Awards
Awarded the 2018 Selma v. Forkosch Prize for the best article in the Journal of the History of Ideas in 2017 for "Charles Darwin's Theory of Moral Sentiments: What Darwin's Ethics Really Owes to Adam Smith."
Books and Edited Collections
Greg Priest, Paula Findlen, and Silvia De Toffoli, Eds., "Tools of Reason: The Practice of Scientific Diagramming from Antiquity to the Present," a Special Issue of the journal Endeavour 42, nos. 2-3 (June/September 2018), 49-188: https://www.sciencedirect.com/journal/endeavour/vol/42/issue/2
Abstract: Scientists and mathematicians diagram a vast array of objects, relationships, and processes. A diagram may depict a two-dimensional object—a Euclidean diagram of an equilateral triangle. It can be a two-dimensional projection of a three- dimensional object—a fossil or a mathematical knot. It can represent natural processes—the circulation of the blood, the stratification of the earth, the motions of the heavens—of varying scale and complexity. A diagram may also show relationships, such as when a phylogeny depicts the genealogical relationships among different organisms. Or it may embody a sequence of causally related events, as in the case of a Feynman diagram of elementary particle interactions. Fundamentally, a diagram is a mediating object. It expresses our understanding of how things work by speaking to the eye. This special issue brings together detailed case studies illustrating a wide variety of diagrammatic practices in science and mathematics since antiquity. Vast distances—of time, geography, and discipline—separate the episodes. Yet a deep and subtle connection binds them together. Each of the case studies examines diagramming as an epistemic practice. We examine diagrams not merely as displays of information, but as
reasoning tools, allowing users to think with them and so generate knowledge and understanding.
Abstract: Scientists and mathematicians diagram a vast array of objects, relationships, and processes. A diagram may depict a two-dimensional object—a Euclidean diagram of an equilateral triangle. It can be a two-dimensional projection of a three- dimensional object—a fossil or a mathematical knot. It can represent natural processes—the circulation of the blood, the stratification of the earth, the motions of the heavens—of varying scale and complexity. A diagram may also show relationships, such as when a phylogeny depicts the genealogical relationships among different organisms. Or it may embody a sequence of causally related events, as in the case of a Feynman diagram of elementary particle interactions. Fundamentally, a diagram is a mediating object. It expresses our understanding of how things work by speaking to the eye. This special issue brings together detailed case studies illustrating a wide variety of diagrammatic practices in science and mathematics since antiquity. Vast distances—of time, geography, and discipline—separate the episodes. Yet a deep and subtle connection binds them together. Each of the case studies examines diagramming as an epistemic practice. We examine diagrams not merely as displays of information, but as
reasoning tools, allowing users to think with them and so generate knowledge and understanding.
Articles
Greg Priest, "Diagramming Evolution: The Case of Darwin's Trees," Endeavour 42, nos. 2-3 (June/September 2018), 157-171: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.endeavour.2018.07.003
Abstract: From his earliest student days through the writing of his last book, Charles Darwin drew diagrams. In developing his evolutionary ideas, his preferred form of diagram was the tree. An examination of several of Darwin’s trees—from sketches in a private notebook from the late 1830s through the diagram published in the Origin—opens a window onto the role of diagramming in Darwin’s scientific practice. In his diagrams, Darwin simultaneously represented both observable patterns in nature and conjectural narratives of evolutionary history. He then brought these natural patterns and narratives into dialogue, allowing him to explore whether the narratives could explain the patterns. But Darwin’s diagrams did not reveal their meaning directly to passive readers; they required readers to engage dynamically with them in order to understand the connections they disclosed between patterns and narratives. Moreover, the narratives Darwin depicted in his diagrams did not represent past sequences of events that he claimed had actually occurred; the narratives were conjectural, schematic, and probabilistic. Instead of depicting actual histories in all their particularity, Darwin depicted narratives in his diagrams in order to make general claims about how nature works. The conjunction of these features of Darwin’s diagrams is central to how they do their epistemic work.
Abstract: From his earliest student days through the writing of his last book, Charles Darwin drew diagrams. In developing his evolutionary ideas, his preferred form of diagram was the tree. An examination of several of Darwin’s trees—from sketches in a private notebook from the late 1830s through the diagram published in the Origin—opens a window onto the role of diagramming in Darwin’s scientific practice. In his diagrams, Darwin simultaneously represented both observable patterns in nature and conjectural narratives of evolutionary history. He then brought these natural patterns and narratives into dialogue, allowing him to explore whether the narratives could explain the patterns. But Darwin’s diagrams did not reveal their meaning directly to passive readers; they required readers to engage dynamically with them in order to understand the connections they disclosed between patterns and narratives. Moreover, the narratives Darwin depicted in his diagrams did not represent past sequences of events that he claimed had actually occurred; the narratives were conjectural, schematic, and probabilistic. Instead of depicting actual histories in all their particularity, Darwin depicted narratives in his diagrams in order to make general claims about how nature works. The conjunction of these features of Darwin’s diagrams is central to how they do their epistemic work.
| priest_diagramming_evolution_preprint.pdf |
Greg Priest, Silvia De Toffoli, and Paula Findlen, "Tools of Reason: The Practice of Scientific Diagramming from Antiquity to the Present," Endeavour 42, nos. 2-3 (June/September 2018), 49-59: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.endeavour.2018.07.001
Abstract: Scientific and mathematical diagrams have most often been investigated as a particular kind of visual representation, as depictions of some thing in the world or some idea in the mind. But diagrams can also be understood as things in themselves, rather than as representations of things. Here, we consider diagrams as tools—tools that scientists use to reason with. We study diagramming as an epistemic practice, a set of techniques for generating knowledge about and understanding phenomena. This essay sets the stage for the other essays we have collected together into this special issue by presenting an exemplary case study of scientific diagramming: how scientists used diagramming as a tool to elucidate the structure and function of DNA. This case study allows us to draw attention to the importance of the material form that diagrams take, the dynamic manipulations used to create and interpret them, the scientific communities within which they are used, and the cognitive capacities and learned competencies that they call upon and help to develop. These aspects of diagrams and diagramming are central to understanding how diagrams do their epistemic work.
Abstract: Scientific and mathematical diagrams have most often been investigated as a particular kind of visual representation, as depictions of some thing in the world or some idea in the mind. But diagrams can also be understood as things in themselves, rather than as representations of things. Here, we consider diagrams as tools—tools that scientists use to reason with. We study diagramming as an epistemic practice, a set of techniques for generating knowledge about and understanding phenomena. This essay sets the stage for the other essays we have collected together into this special issue by presenting an exemplary case study of scientific diagramming: how scientists used diagramming as a tool to elucidate the structure and function of DNA. This case study allows us to draw attention to the importance of the material form that diagrams take, the dynamic manipulations used to create and interpret them, the scientific communities within which they are used, and the cognitive capacities and learned competencies that they call upon and help to develop. These aspects of diagrams and diagramming are central to understanding how diagrams do their epistemic work.
| priest_de_toffoli_and_findlen_intro_preprint.pdf |
Greg Priest, "Charles Darwin's Theory of Moral Sentiments: What Darwin's Ethics Really Owes to Adam Smith," Journal of the History of Ideas 78(4), 571-593 (October 2017), doi: 10.1353/jhi.2017.0032.
Abstract: When we read On the Origin of Species, we cannot help but hear echoes of the Wealth of Nations. Darwin’s “economy of nature” features a “division of labour” that leads to complexity and productivity. We should not, however, analyze Darwin’s ethics through this lens. Darwin did not draw his economic ideas from Smith, nor did he base his ethics on an economic foundation. Darwin’s ethics rest on Smith’s notion—from the Theory of Moral Sentiments—of an innate human faculty of sympathy. Darwin gave this notion an evolutionary interpretation, concluding that any species of social animals that develops a high enough level of intelligence will evolve moral principles. But the specific moral principles evolved by any particular species will vary, depending on that species’ particular evolutionary history. Darwin’s theory of moral sentiments thus diverged profoundly from Smith’s, while remaining in the same intellectual lineage. Although my reading of Darwin’s ethics departs from the dominant trend, it is not without precedent. A century ago, William James propounded a similar interpretation of Darwin. James’s interpretation has been largely forgotten, but he had Darwin right. It seems that James then developed his own moral philosophy on what he saw as a Darwinian foundation. It may be that James read Darwin’s evolutionary ethics through a pragmatic lens and so refashioned it, in his turn, into something again profoundly different from what Darwin had conceived, but again remaining in the same intellectual lineage.
Abstract: When we read On the Origin of Species, we cannot help but hear echoes of the Wealth of Nations. Darwin’s “economy of nature” features a “division of labour” that leads to complexity and productivity. We should not, however, analyze Darwin’s ethics through this lens. Darwin did not draw his economic ideas from Smith, nor did he base his ethics on an economic foundation. Darwin’s ethics rest on Smith’s notion—from the Theory of Moral Sentiments—of an innate human faculty of sympathy. Darwin gave this notion an evolutionary interpretation, concluding that any species of social animals that develops a high enough level of intelligence will evolve moral principles. But the specific moral principles evolved by any particular species will vary, depending on that species’ particular evolutionary history. Darwin’s theory of moral sentiments thus diverged profoundly from Smith’s, while remaining in the same intellectual lineage. Although my reading of Darwin’s ethics departs from the dominant trend, it is not without precedent. A century ago, William James propounded a similar interpretation of Darwin. James’s interpretation has been largely forgotten, but he had Darwin right. It seems that James then developed his own moral philosophy on what he saw as a Darwinian foundation. It may be that James read Darwin’s evolutionary ethics through a pragmatic lens and so refashioned it, in his turn, into something again profoundly different from what Darwin had conceived, but again remaining in the same intellectual lineage.
| priest_charles_darwins_theory__as_published_.pdf |
Copyright by Journal of the History of Ideas, Volume 78, Number 4 (2017). All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations used for purposes of scholarly citation, none of this work may be reproduced in any form by any means without written permission from the publisher. For information address the University of Pennsylvania Press, 3905 Spruce Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104-4112.
For a blog post on the article, see https://jhiblog.org/2017/11/13/what-if-humans-were-raised-like-bees-charles-darwin-and-the-evolution-of-morality/
For a blog post on the article, see https://jhiblog.org/2017/11/13/what-if-humans-were-raised-like-bees-charles-darwin-and-the-evolution-of-morality/
Greg Priest, "Framing Causal Questions about the Past: The Cambrian Explosion as Case Study," Studies in History and Philosophy of the Biological and Biomedical Sciences 63 (2017), pp. 55-63. DOI: 10.1016/j.shpsc.2017.04.003. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1369848617300626
The paper explores what it is possible to know about the causes of historical events, and suggests how we can frame our questions about the past so that they are most likely to lead to sound answers to historical questions. The paper uses the Cambrian explosion--the most dramatic speciation event in evolutionary history--as its jumping off point and primary case study. But it also explores events in human history, examining how to frame questions about the causes both of particular events like World War II and of recurring types of events such as asset bubbles and financial crises.
Abstract: About 540 million years ago, a rapid radiation of animal phyla radically changed the Earth's biota in a geological eye-blink. What caused this “Cambrian explosion”? Over the years, paleontologists have pointed to a wide array of different physical mechanisms as the causal “trigger” for the explosion. More recently, some paleontologists have proposed complex causal pathways to which multiple physical mechanisms are said to have contributed. Despite their variety, these answers share an assumption that a single explanation can in principle be constructed that identifies some factor or confluence of factors as the cause of the Cambrian explosion. That assumption is unjustifiable. The Cambrian explosion had multiple causes, and different aspects of the event are best explained by different causes. These different causes cannot, even in principle, be integrated into a single causal explanation. We can learn much about the causes of the Cambrian explosion—or for that matter about any historical event—but only by attending more carefully to how we frame our causal questions about the past.
The paper explores what it is possible to know about the causes of historical events, and suggests how we can frame our questions about the past so that they are most likely to lead to sound answers to historical questions. The paper uses the Cambrian explosion--the most dramatic speciation event in evolutionary history--as its jumping off point and primary case study. But it also explores events in human history, examining how to frame questions about the causes both of particular events like World War II and of recurring types of events such as asset bubbles and financial crises.
Abstract: About 540 million years ago, a rapid radiation of animal phyla radically changed the Earth's biota in a geological eye-blink. What caused this “Cambrian explosion”? Over the years, paleontologists have pointed to a wide array of different physical mechanisms as the causal “trigger” for the explosion. More recently, some paleontologists have proposed complex causal pathways to which multiple physical mechanisms are said to have contributed. Despite their variety, these answers share an assumption that a single explanation can in principle be constructed that identifies some factor or confluence of factors as the cause of the Cambrian explosion. That assumption is unjustifiable. The Cambrian explosion had multiple causes, and different aspects of the event are best explained by different causes. These different causes cannot, even in principle, be integrated into a single causal explanation. We can learn much about the causes of the Cambrian explosion—or for that matter about any historical event—but only by attending more carefully to how we frame our causal questions about the past.
Greg Priest, Review of Ben Bradley, Darwin's Psychology, History and Philosophy of the Life Sciences 45:28 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40656-023-00586-3
| priest_review_of_bradley_darwins_psychology_accepted_manuscript.pdf |
Greg Priest, Review of Henry Cowles, The Scientific Method: An Evolution of Thinking from Darwin to Dewey, History and Philosophy of the Life Sciences 43:96 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40656-021-00452-0
| priest_review_of_cowles_the_scientific_method_accepted_manuscript.pdf |
Greg Priest, Review of Thierry Hoquet, Revisiting the Origin of Species: The Other Darwins, History and
losophy of the Life Sciences 42:9 (2020), https://doi.org/10.1007/s40656-020-00304-3
losophy of the Life Sciences 42:9 (2020), https://doi.org/10.1007/s40656-020-00304-3
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Greg Priest, Review of Alistair Sponsel, Darwin's Evolving Identity: Adventure, Ambition, and the Sin of Speculation, History and Philosophy of the Life Sciences 41:3 (2019), https://doi.org/10.1007/s40656-019-0279-5
| priest_review_of_sponsel_darwins_evolving_identity_pre-print.pdf |
Greg Priest, Review of Marco Solinas, From Aristotle's Teleology to Darwin's Genealogy, Isis 108(4), 869-870 (December 2017), doi: 10.1086/695357. https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1086/695357
Invited Talks
"Imagining Extraterrestrials: Insights from Darwin," Breakthrough Listen (workshop for SETI scientists), Berkeley, August 2019.
"Darwin's Other Theory: The Evolution of Sex, Gender, and Beauty," Sonoma State University Darwin Day, Sonoma, February 2019.
"Darwin's Other Theory: The Evolution of Sex, Gender, and Beauty," Sonoma State University Darwin Day, Sonoma, February 2019.
Refereed Conference Presentations
"Making Science Historical: How Narrative Structured Darwin's Science," History of Science Society Annual Meeting, Seattle, November 2018.
"Diagramming Evolution: The Case of Darwin's Trees," History of Science Society Annual Meeting, Toronto, November 2017.
"Diagrams as Tools: The Case of Darwin's 'Tree of Life,'" Tools of Reason: The Practice of Scientific Diagramming from Antiquity to the Present Conference, Stanford University, February 2017.
"The World as Archive: Charles Darwin's Conception of the 'Book of Nature,'" History of Science Society Annual Meeting, Atlanta, November 2016.
"Envisioning Nature: Four Competing 19th-Century Diagrams of the Living World," History of Science Society Annual Meeting, San Francisco, November 2015.
"Diagrammatic Notation Systems," Roundtable presenter, History of Science Society Annual Meeting, San Francisco, November 2015.
"Charles Darwin's 'Tree of Life' Diagram as a Model of Evolutionary Processes," Diagrams as Vehicles of Scientific Reasoning Conference, University of Pittsburgh Center for Philosophy of Science, April 2015.
"Charles Darwin’s Theory of Moral Sentiments, What Darwin Really Borrowed from Adam Smith," History of Science Society Annual Meeting, Chicago, November 2014.
"Metaphor and the Evolved Mind: The Case of Darwin’s 'Tree of Life,'" International Society for the History, Philosophy and Social Studies of Biology (ISHPSSB) Conference, July 2013.
"Darwin Among the Zoophytes: Darwin’s Views of Biological Individuality," International Society for the History, Philosophy and Social Studies of Biology (ISHPSSB) Conference, July 2011
"Is Evolution 'Mere History' or 'Universal Law'?" Lessons from Darwin’s Tree of Life Diagram, ISHPSSB Off-Year Workshop on Integrating Complexity, University of Western Ontario, October 2010
"Charles Darwin’s Tree of Life as Image, Metaphor and Model," Celebration of Darwin, Virginia Tech University, November 2009
"What Would Darwin Do? Charles Darwin’s Pragmatic Ethics," Association of Graduate Liberal Studies Programs Annual Conference, Stanford University, June 2009
"Charles Darwin, John Snow and the Birth of a New Science," Association of Graduate Liberal Studies Programs Annual Conference, Stanford University, June 2008
"Diagramming Evolution: The Case of Darwin's Trees," History of Science Society Annual Meeting, Toronto, November 2017.
"Diagrams as Tools: The Case of Darwin's 'Tree of Life,'" Tools of Reason: The Practice of Scientific Diagramming from Antiquity to the Present Conference, Stanford University, February 2017.
"The World as Archive: Charles Darwin's Conception of the 'Book of Nature,'" History of Science Society Annual Meeting, Atlanta, November 2016.
"Envisioning Nature: Four Competing 19th-Century Diagrams of the Living World," History of Science Society Annual Meeting, San Francisco, November 2015.
"Diagrammatic Notation Systems," Roundtable presenter, History of Science Society Annual Meeting, San Francisco, November 2015.
"Charles Darwin's 'Tree of Life' Diagram as a Model of Evolutionary Processes," Diagrams as Vehicles of Scientific Reasoning Conference, University of Pittsburgh Center for Philosophy of Science, April 2015.
"Charles Darwin’s Theory of Moral Sentiments, What Darwin Really Borrowed from Adam Smith," History of Science Society Annual Meeting, Chicago, November 2014.
"Metaphor and the Evolved Mind: The Case of Darwin’s 'Tree of Life,'" International Society for the History, Philosophy and Social Studies of Biology (ISHPSSB) Conference, July 2013.
"Darwin Among the Zoophytes: Darwin’s Views of Biological Individuality," International Society for the History, Philosophy and Social Studies of Biology (ISHPSSB) Conference, July 2011
"Is Evolution 'Mere History' or 'Universal Law'?" Lessons from Darwin’s Tree of Life Diagram, ISHPSSB Off-Year Workshop on Integrating Complexity, University of Western Ontario, October 2010
"Charles Darwin’s Tree of Life as Image, Metaphor and Model," Celebration of Darwin, Virginia Tech University, November 2009
"What Would Darwin Do? Charles Darwin’s Pragmatic Ethics," Association of Graduate Liberal Studies Programs Annual Conference, Stanford University, June 2009
"Charles Darwin, John Snow and the Birth of a New Science," Association of Graduate Liberal Studies Programs Annual Conference, Stanford University, June 2008
