Paul M. Näger

I am a philosopher with a background in physics and programming working at the intersection between philosophy, contemporary sciences and AI methods.

Central themes of my research are an appropriate view of matter as suggested by quantum theory, the correct principles of how to infer causation from data (including principles suitable for machine learning), an ontological model of our world’s part-whole structure that is based on scientific findings, and how to improve philosophical research by applying large language models.

More generally, I am interested in epistemological issues of scientific methodology as well as in metaphysical consequences of accepted scientific results. I pursue a modest form of metaphysics, which is informed by science and well aware of the epistemic limits of human enquiry. Where appropriate, I appreciate the assistance of formal methods in answering philosophical questions.

As a trained physicist, my main source of scientific evidence has been foundational physical theories, especially quantum theory and relativity, but I am also interested in complex systems such as humans or other organisms as treated by biophysics or neuroscience. Occasionally I peak into social sciences or psychology.

Recently I have become engaged in applying methods of data science and machine learning to the humanities as well as ethical considerations to machine learning. I have hosted a group on “Text analysis with large language models” at the Center for Digital Humanities of the University of Münster.