Alistair M C Isaac
Biographic Data
| ID | 1032543 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Alistair M C Isaac |
| GIVEN NAMES | Alistair M C |
| FAMILY NAME | Isaac |
| SIGNATURE | ISAAC A M C |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Edinburgh |
| ORCID | 0000-0003-4705-739X |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 12 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 19 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 12 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2009 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 2 |
Metrological legitimacy and the human sciences
When is it scientifically permissible to represent the outcome of an experiment numerically, such that algebraic manipulations of that representation are meaningful? This is the question of quantification. This article defends a particular answer to this question, namely: quantitative representation is permissible when numerical assignments uniquely specify invariant relationships between the outcomes of a contingent, well-defined procedure. I ca…
The Ups and Downs of Mechanism Realism
Mechanism realists assert the existence of mechanisms as objective structures in the world, but their exact metaphysical commitments are unclear. We introduce Local Hierarchy Realism (LHR) as a substantive and plausible form of mechanism realism. The limits of LHR reveal a deep tension between two aspects of mechanists’ explanatory strategy. Functional decomposition identifies locally relevant entities and activities, while these same entities an…
Escape from Zanzibar
A “Zanzibar” is an island of measurement values that internally cohere, but are detached from independent contact with reality. One manifestation of Zanzibars is through “bandwagon effects,” the tendency of contemporaneous measurements to agree. Bandwagons illustrate how the otherwise virtuous drive towards coherence can have negative epistemic consequences. I argue that precision is an epistemic virtue that mitigates against bandwagon effects an…
Realism without tears II
Realism without tears I
Epistemic Loops and Measurement Realism
Recent philosophy of measurement has emphasized the existence of both diachronic and synchronic “loops,” or feedback processes, in the epistemic achievements of measurement. A widespread response has been to conclude that measurement outcomes do not convey interest-independent facts about the world and that only a coherentist epistemology of measurement is viable. In contrast, I argue that a form of measurement realism is consistent with these re…
The Semantics Latent in Shannon Information
The lore is that standard information theory provides an analysis of information quantity, but not of information content. I argue this lore is incorrect, and there is an adequate informational semantics latent in standard theory. The roots of this notion of content can be traced to the secret parallel development of an information theory equivalent to Shannon’s by Turing at Bletchley Park, and it has been suggested independently in recent work b…
Physical Computation
The question of which physical systems compute is of pressing foundational import for the cognitive sciences in light of repeated claims that intelligence, cognition, or even consciousness reduce to, or supervene on, computational properties. Traditional philosophical approaches to this question have begun from the mathematical theory of computation, seeking a formal relationship between its abstract models, such as Turing machines, and physical …
Hubris to humility
Model uncertainty and policy choice
Modeling without representation
Prospects for Naturalizing Color
Paul Churchland has recently offered a novel argument for the “objective reality” of color. The strategy he employs to make this argument is an instance of a more general research program for interpreting perceptual content, “domain-portrayal semantics.” In the first half of the article, I point out some features of color vision that complicate Churchland's conclusion, in particular, the context-sensitive and inferential nature of color perceptio…
Modeling without representation
Realism without tears II
Realism without tears I
Epistemic Loops and Measurement Realism
Recent philosophy of measurement has emphasized the existence of both diachronic and synchronic “loops,” or feedback processes, in the epistemic achievements of measurement. A widespread response has been to conclude that measurement outcomes do not convey interest-independent facts about the world and that only a coherentist epistemology of measurement is viable. In contrast, I argue that a form of measurement realism is consistent with these re…
The Semantics Latent in Shannon Information
The lore is that standard information theory provides an analysis of information quantity, but not of information content. I argue this lore is incorrect, and there is an adequate informational semantics latent in standard theory. The roots of this notion of content can be traced to the secret parallel development of an information theory equivalent to Shannon’s by Turing at Bletchley Park, and it has been suggested independently in recent work b…
Hubris to humility
Escape from Zanzibar
A “Zanzibar” is an island of measurement values that internally cohere, but are detached from independent contact with reality. One manifestation of Zanzibars is through “bandwagon effects,” the tendency of contemporaneous measurements to agree. Bandwagons illustrate how the otherwise virtuous drive towards coherence can have negative epistemic consequences. I argue that precision is an epistemic virtue that mitigates against bandwagon effects an…
Prospects for Naturalizing Color
Paul Churchland has recently offered a novel argument for the “objective reality” of color. The strategy he employs to make this argument is an instance of a more general research program for interpreting perceptual content, “domain-portrayal semantics.” In the first half of the article, I point out some features of color vision that complicate Churchland's conclusion, in particular, the context-sensitive and inferential nature of color perceptio…
Modeling without representation
Model uncertainty and policy choice
Hubris to humility
Physical Computation
The question of which physical systems compute is of pressing foundational import for the cognitive sciences in light of repeated claims that intelligence, cognition, or even consciousness reduce to, or supervene on, computational properties. Traditional philosophical approaches to this question have begun from the mathematical theory of computation, seeking a formal relationship between its abstract models, such as Turing machines, and physical …
Realism without tears I
Epistemic Loops and Measurement Realism
Recent philosophy of measurement has emphasized the existence of both diachronic and synchronic “loops,” or feedback processes, in the epistemic achievements of measurement. A widespread response has been to conclude that measurement outcomes do not convey interest-independent facts about the world and that only a coherentist epistemology of measurement is viable. In contrast, I argue that a form of measurement realism is consistent with these re…
The Semantics Latent in Shannon Information
The lore is that standard information theory provides an analysis of information quantity, but not of information content. I argue this lore is incorrect, and there is an adequate informational semantics latent in standard theory. The roots of this notion of content can be traced to the secret parallel development of an information theory equivalent to Shannon’s by Turing at Bletchley Park, and it has been suggested independently in recent work b…
Realism without tears II
Escape from Zanzibar
A “Zanzibar” is an island of measurement values that internally cohere, but are detached from independent contact with reality. One manifestation of Zanzibars is through “bandwagon effects,” the tendency of contemporaneous measurements to agree. Bandwagons illustrate how the otherwise virtuous drive towards coherence can have negative epistemic consequences. I argue that precision is an epistemic virtue that mitigates against bandwagon effects an…
The Ups and Downs of Mechanism Realism
Mechanism realists assert the existence of mechanisms as objective structures in the world, but their exact metaphysical commitments are unclear. We introduce Local Hierarchy Realism (LHR) as a substantive and plausible form of mechanism realism. The limits of LHR reveal a deep tension between two aspects of mechanists’ explanatory strategy. Functional decomposition identifies locally relevant entities and activities, while these same entities an…
Metrological legitimacy and the human sciences
When is it scientifically permissible to represent the outcome of an experiment numerically, such that algebraic manipulations of that representation are meaningful? This is the question of quantification. This article defends a particular answer to this question, namely: quantitative representation is permissible when numerical assignments uniquely specify invariant relationships between the outcomes of a contingent, well-defined procedure. I ca…
Epistemology (11 works) · Philosophy (11 works) · Computer Science (7 works) · Philosophy and History of Science (7 works) · Psychology (7 works) · Cognitive science (4 works) · Philosophy (4 works) · Realism (4 works) · Artificial Intelligence (3 works) · Mathematics (3 works)