Julian Reiss
Biographic Data
| ID | 5969293 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Julian Reiss |
| GIVEN NAMES | Julian |
| FAMILY NAME | Reiss |
| SIGNATURE | REISS J |
| AFFILIATIONS | Erasmus University Rotterdam |
| VERIFIED | No |
| TOTAL WORKS | 22 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 98 |
| WORKS AS AUTHOR | 22 |
| WORKS AS EDITOR | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2002 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2020 |
| H-INDEX | 6 |
The Life you do Not Save: Reflections on the Causal Element in the Notion of a Decision's Consequences
»Vielmehr bietet [der Kommentar] auf höchstem Niveau eine substantielle Auseinandersetzung mit den Hintergründen, den Zusammenhängen, der Theorie und der Praxis des Grundgesetzes. Besseres lässt sich von einem Verfassungskommentar nicht sagen.“ Herbert Günther Staaatsanzeiger für das Land Hessen 2018 (50), 1494–1495
What are the drivers of induction? Towards a Material Theory
Why Do Experts Disagree
Jeffrey Friedmans "Power Without Knowledge" argues forcefully that there are inherent limitations to the predictability of human action, due to a circumstance he calls “ideational heterogeneity.” However, our resources for predicting human action somewhat reliably in the light of ideational heterogeneity have not been exhausted yet, and there are no in-principle barriers to progress in tackling the problem. There are, however, other strong reason…
Capitalism and Democracy
This chapter examines the interrelationships between democracy on the one hand and capitalism (or what I prefer to call “the liberal economy”) on the other. Liberal thinkers tend to maintain that the two are allies, at least as long as democracy is (constitutionally or otherwise) limited. Socialists regard them as rivals, as “true” democracy can be realized only under socialism or communism. Joseph Schumpeter stands out as the commentator who arg…
Expertise, Agreement, and the Nature of Social Scientific Facts or
Taking some controversial claims philosopher Jason Brennan makes in his book Against Democracy (Brennan 2016) as a starting point, this paper argues in favour of two theses: (1) There is No Such Thing as Superior Political Judgement; (2) There Is No Such Thing as Uncontroversial Social Scientific Knowledge. I conclude that social science experts need to be kept in check, not given more power.
Against external validity
Francesco Guala once wrote that ‘The problem of extrapolation (or external validity as it is sometimes called) is a minor scandal in the philosophy of science’. This paper agrees with the statement, but for reasons different from Guala’s. The scandal is not, or not any longer, that the problem has been ignored in the philosophy of science. The scandal is that framing the problem as one of external validity encourages poor evidential reasoning. Th…
Extrapolation of Experimental Results through Analogical Reasoning from Latent Classes
In the human sciences, experimental research is used to establish causal relationships. However, the extrapolation of these results to the target population can be problematic. To facilitate extrapolation, we propose to use the statistical technique Latent Class Regression Analysis in combination with the analogical reasoning theory for extrapolation. This statistical technique can identify latent classes that differ in the effect of X on Y. In o…
Evidence-Based Policy
Acceding to the demand that public policy should be based on "the best available evidence" can come at significant moral cost. Important policy questions cannot be addressed using "the best available evidence" as defined by the evidence-based policy paradigm; the paradigm can change the meaning of questions so that they can be addressed using the preferred kind of evidence; and important evidence that does not meet the standard defined by the par…
A Pragmatist Theory of Evidence
Two approaches to evidential reasoning compete in the biomedical and social sciences: the experimental and the pragmatist. Whereas experimentalism has received considerable philosophical analysis and support since the times of Bacon and Mill (and continues to enjoy attention and support in very recent work on causation and evidence), pragmatism about evidence has been neither articulated nor defended. The overall aim is to fill this gap and devel…
Causation in the sciences
Empirical Evidence
With the rise of evidence-based movements in medicine and social policy, the topic of evidence has come to the forefront of research in the philosophy and methodology of science. But the issue is far from new. Observation, experiment, induction and confirmation – all practises very closely related to evidence – have been central concerns of philosophers ever since the birth of Western philosophy. The primary aim of this article is to provide an i…
The global health complex
The philosophy of simulation
In favour of a Millian proposal to reform biomedical research
One way to make philosophy of science more socially relevant is to attend to specific scientific practises that affect society to a great extent. One such practise is biomedical research. This paper looks at contemporary U.S. biomedical research in particular and argues that it suffers from important epistemic, moral and socio-economic failings. It then discusses and criticises existing approaches to improve on the status quo, most prominently by…
Causation in the Social Sciences
All univocal analyses of causation face counterexamples. An attractive response to this situation is to become a pluralist about causal relationships. “Causal pluralism” is itself, however, a pluralistic notion. In this article, I argue in favor of pluralism about concepts of cause in the social sciences. The article will show that evidence for, inference from, and the purpose of causal claims are very closely linked
The philosophy of simulation
Counterfactuals, Thought Experiments, and Singular Causal Analysis in History
Thought experiments are ubiquitous in science and especially prominent in domains in which experimental and observational evidence is scarce. One such domain is the causal analysis of singular events in history. A long-standing tradition that goes back to Max Weber addresses the issue by means of ‘what-if’ counterfactuals. In this paper I give a descriptive account of this widely used method and argue that historians following it examine differen…
What's New in the Philosophy of the Social Sciences
Do We Need Mechanisms in the Social Sciences
A recent movement in the social sciences and philosophy of the social sciences focuses on mechanisms as a central analytical unit. Starting from a pluralist perspective on the aims of the social sciences, I argue that there are a number of important aims to which knowledge about mechanisms—whatever their virtues relative to other aims—contributes very little at best and that investigating mechanisms is therefore a methodological strategy with fai…
Causal Instrumental Variables and Interventions
The aim of this paper is to introduce the instrumental variables technique to the discussion about causal inference in econometrics. I show that it may lead to causally incorrect conclusions unless some fairly strong causal background assumptions are made, assumptions which are usually left implicit by econometricians. These assumptions are very similar to, albeit not identical with, James Woodward's definition of an ‘intervention’. I discuss sim…
Evidence-Based Economics
This paper presents an outline of a methodology of ‘evidence-based economics’. The question whether an economic statement is evidence-based must be answered on three different levels. The first level concerns measurement: it asks whether claims made about economic quantities such as inflation, unemployment, growth or poverty are justified by the data and measurement procedures. The second level concerns induction: it asks whether claims made abou…
Causality in macroeconomics Kevin D. Hoover
(2002). Causality in macroeconomics Kevin D. Hoover. Forum for Social Economics: Vol. 32, No. 1, pp. 51-54
Causation in the Social Sciences
All univocal analyses of causation face counterexamples. An attractive response to this situation is to become a pluralist about causal relationships. “Causal pluralism” is itself, however, a pluralistic notion. In this article, I argue in favor of pluralism about concepts of cause in the social sciences. The article will show that evidence for, inference from, and the purpose of causal claims are very closely linked
The philosophy of simulation
Do We Need Mechanisms in the Social Sciences
A recent movement in the social sciences and philosophy of the social sciences focuses on mechanisms as a central analytical unit. Starting from a pluralist perspective on the aims of the social sciences, I argue that there are a number of important aims to which knowledge about mechanisms—whatever their virtues relative to other aims—contributes very little at best and that investigating mechanisms is therefore a methodological strategy with fai…
Against external validity
Francesco Guala once wrote that ‘The problem of extrapolation (or external validity as it is sometimes called) is a minor scandal in the philosophy of science’. This paper agrees with the statement, but for reasons different from Guala’s. The scandal is not, or not any longer, that the problem has been ignored in the philosophy of science. The scandal is that framing the problem as one of external validity encourages poor evidential reasoning. Th…
A Pragmatist Theory of Evidence
Two approaches to evidential reasoning compete in the biomedical and social sciences: the experimental and the pragmatist. Whereas experimentalism has received considerable philosophical analysis and support since the times of Bacon and Mill (and continues to enjoy attention and support in very recent work on causation and evidence), pragmatism about evidence has been neither articulated nor defended. The overall aim is to fill this gap and devel…
Counterfactuals, Thought Experiments, and Singular Causal Analysis in History
Thought experiments are ubiquitous in science and especially prominent in domains in which experimental and observational evidence is scarce. One such domain is the causal analysis of singular events in history. A long-standing tradition that goes back to Max Weber addresses the issue by means of ‘what-if’ counterfactuals. In this paper I give a descriptive account of this widely used method and argue that historians following it examine differen…
Extrapolation of Experimental Results through Analogical Reasoning from Latent Classes
In the human sciences, experimental research is used to establish causal relationships. However, the extrapolation of these results to the target population can be problematic. To facilitate extrapolation, we propose to use the statistical technique Latent Class Regression Analysis in combination with the analogical reasoning theory for extrapolation. This statistical technique can identify latent classes that differ in the effect of X on Y. In o…
Evidence-Based Policy
Acceding to the demand that public policy should be based on "the best available evidence" can come at significant moral cost. Important policy questions cannot be addressed using "the best available evidence" as defined by the evidence-based policy paradigm; the paradigm can change the meaning of questions so that they can be addressed using the preferred kind of evidence; and important evidence that does not meet the standard defined by the par…
In favour of a Millian proposal to reform biomedical research
One way to make philosophy of science more socially relevant is to attend to specific scientific practises that affect society to a great extent. One such practise is biomedical research. This paper looks at contemporary U.S. biomedical research in particular and argues that it suffers from important epistemic, moral and socio-economic failings. It then discusses and criticises existing approaches to improve on the status quo, most prominently by…
Causal Instrumental Variables and Interventions
The aim of this paper is to introduce the instrumental variables technique to the discussion about causal inference in econometrics. I show that it may lead to causally incorrect conclusions unless some fairly strong causal background assumptions are made, assumptions which are usually left implicit by econometricians. These assumptions are very similar to, albeit not identical with, James Woodward's definition of an ‘intervention’. I discuss sim…
Causation in the sciences
Why Do Experts Disagree
Jeffrey Friedmans "Power Without Knowledge" argues forcefully that there are inherent limitations to the predictability of human action, due to a circumstance he calls “ideational heterogeneity.” However, our resources for predicting human action somewhat reliably in the light of ideational heterogeneity have not been exhausted yet, and there are no in-principle barriers to progress in tackling the problem. There are, however, other strong reason…
What are the drivers of induction? Towards a Material Theory
Causality in macroeconomics Kevin D. Hoover
(2002). Causality in macroeconomics Kevin D. Hoover. Forum for Social Economics: Vol. 32, No. 1, pp. 51-54
Evidence-Based Economics
This paper presents an outline of a methodology of ‘evidence-based economics’. The question whether an economic statement is evidence-based must be answered on three different levels. The first level concerns measurement: it asks whether claims made about economic quantities such as inflation, unemployment, growth or poverty are justified by the data and measurement procedures. The second level concerns induction: it asks whether claims made abou…
Causal Instrumental Variables and Interventions
The aim of this paper is to introduce the instrumental variables technique to the discussion about causal inference in econometrics. I show that it may lead to causally incorrect conclusions unless some fairly strong causal background assumptions are made, assumptions which are usually left implicit by econometricians. These assumptions are very similar to, albeit not identical with, James Woodward's definition of an ‘intervention’. I discuss sim…
Do We Need Mechanisms in the Social Sciences
A recent movement in the social sciences and philosophy of the social sciences focuses on mechanisms as a central analytical unit. Starting from a pluralist perspective on the aims of the social sciences, I argue that there are a number of important aims to which knowledge about mechanisms—whatever their virtues relative to other aims—contributes very little at best and that investigating mechanisms is therefore a methodological strategy with fai…
What's New in the Philosophy of the Social Sciences
Causation in the Social Sciences
All univocal analyses of causation face counterexamples. An attractive response to this situation is to become a pluralist about causal relationships. “Causal pluralism” is itself, however, a pluralistic notion. In this article, I argue in favor of pluralism about concepts of cause in the social sciences. The article will show that evidence for, inference from, and the purpose of causal claims are very closely linked
The philosophy of simulation
Counterfactuals, Thought Experiments, and Singular Causal Analysis in History
Thought experiments are ubiquitous in science and especially prominent in domains in which experimental and observational evidence is scarce. One such domain is the causal analysis of singular events in history. A long-standing tradition that goes back to Max Weber addresses the issue by means of ‘what-if’ counterfactuals. In this paper I give a descriptive account of this widely used method and argue that historians following it examine differen…
In favour of a Millian proposal to reform biomedical research
One way to make philosophy of science more socially relevant is to attend to specific scientific practises that affect society to a great extent. One such practise is biomedical research. This paper looks at contemporary U.S. biomedical research in particular and argues that it suffers from important epistemic, moral and socio-economic failings. It then discusses and criticises existing approaches to improve on the status quo, most prominently by…
Empirical Evidence
With the rise of evidence-based movements in medicine and social policy, the topic of evidence has come to the forefront of research in the philosophy and methodology of science. But the issue is far from new. Observation, experiment, induction and confirmation – all practises very closely related to evidence – have been central concerns of philosophers ever since the birth of Western philosophy. The primary aim of this article is to provide an i…
The global health complex
The philosophy of simulation
Causation in the sciences
A Pragmatist Theory of Evidence
Two approaches to evidential reasoning compete in the biomedical and social sciences: the experimental and the pragmatist. Whereas experimentalism has received considerable philosophical analysis and support since the times of Bacon and Mill (and continues to enjoy attention and support in very recent work on causation and evidence), pragmatism about evidence has been neither articulated nor defended. The overall aim is to fill this gap and devel…
Capitalism and Democracy
This chapter examines the interrelationships between democracy on the one hand and capitalism (or what I prefer to call “the liberal economy”) on the other. Liberal thinkers tend to maintain that the two are allies, at least as long as democracy is (constitutionally or otherwise) limited. Socialists regard them as rivals, as “true” democracy can be realized only under socialism or communism. Joseph Schumpeter stands out as the commentator who arg…
Expertise, Agreement, and the Nature of Social Scientific Facts or
Taking some controversial claims philosopher Jason Brennan makes in his book Against Democracy (Brennan 2016) as a starting point, this paper argues in favour of two theses: (1) There is No Such Thing as Superior Political Judgement; (2) There Is No Such Thing as Uncontroversial Social Scientific Knowledge. I conclude that social science experts need to be kept in check, not given more power.
Against external validity
Francesco Guala once wrote that ‘The problem of extrapolation (or external validity as it is sometimes called) is a minor scandal in the philosophy of science’. This paper agrees with the statement, but for reasons different from Guala’s. The scandal is not, or not any longer, that the problem has been ignored in the philosophy of science. The scandal is that framing the problem as one of external validity encourages poor evidential reasoning. Th…
Extrapolation of Experimental Results through Analogical Reasoning from Latent Classes
In the human sciences, experimental research is used to establish causal relationships. However, the extrapolation of these results to the target population can be problematic. To facilitate extrapolation, we propose to use the statistical technique Latent Class Regression Analysis in combination with the analogical reasoning theory for extrapolation. This statistical technique can identify latent classes that differ in the effect of X on Y. In o…
Evidence-Based Policy
Acceding to the demand that public policy should be based on "the best available evidence" can come at significant moral cost. Important policy questions cannot be addressed using "the best available evidence" as defined by the evidence-based policy paradigm; the paradigm can change the meaning of questions so that they can be addressed using the preferred kind of evidence; and important evidence that does not meet the standard defined by the par…
The Life you do Not Save: Reflections on the Causal Element in the Notion of a Decision's Consequences
»Vielmehr bietet [der Kommentar] auf höchstem Niveau eine substantielle Auseinandersetzung mit den Hintergründen, den Zusammenhängen, der Theorie und der Praxis des Grundgesetzes. Besseres lässt sich von einem Verfassungskommentar nicht sagen.“ Herbert Günther Staaatsanzeiger für das Land Hessen 2018 (50), 1494–1495
What are the drivers of induction? Towards a Material Theory
Why Do Experts Disagree
Jeffrey Friedmans "Power Without Knowledge" argues forcefully that there are inherent limitations to the predictability of human action, due to a circumstance he calls “ideational heterogeneity.” However, our resources for predicting human action somewhat reliably in the light of ideational heterogeneity have not been exhausted yet, and there are no in-principle barriers to progress in tackling the problem. There are, however, other strong reason…
Epistemology (18 works) · Philosophy (16 works) · Philosophy and History of Science (13 works) · Sociology (13 works) · Economics (8 works) · Law (8 works) · Political science (8 works) · Computer Science (7 works) · Mathematics (6 works) · Philosophy of science (6 works)