History and philosophy of science (especially physics and economics), causal inference, objectivity in science.
Publications
Publications include:
Causal Powers: What Are They? Why Do We Need Them? What Can and Cannot be Done with Them?, Contingency and Dissent in ScienceSeries, London: Centre for Philosophy of Natural and Social Science, LSE, 2007.
Hunting Causes and Using Them: Approaches in Philosophy and Economics (CUP, 2007)
Measuring Causes: Invariance, Modularity and the Causal Markov Condition, Measurement in Physics and Economics Discussion Paper Series Monograph DP MEAS 9/00, London: Centre for Philosophy of Natural and Social Science, 2000
The Dappled World: A Study of the Boundaries of Science, (CUP, 1999).
Otto Neurath: Philosophy between Science and Politics, with Jordi Cat, Lola Fleck, Thomas E Uebel (CUP, 1995).
Nature's Capacities and their Measurement (OUP, 1989).
I studied mathematics at the University of Pittsburgh and graduated summa cum laude in 1966. In 1971 I completed my PhD, 'Philosophical Analysis of the Concept of Mixture in Quantum Mechanics', at the University of Illinois at Chicago.
Before coming to the LSE, I was an Assistant Professor in the Philosophy Department at the University of Maryland from 1971 to 1973, and then from 1973 to 1991 worked in the Philosophy Department at Stanford University. I also had visiting appointments at UCLA, Princeton, Pittsburgh, California Institute of Technology and Oslo University and have been a Fellow at the Institute for Advanced Studies in Berlin, at the Centre for Interdisciplinary Research at Bielefeld and at the Pittsburgh Center for the Philosophy of Science. Currently, I am Professor of Philosophy in the Department of Philosophy, Logic and Scientific Method at the LSE (since 1991), Director of the LSE Centre for Philosophy of Natural and Social Science (since 1993) and Professor of Philosophy in the Department of Philosophy at the University of California at San Diego (since 1998). I have received the MacArthur Fellowship and am a Fellow of the British Academy.
My research interests include history and philosophy of science (especially physics and economics), causal inference, and objectivity in science. Research projects with which I am currently involved include 'Measurement in Physics and Economics' at the LSE Centre for Philosophy of Natural and Social Science and 'The German Historical School in Economics' at the Centre for History and Economics at Cambridge.
I live in Oxford with my two daughters.
Contact details
Professor Cartwright does not communicate via email. To contact her via regular mail:
For matters relating to the Philosophy Department:
Department of Philosophy, Logic and Scientific Method London School of Economics and Political Science Houghton Street London WC2A 2AE ENGLAND
For CPNSS-related matters:
Centre for Philosophy of Natural and Social Science Lakatos Building London School of Economics and Political Science Houghton Street London WC2A 2AE ENGLAND
