I am a Philosophy Lecturer in the Department of Social and Political Sciences, Philosophy and Anthropology (SPSPA) at the University of Exeter, UK. I completed my PhD in 2015 at the University of Otago in New Zealand, focusing on the scientific methodology of Isaac Newton. Before moving to Exeter, I spent two years as an Assistant Professor in the Philosophy Department at the University of Nottingham (2016-2018).
― ABOUT ME
― MY RESEARCH
― MY PROFESSIONAL SERVICE
― OTHER INFO
I work on early modern science, using the methods of Integrated History and Philosophy of Science (iHPS) and Philosophy of Science in Practice (PSP) to study the work of Isaac Newton and the early Royal Society.
I completed my PhD as part of a team studying the emergence of experimental philosophy in the early modern period. I made regular contributions to the project blog, ‘Early Modern Experimental Philosophy’ (from 2011 to 2020).
I am currently an Associate Editor for the journal Studies in History and Philosophy of Science (since July 2023), Honorary Secretary of the BSPS (British Society for the Philosophy of Science) (since July 2023), and I serve on the Steering Committee for BSPS Open (the open access monograph series run by the BSPS) (since January 2020).
Previously, I served on the HOPOS (International Society for the History of Philosophy of Science) Steering Committee (January 2022 to December 2024), the HOPOS Programme Committee (December 2020 to April 2022), and on the BSPS Committee as an Ordinary Member (August 2019 to June 2023).
I grew up in Melbourne, Australia and have studied and taught at the Universities of Melbourne, Otago, Sydney, Bucharest, Calgary and Nottingham. I have also been a visiting scholar at Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Australian National University and University of Cambridge.
My partner, Adrian Currie, is also a philosopher.
In my spare time, I compete in HYROX Competitions.
News
― RECENT PUBLICATIONS
Forthcoming, ‘Aesthetics and Agency in Experiments’, Australasian Journal of Philosophy (with Alice Murphy & Adrian Currie—equal contributions)
Forthcoming, ‘Philosophy of Science in the Archive’, in Adrian Currie and Sophie Veigl (eds.), Methods in Philosophy of Science, MIT Press (with Karoliina Pulkkinen—equal contributions).
2025, ‘Definitions, Axioms and Newton’s Proofs by Experiments’, in Peter R. Anstey and David Bronstein (eds.), Definition and Essence from Aristotle to Kant, Routledge.
― PROJECT
History and Philosophy of the Archive
British Academy Small Grant, University of Exeter (2023-2025)
It is historians, you might think, who are responsible for telling history. That is, the historian determines what happened, what mattered and why. But the historian relies on a lesser-known figure: the archivist. Not every text can be preserved, stored, catalogued and made available. And it is the archivist’s job to decide which texts make the cut and which are lost. ‘History and Philosophy of the Archive’ examines how archival practices make and shape history, particularly the history of science, from a philosophical and historical perspective. Through the examination of two cases of archival curation (notes and records of the early Royal Society and the Portsmouth collection of Newton’s papers at the Cambridge University Library), we consider the relationship between the history of science and archival practice.
― PAPERS
2020, ‘Review of Miller, Laura. Reading Popular Newtonianism: Print, the Principia, and the Dissemination of Newtonian Science’, H-Albion, H-Net Reviews. July, 2020.
2015, Review: ‘The Unknown Newton’, Society and Politics 9 (2), 86-88.
― REVIEWS
Forthcoming, ‘Aesthetics and Agency in Experiments’, Australasian Journal of Philosophy (with Alice Murphy & Adrian Currie—equal contributions)
Forthcoming, ‘Philosophy of Science in the Archive’, in Adrian Currie and Sophie Veigl (eds.), Methods in Philosophy of Science, MIT Press (with Karoliina Pulkkinen—equal contributions).
2025, ‘Definitions, Axioms and Newton’s Proofs by Experiments’, in Peter R. Anstey and David Bronstein (eds.), Definition and Essence from Aristotle to Kant, Routledge.
2022, ‘Experimental Philosophy: an Introduction’, in D. Jalobeanu, C. T. Wolfe (eds.) Encyclopedia of Early Modern Philosophy and the Sciences, Springer, 1-8.
2019, ‘Newton’s Scaffolding: the instrumental roles of his optical hypotheses’, in Albert Vanzo and Peter Anstey (eds.) Experiment, Speculation and Religion in Early Modern Philosophy, Routledge, 125-157.
2019, ‘Frameworks for Historians’, HOPOS 9, 1-34 (With Adrian Currie—equal contributions)
2018, ‘Newton on Islandworld: Ontic-Driven Explanations of Scientific Method’, Perspectives on Science 26, 119-156. (With Adrian Currie—equal contributions)
2017, ‘Newton: from certainty to probability?’, Philosophy of Science 84, 866-878.
2017, ‘How Many Colours?’, in Marcos Silva (ed.) How Colours Matter for Philosophy, Springer, 47-71
2017, ‘Principles in Newton’s Natural Philosophy’, in Peter Anstey (ed.) The Idea of Principles in Early Modern Thought: Interdisciplinary Perspectives. Routledge, New York.
2015, 'Caricatures, Myths & White-Lies', Metaphilosophy 46 (3), 414-435. (With Adrian Currie—equal contributions)
2012, ‘Did Newton Feign the Corpuscular Hypothesis?’, in James Maclaurin (ed.) Rationis Defensor. Springer, 97-110.
― recent talks
January 2025: "Certainty, Experience and Newton’s Proof by Experiments" RENEW18, (Brussels, Belgium)
November 2024: “Fertile Frameworks and Newton’s Experiments” PSA (New Orleans, USA)
October 2024: ‘"by Nature’s hand alone”: Lessons from early modern oeconomy of nature’ Perspectives on Integral Ecology (Bogota, Columbia)
May 2024: “‘Let others try the experiment, and judge’: The role of enactment in early modern experimental philosophy” Embodiment, Experience, Enculturation: A joint Philosophy conference between the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) and the University of Exeter (Exeter, UK)
March 2024: “Fertile Concepts and Newton’s Experiments”, Fertile Uncertainties Workshop (Milan, Italy)
November 2023: “Situated Cognition in Early Modern Experimentation: the Case of Compelled Assent” Axioms, Hypotheses, Common Notions Conference (Oxford, UK)
September 2023: “Certainty, Experience and Newton’s Proof by Experiments” L’incertitude de la connaissance : de la certitude de la connaissance à la connaissance de l’incertain, l’émergence d’un nouveau paradigme épistémologique ? (XVIIe - XXe) (Paris, France)
June 2023: “Mechanisms and Processes” Reconciling Mechanism and Processualism (Exeter, UK)
June 2023: “The Philosophy of History Meets Archival Practice” Information Science Perspectives to Documenting Processes and Practices (Uppsala, Sweden) (with Adrian Currie)
June 2022: “Speculation and Newton’s Experimental Philosophy” ‘Dutch Seminar for Early Modern Philosophy’ (Groningen, Netherlands)
― UPCOMING TALKS
October 2025: "Analogies as Scaffolding in Newton's Optical Experiments" Analogies in Modern Science and Philosophy: Theory and Practice (Leuven, Belgium)
June 2025: "Action at a Distance: Reflections on the History of Women in Science" Women Writing Natural Philosophy in Early Modern Europe: Spaces and Exchanges (Exeter, UK)
April 2025: "Situated Science & Experimental Distance" CSS Colloquium (Aarhus, Denmark) (With Adrian Currie)
― RECORDED TALKS
January 2025, 'Proof by Experiments in Newton's Opticks', RENEW18 Open research seminar (Brussels, Belgium).
June 2017, 'Newton's Epistemic Triad', The Philosophy of Howard Stein, and Its Contemporary Interest (Chicago, US).
November 2015, 'Newton as a Modeller', CELFIS Seminar (Bucharest, Romania)
April 2024: Kirsten Walsh on 'Rethinking Isaac Newton through his Archive', The HPS Podcast, S3 Ep 6
July 2019: “Revolutions & Trust in Science”, ABC Radio (NSW, Australia)
January 2013: ‘Isaac Newton’: Postgrad Rush Hour, Radio One (Dunedin, NZ)
January 2025: "Knowing Things" Philosophy on Tap (Exeter, UK)
February 2023: “Caricatures, Myths & White Lies” Philosophy on Tap (Exeter, UK)
February 2022: “Action at a Distance: Lessons from the History of Women in Science” Joint event, Minorities and Philosophy (MAP) and Philosophy on Tap (Exeter, UK)
November 2021: “Action at a Distance: Lessons from the History of Women in Science” Apeiron Society (Calgary, Canada)
January 2020: “Was Newton Gay? Or, why do we care about the private lives of public figures?” Philosophy and Wine Seminar Series (Exeter, UK)
January 2019: “The Philosophical & The Vulgar: Theology and Science in Newton” Philosophy Society Seminar Series (Exeter, UK)
May 2018: ‘Reason’, The Forum for Philosophy (London, UK).
February 2018: “Newton’s Theory of Colour: ROYGBIV and Harmonics” ‘The Future of Light Art’ (Karlsruhe, Germany)
April 2016: ‘The Philosophical & The Vulgar: Theology and Science in Newton’, Apeiron Society for the Practice of Philosophy (Calgary, Canada).
― RADIO & PODCASTS
― PUBLIC LECTURES
I am a keen amateur athlete and represent University of Exeter Sports at HYROX fitness events all over the world.
HYROX combines both running & functional workout stations, where participants run 1km, followed by 1 functional workout station, repeated eight times. The race format remains consistent across the globe, and races are hosted in huge exhibition centres around the world.
My HYROX Adventures
I live with a small black cat named Misty. You can read about her experiences of living with two philosophers on Instagram as The ShadowFang Chronicles.
