Jansson

Associate Professor, Faculty of Arts

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Biography

Please visit my webpage for links to papers, etc. http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/~apzij/

I grew up in Sweden before moving to the UK to pursue a BA in physics and philosophy at the University of Oxford. After working in London I returned to philosophy and completed my PhD at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. I have previously worked at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore.

Expertise Summary

I work in philosophy of science, philosophy of physics, and metaphysics. I am interested in supervising dissertations in these areas and in particular work concerned with the nature of scientific explanation.

Teaching Summary

I have previously taught courses in philosophy of science, logic, and epistemology and metaphysics. I also have interests in teaching courses in history and philosophy of science, philosophy of… read more

Research Summary

My primary research interest has been focused on questions about the nature of scientific explanation. I have worked on this topic primarily from within the philosophy of science and with an eye… read more

Ida Lina Stina Jansson

Online version, March 2023

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Employment

University of Nottingham,

Associate professor of Philosophy, 2018 (August)-

with a break for maternity leave 2020 (October) - 2021(May)

Assistant professor of Philosophy, 2016 (January)-2018 (July)

Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore

Assistant Professor of Philosophy, 2011 (July)-2015 (December)

Education

University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK

M.Sc. in Mathematical Physics: Gravity, Particles and Fields, School of Mathematics, distinction, 2022

University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA

Ph.D. in Philosophy, 2011

Dissertation: "Explanation and Dependence"

Committee: Lawrence Sklar (chair), Gordon Belot, Laura Ruetsche, and Finn Larson (Department of Physics)

M.A in Philosophy, 2008

University of Oxford, Oxford, UK

B.A. in Physics and Philosophy, first class degree, 2004

Areas of Specialization

Philosophy of Physics, Philosophy of Science, Metaphysics

Areas of Competence

Epistemology, Logic, and Aesthetics

Peer Reviewed Articles and Book Chapters

The Explanatory Value of Selecting the Appropriate Scale(s), chapter in the Routledge Companion to Philosophy of Physics, eds. Eleanor Knox and Alastair Wilson, 2021

Can Pragmatism about Quantum Theory Handle Objectivity About Explanations?, chapter in Scientific Realism and The Quantum. eds. Steven French and Juha Saatsi, 2020

Network Explanations and Explanatory Directionality, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B, 375, 2020

Explanatory Abstractions, with Juha Saatsi, British Journal for the Philosophy of Science, 70(3), 2019

When are Structural Equation Models Apt? Causation versus Grounding, chapter in Explanation Beyond Causation, eds. Juha Saatsi and Alexander Reutlinger, Oxford University Press, 2018

Explanatory Asymmetries, Ground, and Ontological Dependence, Erkenntnis, 82(17), 2017

Quantitative Parsimony: Probably for the Better, with Jonathan Tallant, British Journal for the Philosophy of Science, 68(3), 2017

Everettian Quantum Mechanics and Physical Probability: Against the Principle of "State Supervenience", Studies In History and Philosophy of Modern Physics, 53, 2016

Explanatory Asymmetries: Laws of Nature Rehabilitated, Journal of Philosophy, 112(11), 2015

Causal Theories of Explanation and the Challenge of Explanatory Disagreement, Philosophy of Science, 81(3), 2014

Newton's "satis est": A New Explanatory Role for Laws, Studies in History and Philosophy of Science, 44(4), 2013

Reviews

Review of Jan Faye, The Nature of Scientific Thinking: On Interpretation, Explanation and Understanding, in International Studies in the Philosophy of Science, 29(2), 2015

Review of Michael Strevens, Depth: An Account of Scientific Explanation, in Philosophical Review, 121(4), 2012

Review of Alisa Bokulich, Reexamining the Quantum-Classical Relation: Beyond Reductionism and Pluralism with Gordon Belot in Studies In History and Philosophy of Modern Physics, 41(1), 2010

Selected Awards, Prizes, and Grants

Academic Cross-Disciplinary Training Fellowship, Templeton Foundation, 2019-2022

Leverhulme Research Fellowship, 2019-2020 (declined to take up the Templeton ACT fellowship).

"Explanatory versus non-explanatory fictions in science", Singapore Ministry of Education, Tier 1 grant, 2015-2018 (ended upon moving from Singapore by the end of 2015)

Selected Teaching Qualifications and Experience

Senior fellowship with the Higher Education Academy, through Nottingham Recognition Scheme, 2017

Independent Study: Laws of Nature, winter 2015, NTU*

Knowledge and Reality, winter 2014, NTU

Language, Metaphysics, and Metametaphysics, autumn 2017, University of Nottingham

Logic and Paradoxes, fall 2012, winter 2013, winter 2014, winter 2015, fall 2015, NTU

Introduction to Philosophy, fall 2012, fall 2013, NTU

Philosophy of Science, winter 2012, fall 2013, fall 2014, NTU

Philosophy of Science: From Positivism to Postmodernism, autumn 2016, spring 2018, spring 2019, University of Nottingham

Space, Time and Motion, spring 2023, University of Nottingham

Topics in the Philosophy of Science, spring 2017, autumn 2017, autumn 2018, University of Nottingham

Logic and Critical Thinking, fall 2011, winter 2013, fall 2014, NTU

The Methods of Science, fall 2009, University of Michigan

Introduction to Symbolic Logic, spring 2009, University of Michigan

*NTU = Nanyang Technological University

Selected Professional Service

Associate Editor, Studies History and Philosophy of Science, 2023 onwards

Honorary treasurer British Society for the Philosophy of Science, 2017- 2020

Programme committee member for British Society for Philosophy of Science Annual Conference, 2018, 2019, 2020

Programme committee member for Foundations, 2018

Programme committee member for Scientific Realism and The Quantum, University of Leeds, 2017

Co-organiser (with Ian Kidd and Kirsten Walsh) of the 13th Annual UK Workshop on Integrated History and Philosophy of Science, Nottingham, 2017

Co-organiser (with Teru Miyake) of "Mutual Interactions: Second Singapore Workshop on Integrated History and Philosophy of Science in Practice", 2014

Co-editor of The Philosopher's Annual, Volume 28, 2009

Referee for Analysis, British Journal for the Philosophy of Science, Ergo, Erkenntnis, Foundations of Physics, International Studies in the Philosophy of Science, Journal for General Philosophy of Science, Mind, Philosophical Quarterly, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B, Philosophy of Science, Ratio, Studies in History and Philosophy of Modern Physics, Studies in History and Philosophy of Science, Synthese

External Examiner, Philosophy, University of Bristol, 2022

External Examiner, Periodic Review, Philosophy, University of York, 2018

External Examiner, PhD thesis:

  • University of Birmingham, 2023
  • University of Stockholm, 2020
  • University of Sydney, 2017

Mentor (2016-2017, 2017-2018) in The Job Candidate Mentoring Program for Women in Philosophy

I have previously taught courses in philosophy of science, logic, and epistemology and metaphysics. I also have interests in teaching courses in history and philosophy of science, philosophy of physics, and aesthetics.

I am a senior fellow of HEA through the Nottingham Recognition Scheme.

Current Research

My primary research interest has been focused on questions about the nature of scientific explanation. I have worked on this topic primarily from within the philosophy of science and with an eye towards physics, but I also have interests in how explanations in other fields, such as metaphysics, are related to scientific ones. I would welcome the opportunity to work with PhD students in any of these areas.

I recently completed an MSc in Mathematical Physics (Gravity, Particles, and Fields) supported by a Templeton ACT Fellowship.

Please visit my webpage for links to papers, etc.: http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/~apzij/

Department of Philosophy

University of Nottingham
University Park
Nottingham, NG7 2RD

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