Auguste Nahas
Academic Researcher and Teacher
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I am a philosopher of science specializing in the philosophy of the life sciences. I have broad interests in philosophy of science, though my current research focuses on the way biologists and ecologists use the concepts of goals, functions, and purpose in their study of the natural world.
I am currently a post-doctoral researcher at the Institute for the History and Philosophy of Science and Technology at the Université Paris 1-Sorbonne.
I obtained my PhD in History and Philosophy of Science from the University of Toronto, and an MPhil degree from the University of Cambridge.
I deeply value interdisciplinary dialogue and collaboration. Please don't hesitate to get in touch! auguste.nahas[at]univ-paris1.fr
I am currently a post-doctoral researcher at the Institute for the History and Philosophy of Science and Technology at the Université Paris 1-Sorbonne.
I obtained my PhD in History and Philosophy of Science from the University of Toronto, and an MPhil degree from the University of Cambridge.
I deeply value interdisciplinary dialogue and collaboration. Please don't hesitate to get in touch! auguste.nahas[at]univ-paris1.fr
Research
Overview
Life scientists regularly use concepts that imply purpose, such as goal, function, health, and choice. My research is motivated by the following questions: what does the apparent indispensability of these concepts tell us about biology's objects of study? What epistemic role do these concepts play in scientific research? How can the history of philosophy and biology help us understand the current philosophical and theoretical challenges posed by the use of these concepts today?All my papers are available for download on my Research Gate profile.You can access a complete CV here.
Journal Articles
Nahas A. (forthcoming) Revisiting Rosenblueth, Wiener and Bigelow's “Behavior, Purpose and Teleology” (1943). Biological Theory.
Nahas A. (2025) The Case for Pluralism About Teleological Explanation. Philosophy of Science.
Nahas, A. & Sachs, C. (2023). What’s at Stake in the Debate over Naturalizing Teleology? Synthese. 201, 142.
Gambarotto A., & Nahas, A. (2023). Nature and Agency: Towards a Post-Kantian Naturalism. Topoi, 42, 767–780.
Gambarotto, A., & Nahas, A. (2022). Teleology and the Organism: Kant’s Controversial Legacy for Contemporary Biology. Studies in History and Philosophy of Science, 93, 47–56.
Book Chapters
Nahas, A. (2024). Behavior, Purpose and Teleology Revisited: Locating Cybernetic Teleology in Interwar Holism. In A. Fábregas-Tejeda, G. Radick, G. Preito, and J. Baedke (eds.), The Riddle of Organismal Agency: New Historical and Philosophical Reflections, Routledge.
Gambarotto A. & Nahas, A. (2024). Rethinking Schelling’s Philosophy of Nature Through a Process Account of Emergence. In L. Corti, J.G. Schülein (eds.), Organism, Life and Cognition: Nature in Classical German Philosophy, Springer, Dordrecht.
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