[SydPhil] Macquarie WiP Seminar Tuesday 4th April Dr Jonathan Sholl (University of Bordeaux)

[Pierrick Bourrat]

Dear All,


Our next philosophy seminar will be on Tuesday, April 4th from 1:00 – 2:00 pm


Attend in person at 25C Wally's Walk, Room B603.


Or attend via zoom - please click this URL to start or join: https://protect-au.mimecast.com/s/E41rCWLVXkU6joj17f6lF66?domain=macquarie.zoom.us

Password: seminar

Dr Jonathan Sholl (University of Bordeaux)


Title: Who’s afraid of nutritionism?



Abstract: Philosophers and scientists have heavily criticized the nutrition sciences for supporting some form of ‘nutrient reductionism’ or ‘nutritionism’ whereby food-health interactions are studied, explained, and interpreted at the level of specific nutrients or components. However, the target of this criticism remains elusive and its implications are misleading, which may hinder scientific understanding. In this talk, I present joint philosophical-scientific work in which we disentangle types of reductionism and antireductionist claims in nutrition to better determine where the disagreements lie. We identify key problems raised by antireductionists, some of which can be equally clarified through reductionist research, while also uncovering important misunderstandings and overstatements. We end by presenting research in nutritional ecology in which a form of nutrient reductionism has been developed, which we call synthetic reductionism, that has enabled the identification of nested biological mechanisms that explain and synthesize food-organism interactions across biological levels. This strategic form of reductionism avoids the challenges raised by antireductionists while also highlighting reductionism’s explanatory potential in a way that can advance nutrition science.



For any queries relating to Macquarie Philosophy work-in-progress seminars please contact katrina.hutchison at mq.edu.au or pierrick.bourrat at mq.edu.au



Best wishes,

Pierrick
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