Alexander Rosenberg
contemporaryAnalytic Philosophy, Naturalismb. 1946
Alexander Rosenberg is an American philosopher of science at Duke University, specializing in philosophy of biology, philosophy of social science, and naturalistic metaphysics. He is known for arguing that Darwinian natural selection, while true, lacks the predictive and explanatory precision of other scientific theories, and for defending a thoroughgoing scientific naturalism that eliminates intentionality and folk psychology. His work bridges technical philosophy of science with broader questions about the limits of human knowledge.
Notable Achievements
1
Argued that evolutionary theory has a distinct and limited cognitive status compared to other scientific theories
2
Developed a deflationary, eliminativist account of intentionality grounded in neuroscience and Darwinian biology
3
Contributed foundational work on the philosophy of social science, questioning whether it can achieve genuine scientific explanation
4
Authored 'The Atheist's Guide to Reality' (2011), a systematic defense of scientism and naturalistic nihilism
5
Analyzed the epistemic foundations of economics in 'Economics: Mathematical Politics or Science of Diminishing Returns'