Title
Professor of Philosophy
Research interests
History and philosophy of science (especially physics and economics), causal inference, objectivity in science, and evidence, especially for evidence-based policy.
Publications
Publications include:
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Cartwright, Nancy D. 'Models: Parables v Fables' in Beyond Mimesis and Convention: Representation in Art and Science, Roman Frigg, Matthew Hunter eds. In Press.
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Cartwright, Nancy D. 'How To Do Things with Causes', APA Presidential Address, APA Proceedings and Addresses.
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Cartwright, Nancy D. 'Predicting "It Will Work for Us": (Way) Beyond Statistics', Causality in the Sciences, Oxford University Press, 2010, Phyllis McKay Illari, Federica Russo & Jon Williamson (eds). In Press.
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Cartwright, Nancy D. 'The Long Road from RCTs to Effectiveness', The Lancet (Art of Medicine Section).
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Causal Powers: What Are They? Why Do We Need Them? What Can and Cannot be Done with Them?, Contingency and Dissent in Science Series, London: Centre for Philosophy of Natural and Social Science, LSE, 2007.
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Hunting Causes and Using Them: Approaches in Philosophy and Economics (CUP, 2007)
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With Jeremy Hardie, Will It Really Work for You: Doing Evidence-Based Policy Better (OUP), forthcoming
Full list of publications|
Personal webpage|
Biographical details
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) 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, am a Fellow of the British Academy, a member of the American Philosophical Society, and a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and of Leopoldina (The German National Academy of Natural Science).
My research interests include history and philosophy of science (especially physics and economics), causal inference, objectivity in science, and evidence-based policy. Research projects with which I am currently involved include 'Choices of Evidence: Tacit Philosophical Assumptions in the Debates within the Campbell Collaboration', UK Arts and Humanities Research Council (with Eileen Munro and Eleonora Montuschi), 'A Theory of Evidence for Use', British Academy Research Development Award, 'God's Order, Man's Order and the Order of Nature', John Templeton Foundation (with Eric Watkins), plus a project on modelling adaptation strategies at the LSE's Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change.
I live in Oxford with my two daughters.
Contact details
Professor Cartwright does not like to communicate via email; she prefers regular mail:
Centre for Philosophy of Natural and Social Science
Lakatos Building
London School of Economics and Political Science
Houghton Street
London WC2A 2AE
ENGLAND