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| James R. Griesemer | |
|---|---|
| Name | James R. Griesemer |
| Occupation | Philosopher of Biology, Historian of Science, Academic |
| Workplaces | University of California, Davis |
| Alma mater | University of Chicago; University of Minnesota |
James R. Griesemer is a philosopher of biology and historian of science known for work on species concepts, models in biology, and museum studies. He has held appointments at the University of California, Davis and contributed to debates involving figures and institutions across philosophy of science, evolutionary biology, and museum studies. His work engages topics linked to scholars and entities such as Ernst Mayr, Theodosius Dobzhansky, Ronald Fisher, Thomas Kuhn, and institutions like the Smithsonian Institution and the American Museum of Natural History.
Griesemer earned his undergraduate degree at the University of Minnesota and pursued graduate study at the University of Chicago. During his formation he studied under and interacted with scholars in the lineage of Karl Popper, Imre Lakatos, W. V. O. Quine, and colleagues influenced by Thomas Kuhn and Paul Feyerabend. He completed doctoral work that situated him among historians engaging archival collections at the Library of Congress and the Bodleian Libraries.
Griesemer served on the faculty of the University of California, Davis, collaborating with departments and programs connected to the History of Science Society, the Philosophy of Science Association, and the Society for the Study of Evolution. His institutional affiliations included interactions with the National Science Foundation, grant-sponsored research linked to the American Philosophical Society, and visiting positions at centers such as the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science and the Wellcome Trust Centre for the History of Medicine. He participated in editorial roles for journals associated with the Royal Society and the British Society for the Philosophy of Science.
Griesemer's research addresses the conceptualization of species problem-related debates, model representation debates connecting to the work of John Maynard Smith, Richard Lewontin, and Stephen Jay Gould, and the role of collections in scientific practice evoked by the Natural History Museum, London and the Field Museum of Natural History. He developed analyses of model organism use that converse with arguments by Søren Kierkegaard-influenced historiography, and critique frameworks advanced by Daniel Dennett and Jerry Fodor. His contributions include methodological work on how field notes, curatorial practices at the Smithsonian Institution, and classification systems at the American Museum of Natural History intersect with theoretical issues raised by Ernst Mayr and Theodosius Dobzhansky. Griesemer has engaged debates on levels of selection framed against arguments from George C. Williams, David Sloan Wilson, and Elliott Sober, and on modeling practices in light of discussions by Nancy Cartwright and Patrick Suppes.
Griesemer authored and edited works that interact with texts by Charles Darwin, Alfred Russel Wallace, and analyses by Richard Dawkins and Stephen Jay Gould. His publications include essays in volumes alongside contributions from Michael Ruse, Elliott Sober, Peter Godfrey-Smith, and Kim Sterelny, and articles in journals associated with the Philosophy of Science Association and the History of Science Society. He has written on museum collections in edited collections featuring contributions from scholars affiliated with the Smithsonian Institution, the Natural History Museum, London, and the American Museum of Natural History, and on species concepts in venues that also published work by Ernst Mayr, Joel Cracraft, and David Hull.
Griesemer received recognition from organizations connected to the History of Science Society and the American Philosophical Society, and his scholarship was supported by fellowships from institutions such as the National Endowment for the Humanities and the National Science Foundation. He has been invited to speak at conferences hosted by the Royal Society and the British Academy, and to hold visiting fellowships at centers like the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science and the Wellcome Trust Centre for the History of Medicine.
At the University of California, Davis Griesemer supervised graduate students whose work engaged topics linked to evolutionary biology, systematics, museum studies, and the history of biology. His mentees have collaborated with researchers at institutions including the Smithsonian Institution, the American Museum of Natural History, and the Field Museum of Natural History, and have continued scholarly dialogues informed by traditions traced to Ernst Mayr, Theodosius Dobzhansky, and Charles Darwin.
Category:Philosophers of biology Category:Historians of science