JEFFRY L. RAMSEY

Associate Professor of Philosophy
Office: Dewey Hall 202
Phone: (413) 585 3425

E-mail: jramsey@smith.edu

Curriculum Vitae
Syllabus for Thinking About Thinking
Syllabus for Kant's First Critique
Syllabus for Philosophy 125
Syllabus for Philosophy 315

TEACHING AND RESEARCH INTERESTS

Description of Research: I am interested in the use of models in the sciences, specifically models that are created
through the use of approximations and idealizations.  What sorts of explanations, confirmations and relations among
theory, evidence and data are involved in these models?

I also work on the philosophical groundings of our concern for nature. The way we speak, think and write about the
natural world reflects our values and ethical stances, and we need to be aware of the ways our discourse is framed by
those assumptions.

I teach courses in the philosophy of science, history of science, environmental philosophy and the history of early modern
philosophy in Europe.