Greg Rupik
History & philosophy of biology | Author- Remapping Biology with Goethe, Schelling, and Herder: Romanticizing Evolution (Routledge) | Chief of Staff and University Secretary, University of St. Michael's College in the University of Toronto | he/him | 🐋🌱🏳️🌈
- This term I'm teaching "Aliens & the Heavens: Christian Encounters with Cosmic Pluralism," a St. Mike's First Year Foundations course in the University of Toronto's Faculty of Arts & Science. So wonderful to be back in the classroom introducing students to #HPS & disciplines like #astrobiology! 👽✝️🌍🔭
- Biological Theory is now on Bluesky! We have a new team of editors and a new editorial board. We will soon be posting about all our articles. Find out more about the journal at link.springer.com/journal/13752
- A review of Matthew Bell's Goethe: A Life in Ideas in the New Yorker www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...
- Any historians of #astrobiology, #xenobiology, and/or #exobiology out there? I'm designing a course and would love to add some readings about the field and its history. Point me in the right direction! #histbio #hpbio
- Reposted by Greg RupikA biologist at the American Museum of Natural History, Jonathan Coddington, cataloged a new genus of South American spiders in 1986. Two things about the spider were unique: they lived in caves & laid cubic eggs. So he called them genus 'Plato', and that's the nerdiest thing I have read all year.
- Reposted by Greg RupikIt was no “mere” metaphor: “plants do not … possess nerves or a central nervous system; and we may infer that with animals such structures serve only for the more perfect transmission of impressions, and for the more complete intercommunication of the several parts." 🧪🌱🐋 #philsci #HistSTM 🦋🦫
- Reposted by Greg RupikTwo weeks until the Philosophy of Science Association’s next office hours! @michelamassimi.bsky.social and Mazviita Chirimuuta on “New approaches to realism.” Sign up and more information:
- Reposted by Greg RupikI can’t think of a better way to celebrate my 2nd year in Germany than keynoting the German Society for Women in Philosophy - join us in Ulm to discuss openness & democracy on Thursday 13 November: www.uni-ulm.de/einrichtunge... #philsci
- Reposted by Greg RupikProof that climate change is real and horrible: www.bbc.com/news/article...
- Reposted by Greg RupikI am excited to share with you all another episode of #TheYoungIdealist Series featuring @dalianassar.bsky.social who navigates the viewers through her exciting philosophical work & discussing important issues like Knowledge, Aesthetics, Ethics, Nature & Ecology. www.youtube.com/watch?v=WPur...
- Reposted by Greg Rupik
- Next in Dialectical Biology Today: @hylomorphic.bsky.social weaves together historical threads from Hegel, Engels, & others to illustrate how Lewontin's dialectical biology critiques an anti-revolutionary, conservative ideology at the heart of population genetics & evolutionary ecology 🌱🐋
- Rasmus Grønfeldt Winther kicks off day 2 of Dialectical Biology Today, exploring Lewontin's avoidance of "synthesis," identifying the tension between anthropocentric ethics and deep ecology, and wondering how the Ocean might open up a new dialectic in a refreshed Naturphilosophie 🐋🌱
- Reposted by Greg RupikI’m doing the hand symbol for dialectics
- The "Dialectical Biology Today" Conference is...Today! Here's @jonothingeb.bsky.social welcoming participants to this gathering considering the legacies of Richard Lewontin. 🌱🐋 @ihpst-uoft.bsky.social You can see the schedule & join on Zoom here! ihpst.utoronto.ca/events/diale...
- Amazing to have Elliott Sober delivering his keynote "Richard Lewontin - Biologist, Philosopher, and Marxist" at the Dialectical Biology Today Conference! 🌱🐋 @ihpst-uoft.bsky.social
- First up at Dialectical Biology Today: Sonia Sultan illustrates—with great experimental & naturalistic examples—the interpenetration of organisms and environments; identifies three major challenges that emerge for biologists from this datum; and gives us a good reason to eat our broccoli! 🥦 🐋🌱
- The "Dialectical Biology Today" Conference is...Today! Here's @jonothingeb.bsky.social welcoming participants to this gathering considering the legacies of Richard Lewontin. 🌱🐋 @ihpst-uoft.bsky.social You can see the schedule & join on Zoom here! ihpst.utoronto.ca/events/diale...
- Reposted by Greg RupikVirality Vitality is now a paperback! Discount code: SNPF25. How do viral phenomena undermine basic concepts of the life sciences and philosophy, including the body, immunity, self-reproduction, and species? How does this affect synthetic biology’s attempts to control life?
- This little pathogen I’ve created now has a life of its own. Virality Vitality, on the subterfuges of reproduction and contagion, has just been published! Unfortunately, only in hardcover for the time being (sunypress.edu/Books/V/Vira...); if you’d like to read it just get in touch!
- Rasmus Grønfeldt Winther's *When Maps Become the World* profoundly inspired my philosophical approach in my book, especially his notions of countermapping, pernicious reification, and contextual objectivity. I'm so grateful for his enthusiastic support of my project to Romanticize evolution! 🐋🌱
- Join us for this great conference on the legacies of Lewontin and Dialectical Biology! 🌱🐋 #philbio #evolution #histbio
- An awesome hybrid conference on the legacies of Richard Lewontin is coming to Toronto. Elliott Sober is the keynote! "Dialectical Biology Today" runs from October 10-12. Learn more and register below! #philbio 🐋🌱 @ihpst-uoft.bsky.social ihpst.utoronto.ca/events/diale...
- Reposted by Greg RupikLudwig von Bertalanffy—the architect of “General System Theory”—was born OTD in 1901. Mechanism “provides us with no grasp of … organic 'wholeness,’ … of organic 'teleology,’ or of the historical character of organisms.…” 🌱🐋🦫🦋 #HistSTM #PhilSci #evolbio #STS 🧪
- Reposted by Greg RupikI'm excited to share with you all a conference I'm planning Oct. 10-12: Dialectical Biology Today: Legacies of Richard Lewontin. It will be hybrid in Toronto and on zoom, so please join us however you can! Register for zoom link here: ihpst.utoronto.ca/events/diale...
- An awesome hybrid conference on the legacies of Richard Lewontin is coming to Toronto. Elliott Sober is the keynote! "Dialectical Biology Today" runs from October 10-12. Learn more and register below! #philbio 🐋🌱 @ihpst-uoft.bsky.social ihpst.utoronto.ca/events/diale...
- Reposted by Greg RupikIt Only Tuesday theonion.com/it-only-tuesday-181…
- Reposted by Greg RupikWhere to begin with Jon? He was one of the nicest, and certainly the funniest, people I've known in academia; several of his one-liners still crease me with laughter. Indeed, I was quoting one on here just the other week. He gave me my start lecturing, 1/ hpsleeds.wordpress.com/2025/09/05/j...
- Reposted by Greg RupikThe IHPST is hiring! Assistant Professor - Philosophy of Science and/or Technology. jobs.utoronto.ca/job/Toronto-...
- We’re excited to launch the official BlueSky profile of ISHPSSB! Founded in 1998, we connect researchers in philosophy, history, and social studies of biology and medicine worldwide. Follow us for updates and events! #PhilosophyOfBiology, #HistoryOfScience, #STS, #Biology, #Medicine
- Reposted by Greg RupikI am happy to share my review of @gregoryrupik.bsky.social interesting book "Remapping biology with Goethe, Schelling, and Herder", which is well-researched, thought-provoking and exciting. "It tickles me that I can trace my scholarly roots to Goethe!" link.springer.com/article/10.1...
- Despite being a major antagonist in the early chapters of my book, Michael Ruse provided a gracious and supportive peer review of my book before publication, and penned this early review. Remapping Biology with Goethe, Schelling, and Herder is now available in paperback. Check it out! #philbio #hps
- DOUBLE #hpbio job alert! The @ihpst-uoft.bsky.social has 2 postings for full-time tenure stream positions in the #Philosophy of Science and/or Tech at the Assistant and Associate prof levels (general #philsci or phil. of race/indigenous knowledge/non-western sci). 🐋🌱
- Associate Prof posting: jobs.utoronto.ca/job/Toronto-...
- Assistant Prof posting: jobs.utoronto.ca/job/Toronto-...
- Wishing a very #Goethe birthday to this guy. (Engraving by James Posselwhite)
- Reposted by Greg Rupik
Let’s delve into the epistemology of network analyses (as GPT would say)! My paper on networks as explanatory and non-explanatory is out in Synthese and Open Access :) link.springer.com/content/pdf/... #philsci #networks #philbio #topology - Reposted by Greg Rupik
- Reposted by Greg Rupik📣 A photo gallery with moments from #ISHPSSB2025 is available here 👉 ishpssb2025.icbas.up.pt/moments-from... #hpbio #philsci #histstm #histsci #philbio #hbio #sts
- Reposted by Greg RupikBrain researchers are overturning decades of dogma. | iai.tv/articles/neu... Award-winning neuroscientist Nicole Rust, the brain is a dynamic complex system, whose parts interact via feedback loops that are impossible to study in isolation from each other. #philsci ⚛️ 🧪
- Reposted by Greg Rupik
- Reposted by Greg Rupik🎉 Congrats to IHPST emeritus professor Polly Winsor, David L. Hull Prize winner! @ishpssb2025.bsky.social honors her work in taxonomy history and dedication to mentoring. She's the first Canadian and second woman to receive this award 📸 @gregoryrupik.bsky.social ihpst.utoronto.ca/news/polly-w...
- Officially on the office door. So lucky to be serving such an amazing set of students, faculty, librarians, staff, alumni/ae, and governors! #highereducation #chiefofstaff #canadianpse @ustmikes.bsky.social
- Thanks for featuring my new paperback in this #ScholarSunday edition!
- August is here, and with it my 236th #ScholarSunday thread of great public scholarly writing & work, podcast episodes, new & forthcoming books from the past week. Add more below, share widely, & enjoy, all! 🗃️ + americanstudier.substack.com/p/scholarsun...
- Reposted by Greg RupikAugust is here, and with it my 236th #ScholarSunday thread of great public scholarly writing & work, podcast episodes, new & forthcoming books from the past week. Add more below, share widely, & enjoy, all! 🗃️ + americanstudier.substack.com/p/scholarsun...
- Two process philosophers walk into a bar... @asmeincke.bsky.social
- Photo credit @hylomorphic.bsky.social !
- Reposted by Greg RupikRomanticizing Evolution: Whitehead’s Organic Realism and the Return of Organic Science Other contributors at the Cognizing Life conference include: Benjamin Bembé (Witten), Bohang Chen (Zhejiang), Luke Fischer (Sydney), Andrea Gambarotto (Wien), Levi Haeck(Ghent), Craig Holdrege (Ghent, NY),…
- Here's philosopher of bio Denis Walsh's endorsement of my book as an integrated HPS project. Remapping Biology with Goethe, Schelling, and Herder is shipping in paperback (finally!) on July 30th! Link below. #booksky #philsky #histbio #philbio #ihps #agency #evolution #biosky
- Reposted by Greg RupikThis little pathogen I’ve created now has a life of its own. Virality Vitality, on the subterfuges of reproduction and contagion, has just been published! Unfortunately, only in hardcover for the time being (sunypress.edu/Books/V/Vira...); if you’d like to read it just get in touch!
- The paperback of my book Remapping Biology with Goethe, Schelling, and Herder will start shipping July 30th! The lower price point means I can hawk this one with a clearer conscience 😅 #booksky #philsci #hps #philbio #histbio 🐋🌱 www.routledge.com/Remapping-Bi...
- Happy to count myself among "atypical" #ISHPSSB scholars like Lynn!
- I'm so glad that #ISHPSSB is such a wonderfully diverse and inclusive community. Lots of "atypical" scholars in the mix, including myself! I'll be part of a panel on "new biology" and education this afternoon, speaking as one of the last speakers of the final sessions of the conference.
- The conversations at ISH didn't end with the closing of the last session! Wonderful to connect with so many in this wonderful society, including Sidney Carls-Diamante! @ishpssb2025.bsky.social
- Enjoyed being part of a *packed* final session of @ishpssb2025.bsky.social where we all witnessed @asmeincke.bsky.social make a compelling case to @kevinlala.bsky.social (in the room!) as to why he should explicitly adopt a process ontology for the Extended Evolutionary Synthesis! 🌱🐋
- Susan Hanisch here presenting on her empirical findings—that agency is NOT too complex for high school students—in a dense and rich session on the educational implications of the New Biology at @ishpssb2025.bsky.social.
- Andrea Gentili exploring the diverse "tones" of animal subjects' experiences in their Umwelten, and how von Uexküll's idea of nature resists a solipsistic monadology. @ishpssb2025.bsky.social 🐋🌱
- Beautiful people and rich conversations (in a stunning venue) at yesterday evening's @ishpssb2025.bsky.social final reception in the Palacio da Bolsa!
- Campbell Rider confirming eloquently that we need more Schelling at ISH! @campbellrider.bsky.social makes a compelling case that Schelling provides more resources to contemporary biology than Kant does, and that Schelling can be thought of as an 'organicist' 🌱🐋 @ishpssb2025.bsky.social
- Christoph Hueck summarizing how Aristotle can help us to illuminate the blind spot faced when cognizing life here on the last day of @ishpssb2025.bsky.social! 🐋🌱
- Reposted by Greg Rupikwe sympathise with philip's approach
- Polly Winsor—historian of biology extraordinaire and Emerita Professor of the University of Toronto's IHPST—is the winner of the ISHPSSB's 2025 Hull Prize, the society's highest honour! Polly is the *first Canadian* winner of the prize, and its second female recipient. 🇨🇦 🌱🐋 @ihpst-uoft.bsky.social
- Philip Ball, in the plenary address for @ishpssb2025.bsky.social, calls for a philosophy of biology connected to the lab bench talk of practicing scientists AND that keeps the beauty and uniqueness of organisms in view. I'm on board! @philipcball.bsky.social
- The KLI is a wonderful place with wonderful people! Glad to have reconnected in Porto with Lumila, Flavia, Alejandro, and Christina! 🍷 🐋🌱
- Walked around Porto this morning and interacted with some "Intertidal Ontology." #ISHPSSB2025
- Denis Walsh defending a Lewontin-inspired "Intertidal Ontology,"concluding a fascinating @ishpssb2025.bsky.social session entitled "Dialectical Biology Today: Legacies of Richard Lewontin, the Triple Helix, and Marxist Science." Great presentations from Stuart Newman and Chair Jonathan Basile. 🐋🌱
- The "Toronto Statement" Celebrating Evelyn Fox Keller may be of interest to folks at @ishpssb2025.bsky.social. As Greg Radick mentioned yesterday, we learned of Keller's death at this meeting in Toronto, and participants felt inspired and compelled to draft this text rosa.uniroma1.it/rosa04/organ...
- A great way to start the morning with a double-session on "Evelyn Fox Keller’s Legacy in History and Philosophy of Biology and Gender and Science Studies." Chair Francesca Merlin, here, discussing that legacy with Angela N. H. Creager, Greg Radick, & Snaït B. Gissis. 🐋🌱 @ishpssb2025.bsky.social
- Denis Walsh defending a Lewontin-inspired "Intertidal Ontology,"concluding a fascinating @ishpssb2025.bsky.social session entitled "Dialectical Biology Today: Legacies of Richard Lewontin, the Triple Helix, and Marxist Science." Great presentations from Stuart Newman and Chair Jonathan Basile. 🐋🌱
- Fake news! Hegel is mentioned only ONCE in the entire book! The author clearly modified the title to market to Wealthy Hegelians. Replacing Herder in the title of his own book was NOT a terrible, embarassing mistake.
- Surprised and delighted to learn that the paperback version of my book, "Remapping Biology with Goethe, Schelling, and Hegel: Romanticizing Evolution" is available for pre-order! It's (finally) at an accesisble price point, so please check it out: www.routledge.com/Remapping-Bi...
- Surprised and delighted to learn that the paperback version of my book, "Remapping Biology with Goethe, Schelling, and Hegel: Romanticizing Evolution" is available for pre-order! It's (finally) at an accesisble price point, so please check it out: www.routledge.com/Remapping-Bi...
- Can't believe I typed Hegel and not Herder 🤦♂️
- Starting session #2 on Evelyn Fox Keller's legacy with Helen Longino inquiring whether Keller had a formulated philosophy of nature. Thierry Hoquet, Maria Kronfeldner, and Chair Francesca Merlin also contributing to the session here at @ishpssb2025.bsky.social. #ISHPSSB2025 🌱🐋
