About
I am a philosopher of science with a particular interest in philosophy of medicine. I am currently completing my PhD in the History and Philosophy of Science at the University of Cambridge (expected Spring 2021). I am also a senior research associate at the Institute for the Future of Knowledge at the University of Johannesburg. Before starting my PhD, I held teaching positions at the University of Johannesburg and the University of Pretoria.
My research employs conceptual analysis, empirical findings, case studies, and the application of formal methods to help solve important practical problems in science. I am specifically interested in conceptual and methodological questions about medical inference, and the intersection of values and epistemic concerns in medical artificial intelligence.
Research
Publications
Forthcoming
2020
"What is Interpretability?" Philosophy & Technology (With Tyler Brunet and Eyal Fisher)
"Data-dredging Bias" In Catalogue of Bias https://catalogofbias.org/biases/data-dredging-bias/ (with Bennett Holman and John Ioannidis)
Manuscripts in Preparation
A paper on p-hacking (Revise and Resubmit)
A paper on data-dredging in medical research (Invited Paper)
“Integrating Mechanistic Evidence for Predicting Medical Effectiveness”
Talks
Conferences
Nov 2021
“Assessing the Consequences of P-hacking using Expected Utility and the Argument from Inductive Risk.” The 27th Biennial Meeting of the Philosophy of Science Association, Baltimore, USA
Jul 2021
“Integrating Mechanistic Evidence for Predicting Medical Effectiveness.” The 8th Biennial Society for Philosophy of Science in Practice Conference, East Lansing, USA
Aug 2019
“Expected Utility, Inductive Risk, and the Consequences of P-hacking.” Bayes by the Sea Conference, Ancona, Italy
Aug 2019
“Expected Utility, Inductive Risk, and the Consequences of P-hacking.” The 16th International Congress on Logic, Methodology and Philosophy of Science and Technology, Prague, Czech Republic
Jun 2019
“Inductive Risk, Expected Utility, and the Consequences of P-Hacking in Medical Research.” The 8th Philosophy of Medicine Roundtable, Paris, France
Jun 2019
“Inductive Risk, Expected Utility, and the Consequences of P-Hacking.” The Canadian Society for the History and Philosophy of Science Conference, Vancouver, Canada
Jun 2019
“Etiological, Symptom-Based, and Pathophysiological Approaches to Disease Classification.” The Canadian Philosophy Association Conference, Vancouver, Canada
Jun 2017
“Inductive Risk and Extrapolation in Medicine.” The Canadian Society for the History and Philosophy of Science Conference, Toronto, Canada
May 2017
“Inductive Risk and Extrapolation in Medicine.” The 7th Annual Values in Medicine, Science, and Technology Conference, Dallas, USA
Jan 2014
“A Tracking Theory of Prediction.” The Philosophical Society of Southern Africa Conference, Bloemfontein, South Africa
Teaching
University of Cambridge, Supervisor for Undergraduate Students
2019/20
2018/19
General Philosophy of Science
General Philosophy of Science
2017/18
Philosophy of the Special Sciences
History and Philosophy of Science
Metaphysics and Epistemology
Logic
Philosophy of Science
Logic
University of Pretoria, Fixed-Term Lecturer
2017
2016
2015
2014
Philosophy of Medicine
Philosophy of Science
Philosophy of Medicine
Philosophy of Science
Philosophy of Medicine
Philosophy of Science
Philosophy of Medicine
Philosophy of Science
Moral and Political Philosophy
University of Johannesburg, Fixed-Term Lecturer
2016
2015
2014
2013
Engineering Ethics
Engineering Aesthetics
Engineering Ethics
Engineering Aesthetics
Philosophy of Science
Engineering Ethics
Engineering Aesthetics
Philosophy of Mind
Business Ethics and Citizenship
Business Ethics and Citizenship
Contact
Adrian Erasmus
Department of History and Philosophy of Science
University of Cambridge
Free School Ln.
Cambridge
CB2 3RE