John Locke, botany and natural kinds. This project will enhance the status of research into early modern science and philosophy in Australia. It is a project of major significance in Locke studies and in the history of botany and it will impinge on a number of current philosophical debates to which Australians are already making a major contribution: the nature of biological species; natural kinds; and scientific method. Those who work on early modern thought in Australia will also benefit from ....John Locke, botany and natural kinds. This project will enhance the status of research into early modern science and philosophy in Australia. It is a project of major significance in Locke studies and in the history of botany and it will impinge on a number of current philosophical debates to which Australians are already making a major contribution: the nature of biological species; natural kinds; and scientific method. Those who work on early modern thought in Australia will also benefit from the close relationship that will be established between the University of Sydney and Oxford University. The publications issuing from the project will be of international significance.Read moreRead less
Modelling Nervous Systems, 1880-1930: Debates over Choice of Materials and Techniques in the Correlation of Form and Function. This project will examine key scientific research programs in the history of the neurosciences in the transitional period 1880-1930 in order to explore the models, methodologies, and material techniques that were the foundation for the most influential theories. Several major figures will serve as anchors for the study, providing insight into the contentious debates as ....Modelling Nervous Systems, 1880-1930: Debates over Choice of Materials and Techniques in the Correlation of Form and Function. This project will examine key scientific research programs in the history of the neurosciences in the transitional period 1880-1930 in order to explore the models, methodologies, and material techniques that were the foundation for the most influential theories. Several major figures will serve as anchors for the study, providing insight into the contentious debates as well as the often unstated basic agreements that occurred across a range of disciplinary, social, and national boundaries to examine the roots of what neuroscience is today.Read moreRead less
Modelling Nervous Systems, 1880-1930: Debates over Choice of Materials and Techniques in the Correlation of Form and Function. This project will examine key scientific research programs in the history of the neurosciences in the transitional period 1880-1930, in order to explore the models, methodologies, and material techniques that were the foundation for the most influential theories. Several major figures will serve as anchors for the study, providing insight into the contentious debates as ....Modelling Nervous Systems, 1880-1930: Debates over Choice of Materials and Techniques in the Correlation of Form and Function. This project will examine key scientific research programs in the history of the neurosciences in the transitional period 1880-1930, in order to explore the models, methodologies, and material techniques that were the foundation for the most influential theories. Several major figures will serve as anchors for the study, providing insight into the contentious debates as well as the often unstated basic agreements that occurred across a range of disciplinary, social, and national boundaries, in order to get to the core of what neuroscience is today.Read moreRead less
The origins of scientific experimental practices: from the anatomical theatre to the conversations of the Royal Society. This research will offer new insight into the emergence of scientific empiricism, and will thus provide an important contribution towards informed public discussion concerning science education, the relations between the sciences and between science and general culture. This discussion is incumbent on us in our quest for a knowledge-based economy and a proper place in an incr ....The origins of scientific experimental practices: from the anatomical theatre to the conversations of the Royal Society. This research will offer new insight into the emergence of scientific empiricism, and will thus provide an important contribution towards informed public discussion concerning science education, the relations between the sciences and between science and general culture. This discussion is incumbent on us in our quest for a knowledge-based economy and a proper place in an increasingly competitive world of science-led industry `and commerce. Australia enjoys a prime international position in history and philosophy of science scholarship, and in the field of seventeenth century science in particular. This project will maintain and enhance this position.Read moreRead less
Australian Laureate Fellowships - Grant ID: FL170100160
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$2,568,846.00
Summary
A philosophy of medicine for the 21st century. This project aims to develop a new theory of health and disease to accommodate developments in contemporary biology such as the ‘developmental origins of health and disease’, the role of the microbiome in physiology, and the fact that our bodies are sites of evolutionary conflict between multiple genomes, particularly in early life. Present science does not fit with common-sense ideas about the identity and the goals of living systems and the projec ....A philosophy of medicine for the 21st century. This project aims to develop a new theory of health and disease to accommodate developments in contemporary biology such as the ‘developmental origins of health and disease’, the role of the microbiome in physiology, and the fact that our bodies are sites of evolutionary conflict between multiple genomes, particularly in early life. Present science does not fit with common-sense ideas about the identity and the goals of living systems and the project expects to generate a close collaboration between philosophers and biomedical scientists so that new ideas about health and disease can be fed back into proof-of-principle projects for innovative new approaches to the study of health and disease. The project will conduct methodologically innovative research in the philosophy of medicine, working in close collaboration with biomedical scientists to confront the transformational discoveries about the nature of living systems that have been made in the first years of the current century and to actively shape new forms of enquiry into health that reflect those discoveries. It will make the discipline of philosophy an active participant in the creation of integrative biomedical research.Read moreRead less
A methodological analysis of the application of evolutionary medicine to non-communicable diseases. This project draws on recent work in philosophy of science to understand how evolutionary thinking can inform medical research. It will analyse how evolutionary thinking contributed to recent advances in understanding diseases such as diabetes and metabolic syndrome, and facilitate extending this approach to new areas of health and disease.
Culture-bound syndromes, koro, and the emergence of 'cosmopolitan' psychiatry. This historical study examines the concepts of ethnicity used by psychiatrists by focusing on the ways in which one culture-bound syndrome, koro, moved from being exclusively South-East Asian to being found in a number of cultures. It will develop significant understandings of psychiatric conceptions of cultural difference.
Life outside institutions: histories of mental health aftercare 1900 - 1960. This project aims to show that post-institutional care is central to the history of mental health before the era of deinstitutionalisation. It expects to break new ground by examining patterns of discharge from psychiatric institutions from 1900 to 1960, linking these with the development of mental health aftercare services for people leaving hospitals in Australia before these institutions closed. Planned outcomes of t ....Life outside institutions: histories of mental health aftercare 1900 - 1960. This project aims to show that post-institutional care is central to the history of mental health before the era of deinstitutionalisation. It expects to break new ground by examining patterns of discharge from psychiatric institutions from 1900 to 1960, linking these with the development of mental health aftercare services for people leaving hospitals in Australia before these institutions closed. Planned outcomes of this project include a sole-authored monograph and co-edited book, a higher degree research thesis, and public engagement. This should provide significant benefits by connecting processes of institutional discharge to the wider community with later patterns of post-institutional care.
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The rise of empiricism and the attempt to produce a unified understanding of the world, 1680-1750. Empiricism is often regarded as the characterising feature of modern scientific method, and, in those approaches to psychology and the social and economic sciences that seek to model themselves on successful scientific practice in the physical and life sciences, it often acts as a model of good practice. The project examines the original form of empiricism and shows how it was able to directly enga ....The rise of empiricism and the attempt to produce a unified understanding of the world, 1680-1750. Empiricism is often regarded as the characterising feature of modern scientific method, and, in those approaches to psychology and the social and economic sciences that seek to model themselves on successful scientific practice in the physical and life sciences, it often acts as a model of good practice. The project examines the original form of empiricism and shows how it was able to directly engage questions of value in a novel and revealing way, and how its connection with 'hard' sciences was not merely to provide a methodological gloss on these, but went to the core of what scientific explanation consisted in.Read moreRead less
The Cold War Obesity Crisis: Fatness, Public Health, and Medical Science in the United States, 1940-1970. In 1951 the US Public Health Service declared obesity, newly reinterpreted as an addictive disorder, to be the nation’s leading health problem. This project will be the first to study the course of this early obesity crisis, analysing the interaction between popular perception, biomedical science and health policy, all in the political and cultural context of postwar America. Research will e ....The Cold War Obesity Crisis: Fatness, Public Health, and Medical Science in the United States, 1940-1970. In 1951 the US Public Health Service declared obesity, newly reinterpreted as an addictive disorder, to be the nation’s leading health problem. This project will be the first to study the course of this early obesity crisis, analysing the interaction between popular perception, biomedical science and health policy, all in the political and cultural context of postwar America. Research will especially focus on the competing efforts of several biomedical disciplines and their scientific leaders to define the problem and shape responses to it. The goal is to understand the ways science and medicine related to social forces in the episode, and to derive lessons for today’s global obesity crisis.Read moreRead less