Robert A Skipper, Jr.

Associate Professor | Department Head | History and Philosophy of Biology, Philosophy of Science, Environmental Ethics
Environmental Studies - Affiliate Faculty
Philosophy - Tenure-Track Faculty
206B McMicken Hall
513-556-6336
robert.skipper@uc.edu

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Education

Ph.D., University of Maryland, College Park, 2000.

Professional Summary

Skipper works in the history and philosophy of biology and science more generally. Presently, he is engaged in two main research projects. One project is aimed at understanding controversy dynamics in the biological sciences. Skipper has explored controversy dynamics by way of the problem of credentialing scientific claims made about models. His principal case study is a persistent controversy central to the foundations of population genetics, i.e., the R. A. Fisher-Sewall Wright controversy, which concerns the most fundamental aspects of evolutionary theorizing, viz., how to model the relationship between the causes of cumulative evolution and heredity.

The second main project is aimed at understanding the historical and conceptual foundations of modeling stochastic evolutionary dynamics. In particular, Skipper is interested in the biological underpinnings of these models and the relative significance of random processes in evolution such as mutation, genetic drift, and genetic draft. Most recently, Skipper has explored these isues by looking at the stochastic dynamics of linked selection.

Skipper is also interested in traditional problems in the philosophy of science, especially the structure and interpretation of scientific theories and scientific explanation. He regularly teaches courses in philosophy of biology and science, as well as in the philosophy of cognitive ethology, epistemology and, environmental ethics. Skipper is also an affiliate of the Environmental Studies Program.

For more detailed information, go to Skipper's blog, hpb, etc.

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