Samuli Reijula (né Pöyhönen)
I am currently (2020-2025) an Academy of Finland research fellow at the University of Helsinki. I work in the theoretical philosophy unit, and my research focuses on two main areas:
- Institutional epistemology. What are epistemically well-designed social systems like? What are the social, cognitive and institutional conditions of well-functioning scientific research?
- Evidence-based policy. How are findings from the behavioral sciences used to inform policy design? How should that translation be done?
I am also interested in the epistemology of simulation modeling, computational social science, mathematical explanation, AI, as well as issues related to natural kinds and conceptual change.
As a university lecturer (currently on research leave), I am responsible for undergraduate teaching and supervising in the area of the philosophy of science. I’m also affiliated with the TINT Centre for Philosophy of Social Science at the University of Helsinki.
Recent publications
- Social categories in the making: construction or recruitment?, Synthese. (7/2021)
- Hacking, Ian (1936-), Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy. (5/2021)
- The diversity-ability trade-off in scientific problem solving, Philosophy of Science (PSA 2020/2021). (w/ Jaakko Kuorikoski) (4/2021)
- Argumentative landscapes: the functions of models in social epistemology, Synthese. (w/ Emrah Aydinonat and Petri Ylikoski) (4/2020)
- Self-nudging and the citizen choice architect, Behavioral Public Policy (w/ Ralph Hertwig). (3/2020)
- Tutkijan vapaus institutionaalisen tietoteorian näkökulmasta, in ed. K. Ekholm, E. Väliverronen 2020: Tieteen vapaus & tutkijan sananvapaus. Vastapaino, Finland. (w/ Petri Ylikoski)
Updates
- A new paper coming out in the Philosophy of Science (PSA2020/2021 proceedings). We examine the diversity-beats-ability theorem originally put forward by Lu Hong and Scott Page, 2004. Long story short, (1) we don’t think the original model provides reliable evidence of diversity beating ability in group problem solving, but (2) we have an improved version of the model that can tell us something of interest about the trade-off between diversity and ability!
- Here’s a link to a paper I wrote with Petri Ylikoski, where we outline the idea of institutional epistemology. (in Finnish!) (11/2020)
- I’m on research leave 2020-2025, working on my personal research project funded by the Academy of Finland. The project is called “Modeling the republic of science: Collaborative problem solving and collective rationality in scientific inquiry” (11/2020)
- Our self-nudging article is getting some attention in media: Behavioral scientist, Yliopisto-lehti, The Decision Lab, NBC Today (9/2020)
- Our small contribution to the debate on the use of evidence and computational models at the times of pandemic (in Finnish). In Alusta!
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How can philosophers make use of (simulation) models? Together with Emrah Aydinonat and Petri Ylikoski (Synthese, forthcoming 2020), I argue that e.g. in social epistemology (of science), models should be understood as argumentative devices, and their epistemic status be evaluated accordingly. (5/2020)
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