Massimo Pigliucci

Massimo Pigliucci (born January 16, 1964) is a professor of Ecology and Evolution at the State University of New York at Stony Brook^[1] and the chair of the Department of Philosophy at Lehman College.^[2] He is known as an outspoken critic of creationism and advocate of science education.

Biography

Pigliucci was born in Monrovia, Liberia, although he was raised in Rome, Italy^[3]. He received his doctorate in genetics at the University of Ferrara, Italy, a Ph.D. in botany from the University of Connecticut, and a Ph.D. in philosophy at the University of Tennessee.^[4] Early in his career, he received the prestigious Theodosius Dobzhansky Prize^[5] from the Society for the Study of Evolution. He is currently a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and of the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal^[6].

Pigliucci's research in science focuses on phenotypic plasticity, genotype-environment interactions, natural selection, and the constraints imposed on natural selection by the genetic and developmental makeup of organisms. As a philosopher, he is interested in epistemological issues in the philosophy of science and in the conceptual examination of fundamental ideas underlying evolutionary theory.

Pigliucci writes regularly for Skeptical Inquirer and Philosophy Now and maintains a blog called "Rationally Speaking^[7]." He has debated "deniers of evolution" (young-earth creationists and intelligent design proponents), including young earth creationists Duane Gish and Kent Hovind and intelligent design proponents William Dembski and Jonathan Wells, on many occasions^{[8][9][10][11]}.

Pigliucci is an atheist^[12], and while he considers atheism a perfectly respectable metaphysical position, he believes that science does not necessarily demand atheism, because of the distinction between methodological and philosophical naturalism and the distinction between matters of fact and value judgments. He believes that many scientists and science educators fail to appreciate these differences^[13]

In April 2008, Pigliucci married Gillian Dunn, which was described in a feature article for the New York Times.^[14] Dunn is a well-known humanitarian aid worker.^[15][16][17]

Books

• Making Sense of Evolution (with Jonathan Kaplan, Chicago Press, 2006): A philosophical examination of the fundamental concepts of evolutionary theory and practice.
• Phenotypic Integration (Oxford Press, 2003): A collection of technical essays on the evolution of complex biological organs.
• Denying Evolution: Creationism, Scientism, and the Nature of Science. (Sinauer, 2002): This book covers the evolution-creation controversy, better science teaching, and why people have difficulties with critical thinking. ISBN 0878936599
• Phenotypic Plasticity (Johns Hopkins, 2001): A technical volume on research concerning nature-nurture questions.
• Tales of the Rational (Freethought Press, 2000): A series of essays on atheism, straw-man arguments, creationism and the like.
• Phenotypic Evolution (with Carl Schlichting, Sinauer, 1998): A technical volume on the current status and future prospects of evolutionary theory.

Articles

The following are a few of his numerous articles. Some may be found at the Internet Infidels' Secular Web. Additional articles can be found on his web sites (see "External Links" below).

• Pigliucci, M. (2006). Is evolutionary psychology a pseudoscience? Skeptical Inquirer 30 (2):23-24.
• Pigliucci, M. (2005). Science and fundamentalism. EMBO reports 6: 1106-1109.[1]
• Pigliucci, M. (2005). The power and perils of metaphors in science. Skeptical Inquirer 29 (5):20-21.
• Pigliucci, M., J. Banta, et al. (2004). The alleged fallacies of evolutionary theory. Philosophy Now (46):36-39.
• Pigliucci, M. (2004). What is philosophy of science good for? Philosophy Now (44):45.

References

External links

• Pigliucci Lab – Official web site of the Pigliucci Lab at SUNY-Stony Brook.
• Plato's Footnote – Pigliucci's philosophy
• Rationally Speaking – blog by Pigliucci about skepticism and humanism.
• Rationally Speaking – Official Scientific Blog
• Dr. Pigliucci's Weblog
• Massimo Pigliucci on Secular Web