Jonathan Bain
Humanities and Social Sciences
Polytechnic Institute of New York University


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EDUCATION:
1998
Ph.D., History and Philosophy of Science, University of Pittsburgh.
Thesis: 'Representations of Spacetime:  Formalism and Ontological Commitment'
Committee:  John Earman (co-chair), John D. Norton (co-chair), Kenneth Manders, George A. J. Sparling.
1996 M.S., Physics, University of Pittsburgh.
1989 B.S. (cum laude), Applied Mathematics/Physics, University of the Pacific, Stockton, CA.
Minor:  Philosophy

Areas of Specialization:  philosophy of physics (spacetime, quantum field theory), philosophy of science (scientific realism).
Areas of Competence:  philosophy of science (explanation, confirmation, laws of nature, etc.), logic (intro, advanced), social philosophy, epistemology, philosophy of mathematics, history of science, Whitehead.


EMPLOYMENT:
2008-present
Associate Professor (with tenure), Poytechnic Institute of New York University, Department of Humanities and Social Sciences
2005-2008 Associate Professor (with tenure), Polytechnic University, Department of Humanities and Social Sciences
1999-2005 Assistant  Professor, Polytechnic University, Department of Humanities and Social Sciences
1998-1999 Visiting Assistant Professor, University of California-Riverside, Department of Philosophy


PUBLICATIONS:
Articles:

1.
'Condensed Matter Physics and the Nature of Spacetime', in Dieks, D. (ed.) The Ontology of Spacetime, Vol. 2 (Elsevier Press, 2008):  301-329.
2. 'Spacetime Structuralism', in Dieks, D. (ed.) The Ontology of Spacetime, Vol. 1 (Elsevier Press, 2006):  37-66.
3. 'Theories of Newtonian Gravity and Empirical Indistinguishability', Studies in History and Philosophy of Modern Physics 35 (2004):  345-376.
4. Einstein Algebras and the Hole Argument', Philosophy of Science 70 (2003):  1073-1085.
5. 'What Should Philosophers of Science Learn from the History of the Electron?', (with J. D. Norton) in Buchwald, J. and A. Warwick (eds.), Histories of the Electron:  The Birth of Microphysics, Dibner Institute Studies in the History of Science and Technology (MIT Press, 2001):  451-465.
6. 'Against Particle/Field Duality:  Asymptotic Particle States and Interpolating Fields in Interacting QFT (or: Who's Afraid of Haag's Theorem?)', Erkenntnis 53 (2000):  375-406.
7. 'The Coordinate-Independent 2-component Spinor Formalism and the Conventionality of Simultaneity', Studies in History and Philosophy of Modern Physics 31 (2000):  201-226.
8. 'Weinberg on QFT:  Demonstrative Induction and Underdetermination', Synthese 117 (1999):  1-30.
9. 'Whitehead's Theory of Gravity', Studies in History and Philosophy of Modern Physics 29 (1998):  547-574

Book Reviews:
10.
Rickles, D. (ed.) The Ashgate Companion to the Philosophy of Physics, forthcoming in Metascience.
11.
Healey, R. Gauging What's Real:  The Conceptual Foundations of Contemporary Gauge Theories, Philosophy of Science 75, (2008):  479-485.
12.
Arabatzis, T. Representing Electrons, in International Studies in Philosophy of Science 20, no. 3 (2006):  347-357.
13.
Hattich, F., Quantum Processes:  A Whiteheadian Interpretation of Quantum Field Theory, in Studies in History and Philosophy of Modern Physics 36, (2005):  680-690.
14. Pesic, P., Seeing Double:  Shared Identities in Physics, Philosophy, and Literature, in ISIS 93, no. 4 (2002):  670-671.
15. Jammer, M., Concepts of Mass in Contemporary Physics and Philosophy, in Physics Today 53, no. 12 (2000):  pp. 67-68.


PRESENTATIONS:

1. 'Motivating Structural Realist Interpretations of Spacetime', Metaphysics of Science, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia, July 2009.
2. 'Intertheoretic Implications of Non-relativistic Quantum Field Theories', Philosophy of Quantum Field Theory Workshop, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, April 2009.
3.
'Motivating Structural Realist Interpretations of Spacetime', Studia Logica International Conference:  Logic and the Foundations of Physics, TrendsVI, Brussels, Belgium, December 2008.
4.
'Quantum Field Theories in Classical Spacetimes and Particles', Philosophy of Science Association 2008, Pittsburgh, PA, November 2008.
5.
'Quantum Field Theories in Classical Spacetimes and Particles', British Society for the Philosophy of Science Conference 2008, St. Andrews, United Kingdom, July 2008.
6.
'Relativity and Quantum Field Theory', 3rd International Conference on the Ontology of Spacetime, Concordia University, Montreal, Canada, June 2008.
7.
'Condensed Matter Physics, Emergent Spacetime, and Structural Realism", 15 U.K. and European Meeting on the Foundations of Physics, Leeds, United Kingdom, March 2007. 
8.
'Condensed Matter Physics and the Nature of Spacetime, 2nd International Conference on the Ontology of Spacetime, Concordia University, Montreal, Canada, June 2006.
9.
'Emergent Spacetime and Structural Realism', Society for Exact Philosophy 2006, San Diego, CA, May 2006.
10. 'Reductionism and Emergentism in Contemporary Physics', Othmer Institute for Interdisciplinary Studies, Polytechnic University, October 2005.
11. 'Conceptual Foundations of Quantum Information Theory', Othmer Institute for Interdisciplinary Studies, Polytechnic University, February 2005.
12. 'Spacetime Structuralism', 1st International Conference on the Ontology of Spacetime, Concordia University, Montreal, Canada, May 2004.
13. ‘How to be a Semantic Realist With Respect to Yang-Mills Gauge Theories’, Department of Philosophy, University of Minnesota, February 2003.
14. ‘Einstein Algebras and the Hole Argument’, Philosophy of Science Association 2002, Milwaulkee, WI, November 2002.
15.
‘How to be a Semantic Realist With Respect to Yang-Mills Gauge Theories’, Probing the Boundaries of Mathematics and Physics, Department of Mathematics, University of Pittsburgh, October 2002.
16. ‘Philosophy and Physics:  Tachyons, Causality, and Special Relativity’, Interdisciplinary Physics Group, Polytechnic University, March 2002.
17. ‘Weinberg on QFT:  Demonstrative Induction and Underdetermination’, Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, Polytechnic University, March 1999.


DRAFTS/PROJECTS:

1.
'Relativity and Quantum Field Theory', draft.
2. 'Quantum Field Theories in Classical Spacetimes and Particles', draft.
3.
'Motivating Structural Realist Interpretations of Spacetime', draft.
4. 'Effective Field Theories and Intertheoretic Relations', in preparation.