Gregory M Mikkelson
Biographic Data
| ID | 630448 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Gregory M Mikkelson |
| GIVEN NAMES | Gregory M |
| FAMILY NAME | Mikkelson |
| SIGNATURE | MIKKELSON G M |
| AFFILIATIONS | McGill University |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-5450-1914 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 9 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 2 |
| WORKS AS AUTHOR | 9 |
| WORKS AS EDITOR | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1996 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2021 |
| H-INDEX | 1 |
Invisible Hand or Ecological Footprint? Comparing Social Versus Environmental Impacts of Recent Economic Growth
This study examines changes in some key indicators among 66 countries on six continents over a 56-year period, to compare the power of economic growth to improve human health and income distribution with its tendency to degrade the natural environment. The results indicate that growth depletes and pollutes nature far more than it benefits society. This suggests that public policy should shift toward enhancement of individual and social well-being…
Divestment and Democracy at a Canadian University
The campaign to divest the endowment of McGill University from fossil fuel has had amazing success in using scientific knowledge to inspire democratic action. Organizations collectively representing all students and academic staff, and most non-academic staff, have voted overwhelmingly in favor of divestment. There is one small problem, however. Unlike Oxford or Cambridge, where a majority vote among all faculty would be the final word about any …
Environmental Values, Human Nature, and Economic Democracy
On the Intrinsic Value of Everything by Scott A. Davison
Individualistic Environmental Ethics
Weighing Species
Realism versus Instrumentalism in a New Statistical Framework
In this paper, I offer a new defense of scientific realism, tailored for the Akaikean paradigm of statistical hypothesis testing. After proposing definitions of verisimilitude and predictive success, I use computer simulations to show how the latter depends on the former, even in the kind of case featured in a recent argument for instrumentalism
Ecological Kinds and Ecological Laws
Ecologists typically invoke “law-like” generalizations, ranging over “structural” and/or “functional” kinds, in order to explain generalizations about “historical” kinds (such as biological taxa)—rather than vice versa. This practice is justified, since structural and functional kinds tend to correlate better with important ecological phenomena than do historical kinds. I support these contentions with three recent case studies. In one sense, the…
Stretched Lines, Averted Leaps, And Excluded Competition
Lewis' argument against the Limit Assumption and Pollock's Generalized Consequence Principle together suggest that “minimal-change” theories of counterfactuals are wrong. The “small-change” theories presented by Nute do not say enough. While these theories rely on closeness between possible worlds, I base an alternative on the ceteris paribus concept. My theory solves a problem that the above cannot, and is more relevant to the philosophy of scie…
Ecological Kinds and Ecological Laws
Ecologists typically invoke “law-like” generalizations, ranging over “structural” and/or “functional” kinds, in order to explain generalizations about “historical” kinds (such as biological taxa)—rather than vice versa. This practice is justified, since structural and functional kinds tend to correlate better with important ecological phenomena than do historical kinds. I support these contentions with three recent case studies. In one sense, the…
Stretched Lines, Averted Leaps, And Excluded Competition
Lewis' argument against the Limit Assumption and Pollock's Generalized Consequence Principle together suggest that “minimal-change” theories of counterfactuals are wrong. The “small-change” theories presented by Nute do not say enough. While these theories rely on closeness between possible worlds, I base an alternative on the ceteris paribus concept. My theory solves a problem that the above cannot, and is more relevant to the philosophy of scie…
Stretched Lines, Averted Leaps, And Excluded Competition
Lewis' argument against the Limit Assumption and Pollock's Generalized Consequence Principle together suggest that “minimal-change” theories of counterfactuals are wrong. The “small-change” theories presented by Nute do not say enough. While these theories rely on closeness between possible worlds, I base an alternative on the ceteris paribus concept. My theory solves a problem that the above cannot, and is more relevant to the philosophy of scie…
Ecological Kinds and Ecological Laws
Ecologists typically invoke “law-like” generalizations, ranging over “structural” and/or “functional” kinds, in order to explain generalizations about “historical” kinds (such as biological taxa)—rather than vice versa. This practice is justified, since structural and functional kinds tend to correlate better with important ecological phenomena than do historical kinds. I support these contentions with three recent case studies. In one sense, the…
Realism versus Instrumentalism in a New Statistical Framework
In this paper, I offer a new defense of scientific realism, tailored for the Akaikean paradigm of statistical hypothesis testing. After proposing definitions of verisimilitude and predictive success, I use computer simulations to show how the latter depends on the former, even in the kind of case featured in a recent argument for instrumentalism
Weighing Species
On the Intrinsic Value of Everything by Scott A. Davison
Individualistic Environmental Ethics
Environmental Values, Human Nature, and Economic Democracy
Divestment and Democracy at a Canadian University
The campaign to divest the endowment of McGill University from fossil fuel has had amazing success in using scientific knowledge to inspire democratic action. Organizations collectively representing all students and academic staff, and most non-academic staff, have voted overwhelmingly in favor of divestment. There is one small problem, however. Unlike Oxford or Cambridge, where a majority vote among all faculty would be the final word about any …
Invisible Hand or Ecological Footprint? Comparing Social Versus Environmental Impacts of Recent Economic Growth
This study examines changes in some key indicators among 66 countries on six continents over a 56-year period, to compare the power of economic growth to improve human health and income distribution with its tendency to degrade the natural environment. The results indicate that growth depletes and pollutes nature far more than it benefits society. This suggests that public policy should shift toward enhancement of individual and social well-being…
Epistemology (6 works) · Philosophy (6 works) · Economics (5 works) · Sociology (5 works) · Ecology (3 works) · Environmental ethics (3 works) · Law (3 works) · Philosophy and History of Science (3 works) · Political science (3 works) · Applied philosophy (2 works)