Caleb Hazelwood

Caleb Hazelwood is a philosopher of science specializing in evolutionary and developmental biology.  He completed the Ph.D. in Philosophy at Duke University (under the direction of Robert Brandon and Alex Rosenberg) and an M.S. in Biology (with Dan McShea and Louise Roth). He is also a member of the faculty for the Program in Ecology and Evolution.

 

Dr Hazelwood is interested in how biologists investigate, explain, and model causal processes in evolution. The unifying claim of his research is that biological practice and metaphysics shape each other in an iterative process that parallels reflective equilibrium. Rather than viewing a practice-oriented approach to philosophy of biology as an alternative to a metaphysical orientation, as some philosophers do, his iterative framework allows us to recognize biological practice as a tool—and often the most effective one—for providing metaphysical explanations. But our best tool sometimes needs retuning with the very instruments it is designed to build.