Paul M. Näger

I am an assistant professor in philosophy at the University of Münster working at the intersection between philosophy and contemporary sciences.

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) and an ontological model of our world’s part-whole structure that is based on scientific findings.

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.

Being also 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 host a group on “Text analysis with large language models” at the Center for Digital Humanities Münster.