Samuel C. Fletcher

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Much of my work so far has concerned the foundations of physics and of statistics, and how problems in these fields inform and are informed by broader issues in the philosophy of science. I also have interests in the conceptual and physical basis of computation, metaphilosophy, and the history of physics and philosophy of science.

Educational Background & Specialties

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Educational Background

Ph.D.: Philosophy, University of California, Irvine, 2014
M.A.: Philosophy, University of California, Irvine, 2012
M.S.: Statistics, University of California, Irvine, 2012
A.B.: Physics (cert. App. & Comp. Math.), Princeton University, 2008

Specialties

Philosophy of physics
Philosophy of science
Philosophy of statistics
Logic
Theory of Computation
Metaphilosophy
History of Philosophy of Science

Publications

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Publications

(Forthcoming 2022). Foundations of General Relativity . Cambridge University Press.
(2021). An Invitation to Approximate Symmetry, with Three Applications to Intertheoretic Relations. Synthese, 198(5), 4811–4831.
(2021). The Role of Replication in Psychological Science. European Journal for Philosophy of Science, 11(23), 1–19.
(2021). How (not) to measure replication. European Journal for Philosophy of Science, 11(57), 1–27.
(2021). Counterfactual Reasoning within Physical Theories. Synthese, 198(16), 3877– 3898.
David E. Taylor (2021). Quantum Indeterminacy and the Eigenstate-Eigenvalue Link.. Synthese, 199(3–4), 11181–11212.
(2021). Similarity Structure and Diachronic Emergence. Synthese, 198(9), 8873–8900.
David E. Taylor (2021). Two Quantum Logics of Indeterminacy.. Synthese, 199(5–6), 13247–13281.
Joshua Knobe, Gregory Wheeler, and Brian Allan Woodcock (2021). Changing Use of Formal Methods in Philosophy: Late 2000s vs. Late 2010s. Synthese, 199(5–6), 14555–14576.
(2020). Which Worldlines Represent Possible Particle Histories?. Foundations of Physics, 50(6), 582–599.
(2020). Similarity Structure and Diachronic Emergence. Synthese, forthcoming.
(2020). Which Worldlines Represent Possible Particle Histories?. Foundations of Physics, 50(6), 582–599 .
(2020). The Principle of Stability. Philosophers' Imprint, 20(3), 1–22.
(2020). Similarity Structure and Emergent Properties. Philosophy of Science, 87(2), 281–301.
(2020). On Representational Capacities, with an Application to General Relativity. Foundations of Physics, 50(4), 228–249.
(2019). An Invitation to Approximate Symmetry, with Three Applications to Intertheoretic Relations. Synthese, forthcoming.
Neil Dewar and Laurenz Hudetz. In: Marek Kuś and Bartłomiej Skowron, (eds) (2019). Extending List’s Levels. Category Theory in Physics, Mathematics, and Philosophy, 63–81.
Jürgen Landes and Roland Poellinger (2019). Evidence Amalgamation in the Sciences: An Introduction. Synthese, 196(8), 3163–3188.
(2019). Stopping Rules as Experimental Design. European Journal for Philosophy of Science, 9, 29.
Patricia Palacios, Laura Ruetsche, and Elay Shech (2019). Infinite Idealizations in Science: An Introduction. Synthese, 196(5), 1657–1669.
(2019). Counterfactual Reasoning within Physical Theories. Synthese, forthcoming.
(2019). On the Reduction of General Relativity to Newtonian Gravitation. Studies in History and Philosophy of Modern Physics, 68, 1–15.
(2019). Minimal Approximations and Norton’s Dome. Synthese, 196(5), 1749–1760.
(2018). Computers in Abstraction/Representation Theory. Minds & Machines, 28(3), 445–463.
(2018). Global Spacetime Similarity. Journal of Mathematical Physics, 59(11), 112501.
Michael E. Cuffaro (eds.) (2018). Physical Perspectives on Computation, Computational Perspectives on Physics. Cambridge University Press.
J. B. Manchak, Mike D. Schneider, and James Owen Weatherall (2018). Would two dimensions be world enough for spacetime?. Studies in History and Philosophy of Modern Physics, 63, 100–113.
Benjamin H. Feintzeig (2017). On Noncontextual, Non-Kolmogorovian Hidden Variable Theories. Foundations of Physics, 47, 294–315.
(2017). Against the Topologists: Essay Review of New Foundations for Physical Geometry. Philosophy of Science, 84, 595–603.
In: Hofer-Szabó G., Wroński L. (eds) (2017). Indeterminism, Gravitation, and Spacetime Theory. Making it Formally Explicit, 179–191.
(2016). Similarity, Topology, and Physical Significance in Relativity Theory. The British Journal for the Philosophy of Science, 67(2), 365–389.
(2013). Light Clocks and the Clock Hypothesis. Foundations of Physics, 43(11), 1369–1383.
(2012). What Counts as a Newtonian System? The View from Norton’s Dome. European Journal for Philosophy of Science, 2(3), 275–297.

Activities

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Activities

Professional

Program Committee: IMPS Conference (Salzburg). 2018 -
Program Committee: British Society for the Philosophy of Science Annual Meeting (Durham). 2019 -
Program Committee: European Philosophy of Science Association Biennial Conference (Geneva). 2019 -
Program Committee: 20th UK and European Meeting on the Foundations of Physics. 2020 -
Program Committee: Bayesian Epistemology: Perspectives and Challenges (LMU Munich). 2020 -
Program Committee: Central APA Meeting (Chicago). 2020 -
Principal Organizer: Rethinking Formal Methods in Philosophy Workshop (UMN). 2019 -
Program Committee: ILMPS Conference (Salzburg). 2019 -
Program Committee: British Society for the Philosophy of Science Annual Meeting (Oxford). 2018 -
Program Committee: Ninth International Workshop on Physics and Computation (Fontainebleu, France). 2018 -
Program Committee: British Society for the Philosophy of Science Annual Meeting (Edinburgh). 2017 -
Organizing Committee: Fourth Summer School on Mathematical Philosophy for Female Students (LMU Munich). 2017 -
Organizing Committee: Third Summer School on Mathematical Philosophy for Female Students (LMU Munich). 2016 -
Organizing Committee: Infinite Idealizations in Science Workshop (LMU Munich). 2016 -
Program Committee: MuST 9: Evidence, Inference, and Risk (LMU Munich). 2016 -
Organizing Committee & Lecturer: 1st Munich Graduate Workshop in Mathematical Philosophy: Philosophy of Physics (LMU Munich). 2015 -
Organizing Committee: Quantum Computation, Quantum Information, and the Exact Sciences Workshop (LMU Munich). 2015 -
Organizing Committee: Irvine-Munich Workshop on Foundations of Classical and Quantum Field Theories (LMU Munich). 2014 -
Program Committee: 2nd Irvine-Pittsburgh-Princeton Conference on the Mathematical and Conceptual Foundations of Physics (UC Irvine). 2014 -
Organizing Committee: 1st Irvine-Pittsburgh-Princeton Conference on the Mathematical and Conceptual Foundations of Physics (Pittsburgh). 2013 -
Associate Editor: European Journal for Philosophy of Science. March 2020 - present
Lectures and Awards Committee: Philosophy of Science Association. 2020 -
Program Committee: British Society for the Philosophy of Science Annual Meeting (University of Kent). 2020 -
Symposium Co-organizer: American Physical Society March Meeting (Boulder). 2020 -
Executive Committee: Minnesota Center for Philosophy of Science. 2020 - 2022
Governing Board: Minnesota Center for Philosophy of Science. 2020 - 2025

Outreach

Public Dialogue: Anselm House University Rountable: Are the sciences intellectually self-sufficient?. 2019 -
Principal Organizer: Public Lecture: "The Misinformation Age" by Cailin O'Connor. 2019 -
Public Lecture: A Brighter U: CLA in Space (UMN). 2019 -
Guest Lecture: Honors Mentor Connection (Wayzata High School, Plymouth, MN). 2018 -
Public Lecture: Let’s Nerd Out! 5 (Minneapolis, MN). 2017 -
Public Lecture: Who’s In Town Lecture Series (Amsterdam University College). 2015 -

Awards

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Awards

Small Grant Fund, American Philosophical Association, 2018 - 2019
Grant-in-Aid of Research, Artistry and Scholarship, University of Minnesota, 2019 - 2021
Single Semester Leave, College of Liberal Arts, University of Minnesota, Spring, 2020
Foundational Questions Institute & Fetzer Franklin Fund Grant, 2020 - 2021
Imagine Fund Annual Faculty Award, 2019 - 2020
Interdisciplinary Collaborative Workshop Award, University of Minnesota, 2019 - 2022
CLA Faculty Development Leave, College of Liberal Arts, University of Minnesota, Fall, 2017
McKnight Land-Grant Professorship, 2020 - 2022

Courses

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Courses

PHIL 1001: Introduction to Logic
PHIL 3601W: Scientific Thought
PHIL 4605/5605: Space and Time
PHIL 5202: Symbolic Logic II
PHIL 5209: Mathematical Methods for Philosophy
PHIL 8670: Philosophy of Statistics
PHIL 8670: Physical Perspectives on Computation, Computational Perspectives on Physics
PHIL 8670: Replication and Reproducibility in Science