Daniel Steel
Michigan State University, USA
Spring Term 2005
Causality and Heterogeneity:
Extrapolation in Biology and Social Science

June 2008

Dan’s interests revolve around problems of causal inference and inductive inference generally, with a special focus on the social sciences and biology. While at the Center in spring 2005, he completed the first draft of a book manuscript titled, Across the Boundaries: Extrapolation in Biology and Social Science, which was published by Oxford University Press in November 2007. The book deals with the challenge of extrapolating causal conclusions across animal species, and considers whether methods for this purpose can be applied to social science. He explores the idea that knowledge of mechanisms and factors capable of interfering with them facilitate such extrapolations, and explores the implications of these issues for more familiar topics in philosophy of biology and social science. He is currently working on a follow up project that further develops the ideas in Across the Boundaries and applies them to toxicity assessment of nanoparticles.

When not thinking about philosophy, Dan enjoys running, playing guitar, studying languages—Chinese now!—and spending time with his wonderful and accomplished new wife, Guofang Li.