Social and Political Sciences, Philosophy, and Anthropology

Photo of Professor Adrian Currie

Professor Adrian Currie

Associate Professor in Philosophy

A.Currie@exeter.ac.uk

Research

Philosophy of Science; Philosophy of Biology; Philosophy of Historical Science; Social Epistemology; History & Philosophy of Science; Creativity

Adrian is primarily interested in how scientists successfully generate knowledge in tricky circumstances: where evidence is thin on the ground, targets are highly complex and obstinate, and our knowledge is limited. This has led him to examine the historical sciences – geology, palaeontology and archaeology – and to argue that the messy, opportunistic (‘methodologically omnivorous’) and disunified nature of these sciences often underwrites their success. His interest in knowledge-production has also led him to think about the natures of, and relationships between, scientific tools such as experiments, models and observations, as well as in comparative methods in biology. He also has an interest in how we organize scientific communities, particularly regarding scientific creativity.

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Supervision

Please email me if you are interested in doing a PhD (or MA by Research) in the following areas:

  • General issues in philosophy of science (particularly explanation, evidence and values);
  • Philosophy of science in practice;
  • Philosophical issues arising from the study of the deep past;
  • Philosophical Methods;
  • The social structure of science.

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Biography

Adrian grew up in Christchurch, New Zealand and has studied and taught at Victoria University of Wellington, Australian National University, the University of Sydney, the University of Calgary and Cambridge University before coming to Exeter.

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