Lee McIntyre

Lee Cameron McIntyre is a research fellow at the Center for Philosophy and History of Science at Boston University[1] and an Instructor in Ethics at Harvard Extension School.[2] He has published books and articles on the philosophy of the social sciences, as well as attempts to undermine science and the appropriate response to these attempts to scientists.[3][4]

Lee McIntyre
BornLee Cameron McIntyre
Portland, Oregon, USA
OccupationPhilosopher, author, educator
NationalityAmerican
Education
Period1994–present
GenreNon-fiction, crime fiction, thriller
Website
leemcintyrebooks.com

Early life and education

McIntyre earned a B.A. in philosophy of social science from Wesleyan University and an M.A. and Ph.D. in philosophy from the University of Michigan. McIntyre's doctoral dissertation[5] was on the status of law-like explanations in the social sciences.[6]

Career

McIntyre taught philosophy at Colgate University, Boston University, Tufts Experimental College, and Simmons College.

In addition, he taught at the Harvard Extension School, was Executive Director of the Institute for Quantitative Social Science at Harvard University, and served as a policy advisor to the Executive Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences at Harvard.

McIntyre was an Associate Editor in the Research Department of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston.

Body of work

McIntyre's books have been concerned with the nature of scientific knowledge generation and validation. These have included Explaining explanation, essays in the philosophy of the special sciences,[7] Laws and explanation in the social sciences,[6] Dark ages: the case for a science of human behavior,[8] and Respecting truth: willful ignorance in the internet age.[9]

In his 2018 book Post-Truth,[3] he explores the environment and "atmosphere" surrounding the concept of post-truth.[10] Carlos Lozada, reviewer for the Washington Post, stated of Post-Truth that McIntyre "convincingly tracks how intelligent-design proponents and later climate deniers drew from postmodernism to undermine public perceptions of evolution and climate change."[11]

In his 2019 book, The Scientific Attitude: defending science from denial, fraud, and pseudoscience,[4] McIntyre describes scientific thinking, and therefore the demarcation problem, as a willingness to revise an opinion after discovering new evidence. A scientific attitude refers a willingness to collect, and be open and skeptical about data collected, which distinguishes science from pseudoscience, scientific denialism and conspiracy theories.[4][12] Publishers Weekly said that the book "articulates why the pursuit of scientific truths, even if inevitably flawed and subject to human error, matters."[13] Harriet Hall reviewed the book for Skeptical Inquirer Magazine and writes that MacIntyre tries to explain science by explaining what it is not. He states that what the difference between what science is and it isn't is the "scientific attitude".[14]

Essays and articles

McIntyre is the author of numerous philosophical essays that have appeared in Synthese,[15][16][17] Philosophy of the Social Sciences, Teaching Philosophy, Perspectives on Science, Biology and Philosophy, Critica, and Theory and Decision, as well as articles that have appeared in The New York Times,[18] The Times Higher Education Supplement, The Humanist,[19] The Chronicle of Higher Education,[20][21] and Regional Review. The assault on science was published in the Scientific American blog in 2019.[22] The New Statesman published his article: Why Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin lie... and why they are so good at it.[23]

McIntyre's article Flat Earthers and the Rise of Science Denial in America [24] was reprinted as the cover story for the July 14, 2019, print edition of Newsweek.[24][25]

Books edited

MacIntyre is the co-editor of three anthologies: Readings in the Philosophy of Social Science,[26] Philosophy of Chemistry, and Philosophy of Chemistry, 2nd edition.[27][28]

Presentations

Michael Shermer invited McIntyre to present on his program Science Salon # 77: The scientific attitude: defending science from denial, fraud, and pseudoscience.[29] On March 17–20, 2021, McIntyre presented at the first Global Congress on Scientific Thinking and Action; in a presentation entitled Science Denialism, he discussed his conversations with flat earth believers, which would become the basis of his forthcoming book, How to Talk to a Science Denier.[30] He stressed the importance of face-to-face conversations and gaining the trust of the people you are trying to convince.[31][32]

Awards and recognition

Post-Truth was named book of the week by Fareed Zakaria of CNN.[33]

Other works

McIntyre also writes suspense fiction. The Sin Eater is a thriller by McIntyre published in 2019.[34]

Bibliography
Year Title Publisher
1994 Readings in the Philosophy of Social Science . (Co-editor with Michael Martin, Boston University) Cambridge: MIT Press
1996 Laws and Explanation in the Social Sciences: Defending a Science of Human Behavior Boulder, Colo.: Westview Press
2006 Philosophy of Chemistry: Synthesis of a New Discipline. (Co-editor with Davis Baird, University of South Carolina, and Eric Scerri, UCLA) Dordrecht: Springer Publishers
2006 Dark Ages: The Case for a Science of Human Behavior Cambridge: MIT Press
2012 Explaining Explanation: Essays in the Philosophy of the Special Sciences Lanham, Md.: UPA/Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group
2014 Philosophy of Chemistry: Growth of a New Discipline, 2nd edition. (Co-editor with Eric Scerri, UCLA). Dordrecht: Springer Publishers
2015 Respecting Truth: Willful Ignorance in the Internet Age New York: Routledge Publishers
2017 The Routledge Companion to Philosophy of Social Science New York: Routledge Publishers
2018 Post-Truth Cambridge: MIT Press
2019 The Scientific Attitude Cambridge: MIT Press
2019 The Sin Eater Los Angeles; Braveship Books
2021 How to Talk to a Science Denier Cambridge: MIT Press

References
  1. McIntyre, Lee C. "Lee McIntyre » Center for Philosophy & History of Science | Blog Archive | Boston University". www.bu.edu. Retrieved November 9, 2019.
  2. McIntyre, Lee C. "Lee C. McIntyre | Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs". www.carnegiecouncil.org. Retrieved November 8, 2019.
  3. McIntyre, Lee C. (February 16, 2018). Post-Truth. Cambridge, Massachusetts. ISBN 9780262535045. OCLC 1002297524.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  4. McIntyre, Lee C. (May 7, 2019). The scientific attitude: Defending science from denial, fraud, and pseudoscience. Cambridge, MA. ISBN 9780262039833. OCLC 1050140618.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  5. McIntyre, Lee C. (June 12, 2017). "Lee McIntyre". Harvard Extension School. Retrieved November 9, 2019.
  6. McIntyre, Lee C. (1996). Laws and explanation in the social sciences: Defending a science of human behavior. Boulder, Colo.: Westview Press. ISBN 0813328284. OCLC 34281771.
  7. McIntyre, Lee C. (2012). Explaining explanation: Essays in the philosophy of the special sciences. Lanham, Maryland. ISBN 9780761858690. OCLC 779265260.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  8. McIntyre, Lee C. (2006). Dark ages: The case for a science of human behavior. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press. ISBN 9780262279512. OCLC 76823283.
  9. McIntyre, Lee C. (2015). Respecting truth: Willful ignorance in the Internet age. New York. ISBN 9781138888807. OCLC 896601738.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  10. Evers, Robert Daniel (March 20, 2018). "Is Life in a 'Post-Truth' World Sustainable?". PopMatters. Retrieved November 9, 2019.
  11. Lozada, Carlos. "Can truth survive this president? An honest investigation". Washington Post. Retrieved November 9, 2019.
  12. Gwilliams, Drew (June 21, 2019). "The Scientific Attitude: Defending Science from Denial, Fraud, and Pseudoscience". Chemistry World. Retrieved November 9, 2019.
  13. "Nonfiction Book Review: The Scientific Attitude: Defending Science from Denial, Fraud, and Pseudoscience". PublishersWeekly.com. Retrieved November 9, 2019.
  14. Hall, Harriet (2020). "Truth Matters, and the Scientific Attitude Helps Find It". Skeptical Inquirer. Committee for Skeptical Inquiry. 44 (2): 63–64.
  15. McIntyre, Lee C. (1993). "Editorial Introduction: Empiricism in the Philosophy of Social Science". Synthese. 97 (2): 159. doi:10.1007/BF01064112. ISSN 0039-7857. JSTOR 20117836. S2CID 46986370.
  16. McIntyre, Lee C. (1993). "Complexity and Social Scientific Laws". Synthese. 97 (2): 209–227. doi:10.1007/BF01064115. ISSN 0039-7857. JSTOR 20117839. S2CID 46981928.
  17. Scerri, Eric R.; McIntyre, Lee (1997). "The Case for the Philosophy of Chemistry". Synthese. 111 (3): 213–232. doi:10.1023/A:1004949814965. ISSN 0039-7857. JSTOR 20117633. S2CID 1161769.
  18. McIntyre, Lee C. (November 7, 2015). "The Price of Denialism". Opinionator. Retrieved November 8, 2019.
  19. McIntyre, Lee C. (2007). "The dark ages of social science". American Humanist Association. Retrieved November 8, 2019.
  20. Mcintyre, Lee C. (June 8, 2015). "The Attack on Truth". The Chronicle of Higher Education. ISSN 0009-5982. Retrieved November 8, 2019.
  21. Mcintyre, Lee C. (December 11, 2011). "Making Philosophy Matter—or Else". The Chronicle of Higher Education. ISSN 0009-5982. Retrieved November 9, 2019.
  22. McIntyre, Lee C. (May 22, 2019). "How to Reverse the Assault on Science". Scientific American Blog Network. Retrieved November 8, 2019.
  23. McIntyre, Lee C. (January 3, 2018). "Why Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin lie... and why they are so good at it". www.newstatesman.com. Retrieved November 9, 2019.
  24. McIntyre, Lee C. (May 14, 2019). "Flat Earthers, and the rise of science denial in America | Opinion". Newsweek. Retrieved November 8, 2019.
  25. Rose, Steven (August 21, 2019). "The Scientific Attitude by Lee McIntyre review – a defence against denial, fraud and pseudoscience". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved November 8, 2019.
  26. Martin, Michael; McIntyre, Lee C., eds. (1994). Readings in the philosophy of social science. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press. ISBN 0262132966. OCLC 29386457.
  27. Scerri, Eric R.; McIntyre, Lee C., eds. (November 11, 2014). Philosophy of chemistry: Growth of a new discipline. Dordrecht. ISBN 9789401793643. OCLC 895161921.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  28. McIntyre, Lee C.; Scerri, Eric (1997). "Editorial Introduction to Philosophy of Chemistry". Synthese. 111 (3): 211–212. doi:10.1023/A:1004983130895. ISSN 0039-7857. JSTOR 20117632.
  29. Shermer, Michael (July 30, 2019). "eSkeptic for July 30, 2019". Skeptic. Retrieved November 9, 2019.
  30. McIntyre, Lee C. (August 17, 2021). How to Talk to a Science Denier: Conversations with Flat Earthers, Climate Deniers, and Others Who Defy Reason. MIT Press. ISBN 9780262366717. Retrieved June 11, 2022.
  31. "Aspen Global Congress on Scientific Thinking & Action". Aspen Institute. Retrieved June 11, 2022.,
  32. Vyse, Stuart (April 2021). "Aspen Global Congress on Scientific Thinking and Action". Skeptical Inquirer. Archived from the original on June 11, 2022. Retrieved June 11, 2022.
  33. Zakaria, Fareed (April 15, 2018). "Books of the Week". CNN. Retrieved November 9, 2019.
  34. McIntyre, Lee C. (2019). The Sin Eater. Los Angeles: Braveship Books. ISBN 978-1640620889.
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