| Eric Winsberg | |
| Birth Date: | 4 February 1968 |
| Nationality: | American |
| Education: | University of Chicago Indiana University |
| Notable Works: | Science in the Age of Computer Simulation Philosophy and Climate Science |
| Institutions: | University of South Florida |
| Thesis Title: | Simulation and the Philosophy of Science: Computationally Intensive Studies of Complex Physical Systems |
| Thesis Year: | 1999 |
| Doctoral Advisor: | Michael Friedman |
| Main Interests: | Philosophy of science, Philosophy of physics, Climate Science |
Eric Winsberg (born February 4, 1968) is an American philosopher who is a professor of philosophy at the University of South Florida.[1] From 2023 until 2027 he will hold a Global Professorship from the British Academy in the Department of History and Philosophy of Science at the University of Cambridge.[2] He is known for his research in philosophy of science, in particular the philosophy of climate science, and the philosophy of physics. He is especially interested in the role of computer simulations in the physical sciences. His work in the philosophy of climate science specifically relates to its application in science policy and ethics.[3] He was an early critic of many of the public health policies aimed at mitigating the Covid-19 pandemic, arguing that the quality of the science justifying these policies was poor or missing, and that many of the policies unnecessarily sacrificed the welfare of the young and the poor.[4] [5] [6] He also writes on truth and on scientific authorship.[1]
Winsberg was born in New York City on February 4, 1968. His father was a physician and his mother was a data scientist.[7] At an early age, his family moved to Montreal, where he spend most of his childhood. He attended college at The University of Chicago, and then earned his Ph.D, in History and Philosophy of Science at Indiana University in 1999.
Winsberg wrote his doctoral dissertation on the use of computer simulation to study complex physical systems.[8] Over the next several years, he published a number of articles on computer simulation, including their implications for understanding the nature of scientific theories and their application, scientific realism, the role of fiction in science, and the nature of inter-theoretic reduction. His work on computer simulation has been called "pioneering," "groundbreaking,"[9] and "trailblazing."[10] He also contributed to the literature on the role of the thermodynamics for understanding the arrow of time. More recently he has devoted much of his attention to topics in climate science, especially the role of values therein, the importance of the chaotic nature of the atmosphere, the nature of probabilities and the role of robust results in climate modeling and climate science generally.[11]