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Alejandro Fábregas-Tejeda

@alejandrofabregastejeda.com
29K followers 19K following 413 posts

Philosopher & Historian of Biology 🇲🇽 • Postdoctoral Fellow @theramseylab.bsky.social (@clpskuleuven.bsky.social‬) • www.alejandrofabregastejeda.com • mitpress.mit.edu/9780262052825/the-… • #philsci #HPS #philsky

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Alejandro Fábregas-Tejeda @alejandrofabregastejeda.com · 28/09/2026
In their 🆕📄, @alisabokulich.bsky.social & @mattbrewer.bsky.social argue that targeted observation practices in the #geosciences owe much to Peirce’s views on the economy of research, which are better understood as an account of the pursuitworthiness of #data 👇 link.springer.com/article/10.1... #HPS
First page of the EJPS article titled "Pursuitworthy data collection in the geosciences: from Peirce’s economy of research to targeted observation" by Alisa Bokulich & Matthew Brewer. 

Abstract 
In the geosciences, field measurements are key sources of data, alongside more traditional laboratory experiments. Regardless of the data’s source, pursuitworthiness is arguably not just a question of the intrinsic merit of the knowledge produced, but also the value of that knowledge in light of limited resources (e.g., time, money, and labor). There is a long tradition of research on this issue in the geosciences, going back to the work of the pragmatist philosopher Charles Sanders Peirce. Motivated by his work as a government-funded geoscientist, Peirce developed a highly original theory of the “economy of research.” In this paper, we argue that Peirce’s views have been largely misunderstood, and offer an alternative interpretation of Peirce’s economy of research as an account of the pursuitworthiness of data. We argue that Peirce’s account is a forerunner of a current sophisticated data collection program in the geosciences, called targeted observation (or adaptive sampling), which is used to evaluate the pursuitworthiness of various possible measurements, experiments, or observations. We conclude by applying Peirce’s philosophical insights to assess the promise and limitations of targeted-observation programs in the geosciences today.
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Adrian Currie @adrian-currie.bsky.social · 5h
Max Dresow has done wonderful stuff with Extinct! His problematica series has been unfailingly fascinating, historically-informed and brilliantly written #philsci www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2026...
extinctblog.org
Problematica x50 — Extinct
In which Max has compiled all 50 of his “Problematica” essays for your long-reading enjoyment
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Çağrı Çevrim @cagricevrim.bsky.social · 7h
Your favorite website for illustrations of almost all organisms is looking for donations to help cover its running costs! Please consider donating to help keep this open-source platform running: www.phylopic.org/images
phylopic.org
All Silhouette Images on PhyloPic
Browse all the free silhouette images in PhyloPic.
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Peter Adamson @histphilosophy.bsky.social · 11h
BIG NEWS! I am launching a new podcast together with colleagues from the Cluster of Excellence on Cross-Cultural Philology here at the LMU in Munich. It's called Pages of History and will appear once a month, following today's initial launch with three episodes. pagesofhistorypodcast.net
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RUB History & Philosophy of Science @roto-rub.bsky.social · 6h
This semester's Colloquium of History & Philosophy of Science will start in 2 weeks! We have 9 amazing speakers and great topics, so come around to room GA 1/128 at @ruhr-uni-bochum.de and join us for great talks and interesting discussions! 🤗 #HistSci #PhilSci #HPBio #HPS
Poster for the Colloquium of History & Philosophy of Science. It takes place on Thursdays at 6pm CET in GA 1/128 at Ruhr University Bochum. Two of the talks will be hybrid talks and will be streamed online via zoom. The Colloquium is organized by Prof. Dr. Jan Baedke, Sen. Prof. Dr. Helmut Pulte and PD Dr. Rudolf Meer.
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Microbiome research and race in the 'Local South' @localmicrobes.bsky.social · 13h
So happy to be in Prague participating in the interdisciplinary event "Perspectives on microbiome" organized by Martin Zach @utrechthps.bsky.social
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emmie malone 🏳️‍⚧️ @emmiemalone.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
My department is hiring for a TT position in philosophy of technology! The job ad is pretty self-explanatory, but I will emphasis that this need not mean working on ai, we’re very open to other kinds of tech! I am also happy to answer any questions anyone might have! philjobs.org/job/show/32281
philjobs.org
Assistant Professor in Philosophy of Technology, San Jose State University - PhilJobs:JFP Assistant Professor in Philosophy of Technology, San Jose State University
An international database of jobs for philosophers
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Jolyon Troscianko @jtroscianko.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
🦋 Butterfly wing patterns create motion illusions that protect them from predators! Our new study (8 years in the making) is out in Nature today doi.org/10.1038/s415... @grahancock.bsky.social @esbriolat.bsky.social @scienceanna.bsky.social @lauraakelley.bsky.social @uniexecec.bsky.social
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Ehud @duhe.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Thinking hard if I can have something ready. This looks fantastic.
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KLI @kli.ac.at · 30/09/2026
💐 Congratulations to our KLI Hans Przibram Postdoctoral Fellow, Ludo Schoenmakers, on his recent publication! 👏👏👏 "Scientific understanding and the controversy over adaptationism in evolutionary biology" www.kli.ac.at/en/the_kli/n...
Cerion watlingense fossil land snail; Foto by James St. John (flickr) CC BY 2.0
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Alejandro Fábregas-Tejeda @alejandrofabregastejeda.com · 30/09/2026
Have you been thinking about the main challenges or theoretical frameworks of #ALife? Do you want to discuss the current directions & future prospects of the field? Then come to Leuven & join us in a great interdisciplinary environment open to both scientists & philosophers #philsky #MolBiol #HPS 🧪
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Zoë Goldsborough @zoegoldsborough.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Why care about weird animal behaviors? Just out as an advanced publication, my contribution to the next Frans de Waal special issue in Behaviour @degruyterbrill.bsky.social. Unusual behaviors are a recurring theme in my career, and I much enjoyed writing this perspective! doi.org/10.1163/1568...
doi.org
The science of the unusual: how rare observations reveal the diversity of animal behaviour
Abstract Behavioural biology often focuses on identifying general patterns, yet unusual or rare behaviours at both the population and individual level can provide insight into animal behaviour. Here, ...
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Journal of Experimental Biology @jexpbiol.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
. @biologists.bsky.social is offering 20 funded places for ECRs from the Global South to attend the Integrative Ecological Neurobiology in Changing Environments Workshop in Argentina, 1-5 August 2027 Application deadline: 6 Nov 2026 Don't miss out! 🔁 www.biologists.com/workshops/au...
Workshop
Integrative Ecological Neurobiology in Changing Environments
Organisers: Martin Berón de Astrada, Sebastián Eduardo Sabatini, Martín Tresguerres, Maria Soledad Yusseppone
Early-career reserachers apply for funded places
1-5 August 2027
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Andrew Buskell @andrewbuskell.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
@profmatthaber.bsky.social has given me the thumbs-up to share this (unofficial) program for PSA. Check it out! And do come out on Friday morning for my symposium on paleogenomics with incredible colleagues @matildecarrera.bsky.social, Jess Kolopenuk, @kstsosie.bsky.social, and Rick Smith.
docs.google.com
PSA26 Program-At-A-Glance--Shared (Sep. 25)
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Dr. Asmeret Asefaw Berhe @aaberhe.com · 29/09/2026
Applications are now open for the UC President's Postdoc Fellowship Reach out if you want to submit an applicaiton focused on environmental/soil sciences, biogeochemistry, climate change, & related areas As a former fellow, this is a program I highly recommend 4 ECRs interested in academic careers
screenshot of the call for applications for the UC President's Postdoctoral Fellowship program
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The Ramsey Lab @theramseylab.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Are you interested in the past, present & future of Artificial Life (ALife) as a scientific field? 🚨 We are hosting an interdisciplinary minisymposium this December, so send us your work & come along! Please share widely! 🔗 hiw.kuleuven.be/clps/events/... #philsci #academicsky #evobio #AI #HPS
Promotional graphic for a mini-symposium titled “Life As It Could Be: Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Artificial Life,” taking place 7–8 December 2026 at Aula Symbiosis, BioScience Center, KU Leuven. The text appears over a blue-and-orange honeycomb-like cellular pattern.
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Ulrich Schwarz @ulrichschwarz.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Our summer academy on "Science and Histories of Fever" is in full swing at the Marsilius Kolleg, with great talks from e.g. @kakape.bsky.social, @feverprojecthd.bsky.social and @lendertgelens.bsky.social. If you are around, join us for "Marsilius Kontrovers" tonight at 7 pm: tinyurl.com/y8dkkxw4
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University of Cincinnati, Department of Philosophy @ucphilosophy.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
We’re hiring for two positions! One is TT in Ancient, the other an open-rank TT position in mind, science, or ethics. Please share widely! See more on PhilJobs: TT Ancient: philjobs.org/job/show/32273 Open-rank Mind, Science, or Ethics: philjobs.org/job/show/32265
philjobs.org
Assistant Professor, University of Cincinnati - PhilJobs:JFP Assistant Professor, University of Cincinnati
An international database of jobs for philosophers
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Samuli Reijula @samulireijula.net · 29/09/2026
very proud to share: @sobla.bsky.social has a new paper out in Synthese, "Explaining evidential discordance" #philsci link.springer.com/article/10.1...
link.springer.com
Explaining evidential discordance - Synthese
Evidential discordance, or the situation where scientific evidence supports contrary hypotheses, claims or theories about a given phenomenon, is common in scientific inquiry (Franklin, 2002; Boyd, 201...
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Society for the Study of Evolution @sse-evolution.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Nominations are due Wednesday for the SSE Lifetime Achievement Award! The initial nomination form is brief; full nomination packages will be requested for select nominees. Learn more: www.evolutionsociety.org/society-awar...
Background image: A gold trophy on a table scattered with gold star confetti. Text: Society for the Study of Evolution, Lifetime Achievement Award, Nominations due September 30.
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Many Minds podcast @manymindspod.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
New episode!! 🎉🎙️ A conversation w/ @samgilbert.bsky.social all about cognitive offloading. We humans have long used tools to help us remember and reason. But as new technologies emerge, it's a good time to take stock: What does offloading do for us—and to us? Listen: disi.org/cognitive-of...
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Minnesota Center for Philosophy of Science @mcps-philsci.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Thank you, @oscarw.bsky.social for the discussion last week on "Understanding to Some Purpose." The video, our latest in the International Postdoc Forum series, is now available to watch on the MCPS YouTube channel. buff.ly/CoQAi5c #philsci
buff.ly
IPDF September 2026: Oscar Westerblad, University of Iceland
Understanding to Some Purpose
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Alejandro Fábregas-Tejeda @alejandrofabregastejeda.com · 28/09/2026
This is the fifteenth contribution to the TC on the pursuitworthiness of experiments that @ennofischer.bsky.social & I have been editing for the EJPS. Find discussions of the geosciences, biology, physics, neuroscience & much more in the 📄s that have been published: link.springer.com/collections/...
link.springer.com
The Pursuitworthiness of Experiments Across the Sciences
The concept of pursuitworthiness has garnered considerable attention in the philosophy of science in recent years. However, philosophical reflections on the ...
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Alejandro Fábregas-Tejeda @alejandrofabregastejeda.com · 28/09/2026
In their 🆕📄, @alisabokulich.bsky.social & @mattbrewer.bsky.social argue that targeted observation practices in the #geosciences owe much to Peirce’s views on the economy of research, which are better understood as an account of the pursuitworthiness of #data 👇 link.springer.com/article/10.1... #HPS
First page of the EJPS article titled "Pursuitworthy data collection in the geosciences: from Peirce’s economy of research to targeted observation" by Alisa Bokulich & Matthew Brewer. 

Abstract 
In the geosciences, field measurements are key sources of data, alongside more traditional laboratory experiments. Regardless of the data’s source, pursuitworthiness is arguably not just a question of the intrinsic merit of the knowledge produced, but also the value of that knowledge in light of limited resources (e.g., time, money, and labor). There is a long tradition of research on this issue in the geosciences, going back to the work of the pragmatist philosopher Charles Sanders Peirce. Motivated by his work as a government-funded geoscientist, Peirce developed a highly original theory of the “economy of research.” In this paper, we argue that Peirce’s views have been largely misunderstood, and offer an alternative interpretation of Peirce’s economy of research as an account of the pursuitworthiness of data. We argue that Peirce’s account is a forerunner of a current sophisticated data collection program in the geosciences, called targeted observation (or adaptive sampling), which is used to evaluate the pursuitworthiness of various possible measurements, experiments, or observations. We conclude by applying Peirce’s philosophical insights to assess the promise and limitations of targeted-observation programs in the geosciences today.
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Sabina Leonelli @sabinaleonelli.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Want to make data and AI systems more resilient, sustainable, responsible? Want to think about what “research commons” may mean today? Join us in person or online in London next Monday! ethicaldatainitiative.org/2026/08/11/b... @edinitiative.bsky.social @researchdataall.bsky.social #philsci
ethicaldatainitiative.org
Bringing Ethics to the Global Research Commons: The EDI Stakeholder Forum at the RDA P27 - The Ethical Data Initiative
As data-driven research reshapes global science, industry, and governance, a critical question remains: how do we ensure that the infrastructures we build are both technologically robust and socially ...
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Royal Society Publishing @royalsocietypublishing.org · 27/09/2026
This #NotesandRecords special issue demonstrates the complexity of plant studies, as early modern scholars conceived plants not only as a subject of botanical studies, but also as a laboratory object that mediates the study of nature: royalsocietypublishing.org/rsnr/issue/7... #HistSci #HistSTM
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jhistbiol.bsky.social @jhistbiol.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
JHB’ 2025 Special Issue on Asilomar (link.springer.com/collections/...) mentioned in a NY Times piece today (www.nytimes.com/2026/09/23/u...)!
link.springer.com
Special Issue on Legacies of Asilomar
The Special Issue on Legacies of Asilomar features invited essays that reflect on and reinterpret the 1975 International Conference on Recombinant DNA ...
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Alejandro Fábregas-Tejeda @alejandrofabregastejeda.com · 27/09/2026
I would suggest the combination of "Theory and Reality: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Science" (press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/bo...) and "Philosophy of Biology" (press.princeton.edu/books/hardco...), both by @petergs.bsky.social— accessibly written and enjoyable books overall!
press.uchicago.edu
Theory and Reality
How does science work? Does it tell us what the world is “really” like? What makes it different from other ways of understanding the universe? In Theory and Reality, Peter Godfrey-Smith addresses thes...
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Elaine Ayers @eayers0.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
Even more essays in this Ocean Reveries series have been released - Jessica Riskin, one of my all-time favs, excerpting from her new book on Lamarck: "Even the very simplest plants and animals—tiny, fragile, translucent algae and monads—contained the power of life." pioneerworks.org/broadcast/je...
pioneerworks.org
The Sea Before Us | Broadcast
How the inventor of "biology" located life's beginnings in the sea.
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Peter Adamson @histphilosophy.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
As of today the original #HoPWAG series has reached 500 episodes! Thanks to all who have listened and the many who have supported the series over the years, not least all the interview guests. #philsky #podcast #philosophy
Special logo to celebrate 500 episodes
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Metascience @metasciencejournal.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
We are pleased to announce the publication of Volume 35, Issue 2 of Metascience! Access the full issue here: link.springer.com/journal/1101... Find the table of contents here: hpsleeds.wordpress.com/2026/09/21/m...
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John Tuthill @tuthill.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
this story about @couchmicroscopy.bsky.social captures science at its best: a scrappy team, a homemade microscope in a motel room, working under funding duress, pursuing a fundamental question about the evolution of photosynthetic organelles. www.nytimes.com/2026/09/26/s...
nytimes.com
In an $80 Motel Room, a Discovery to Shed Light on the Origins of Life
A scrappy science project led to a significant discovery: two new species of a rare organism that could elucidate a fundamental transition in the history of life on our planet.
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Gina Baucom @gbaucom.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
Early career faculty in Evolution? I would love to chat with you!
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Philosophy of Science Association @philsci.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
The PSA invites submissions of course syllabi that showcase effective and creative teaching of the philosophy of science that reaches beyond the mainstream! 🧵
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Laura Danón @ldanon.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
My entry on Animal Thought for the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy is now online! plato.stanford.edu/entries/anim...
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Centre for Philosophical Studies of History @cpshoulu.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
New video on our Youtube channel! Watch the talk "Naturalism, History, and the Philosophy of the Science" that Luke O'Sullivan gave in our joint research seminar here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=PKdR.... Happy watching!
youtube.com
Luke O’Sullivan "Naturalism, History, and the Philosophy of the Science"
YouTube video by Centre for Philosophical Studies of History
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Massimiliano Simons @masssimons.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
1/ 🧵 The history of the philosophy of experimentation isn't really just a history of what philosophers have said about experiments. In a new #HOPOS paper, I argue that it is also a history of what philosophers thought philosophy of science itself was *for*. #philsci
A Picture of the first page of the article
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Justin Weinberg @dailynous.com · 24/09/2026
A helpful and free set of resources and ideas for teaching philosophy has recently been updated.
dailynous.com
Philosophy Teaching Resource Updated - Daily Nous
TeachPhilosophy101, a free and helpful collection of resources and ideas for teaching philosophy, has recently been updated. Its materials cover course planning, how to use […]
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The HOPOS Journal @hoposjournal.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Our Fall issue has just published! HOPOS volume 16, number 2 includes articles on evolutionary thinking east and west, two each on Kant and Duhem, the philosophy of experimentation, the Copenhagen Interpretation of QM, and constructive empiricism.
HOPOS Volume 16 number 2 Fall 2026 cover, University of Chicago Press
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H. B. Beryl Rappaport @hbrappap.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Our description of fire amoeba, 𝘐𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘢𝘮𝘰𝘦𝘣𝘢 𝘤𝘢𝘴𝘤𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘴, is now online at Cell! Thanks @oliverio.bsky.social and amazing team for questioning the limits of eukaryotes! 🔥 www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...
cell.com
A geothermal amoeba sets a new upper temperature limit for eukaryotes
The amoeba Incendiamoeba cascadensis demonstrates that eukaryotic life can withstand temperatures beyond what was thought possible and sheds light on molecular strategies for survival in extreme heat.
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ángeles @angeleserana.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
¡¡envíen sus escritos a este número especial de la revista Protrepsis que puede estar muy bueno!!! La fecha límite es el 27 de septiembre ¡¡ya mero!!!
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Alisa Bokulich @alisabokulich.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
via Siska De Baerdemaeker: 2 #HPS #philjobs in Philosophy Dept @ Stockholm Uni: 1. #PhilSci w/ a focus on social epistemology, values & science: su.varbi.com/en/what:job/... 2. #HistSci or #DigitalHumanities: su.varbi.com/en/what:job/... Deadline: November 8, 2026.
su.varbi.com
Researcher in Philosophy of Science
The Department of Philosophy at Stockholm University is the largest in Sweden, with vibrant research groups in a wide range of philosophical disciplines. The department has significant strengths in ph
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Daniel R. Pantoja Q. @drpantojaq.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
My PhD dissertation, Categorial Hylomorphism, has received the 2026 Cardinal Mercier Prize from KU Leuven and UCLouvain 🏆 #Philosophy www.universiteitleiden.nl/en/news/2026... @kuleuvenuniversity.bsky.social @uclouvain.bsky.social @unileiden.bsky.social
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Nico Schuck @nicoschuck.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
2023: 8,039 proposals 2024: 10,360 proposals 2025: 17,066 proposals 2026: 21,627 proposals Something's gotta give
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Many Minds podcast @manymindspod.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Our latest Spotify playlist: 13 of our episodes that explore different aspects of language! open.spotify.com/playlist/1Qx...
open.spotify.com
Many Minds explores language
Playlist · kensycoop · 13 items
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Marshall Abrams @marshall0i.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
Collins and Thorne's "Large language models and scientific discourse: Where’s the intelligence?" is worthwhile. Standards re good vs. fringe science may arise in verbal discussion at labs, conferences-not in training data. So LLMs don't know the difference. link.springer.com/article/10.1... #philsci
link.springer.com
Large language models and scientific discourse: Where’s the intelligence? - Synthese
We explore the capabilities of Large Language Models (LLMs) by comparing the way they gather data with the way humans build knowledge. Here we examine how scientific knowledge is made and compare it w...
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Claudia Wascher @wascherclaudia.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
I'm so excited to finally see the special issue "Addressing Biases in Animal Behaviour" fully published: www.sciencedirect.com/special-issu.... Huge thanks to my brilliant co-editors @viveknityananda.bsky.social & @nicolakoyama.bsky.social. Special issue grew from @asab.org's 2024 Winter Meeting 🧵
sciencedirect.com
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Anna Alexandrova @annaalexandrova.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
How do people exploit doubt? Of course, it's by Gricean means, how else. The latest by my colleague in @hpscambridge.bsky.social Tim Lewens #philsci #philsky
link.springer.com
Conduits of confidence and doubt - European Journal for Philosophy of Science
Oreskes and Conway’s (2010) paradigmatic cases for agnotology show how misplaced doubt can be deliberately produced in the minds of one’s audience, even when everything one asserts is strictly true. T...
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Sylvia Wenmackers @sylviawenmackers.be · 22/09/2026
Earlier this year, Alicja Kwade had a magnificent solo-exhibition in museum M Leuven. In the catalogue, I compare her sculptures with scientific models: "In the sway of a simple model; A philosophical reflection on Alicja Kwade’s pendulum". Pdf: www.sylviawenmackers.be/documents/We... #Art #PhilSci
Exhibition catalogue of Alicja Kwade, called Dusty Die. The cover shows a white door.Double-page photo of ParaPosition, in which a heavy rock balances above a chair. The wall in the background shows a photo of gray clouds; a real window shows the inner garden.Fragment of my chapter. Scientists usually think and communicate about fictional systems by means of equations and specific names, such as the ‘simple pendulum’, ‘frictionless plane’ or ‘ideal gas’. In doing so, they simulate these abstract model systems mentally. At best, they leave behind cryptic squiggles on a blackboard. In Kwade’s work we encounter similar conceptual abstractions, but she renders them as physical, material objects. She presents us with massive rocks that appear to defy gravity in works like Superheavy Skies and ParaPosition, which make tangible the kind of configurations that scientists only imagine.
It’s like Kwade read Godfrey-Smith’s concept of scientific models as ‘imagined concrete systems’ that ‘would be concrete if real’ (or ‘fictional concreta’) and called his bluff. As if Kwade decided: let’s make them real, then!
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Vera Straetmanns @yavannakemi.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
New semester, new reading group content! We've decided to follow the stream of process philosophy and read "Everyone flows" by John Dupré in this semester. And, as the book is not that long, we will actually read the whole thing 🤩 Looking forward to stimulating discussions! 🤓 #PhDSky #PhilSci #HPBio
Poster for this semester's reading group. We will read John Dupré's "Everyone flows: A process philosophy of human life" (2025). The reading group meets every first Wednesday of the month at 16:00 CET in room NDEF04/346 at Ruhr University Bochum as well as online via Zoom. If you're interested just join our moodle group at: https://moodle.ruhr-uni-bochum.de/enrol/index.php?id=47287, password: theory. Or just write me an e-mail: vera.straetmanns[at]rub.de
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