Human beings are social and dependent creatures. We rely on friends, romantic partners, family, communities, therapists, and other confidantes for support, insight, and understanding. And yet, we have recently entered an era in which many now seek support from artificial agents powered by generative AI. These AI agents are increasingly used — by design or […]

Abstract: Quantitative measurement in the human sciences remains both widespread and controversial. Are depression scales, intelligence tests, etc. valid measurement instruments? Do they deliver quantitative or merely ordinal information? I discuss two approaches for understanding practices of quantitative measurement of theoretical attributes in the early stages of research. One uses causal notions to characterize dispositional […]

Abstract: What if,  at the 1927 Solvay conference, the causal interpretation of quantum mechanics had received a more sympathetic hearing?  What if Charles Darwin had died on the Beagle voyage and so had never lived to write On the Origin of Species?  What if the Oxford biologist W. F. R. Weldon hadn’t died of pneumonia […]