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Early Work
The University of Pittsburgh awarded Cartwright a BSc in mathematics, and the University of Illinois in Chicago awarded her a PhD in philosophy. Her dissertation focused on the quantum mechanical idea of mixing. Her early work was in physics philosophy at Stanford University, where she taught for 18 years before moving to the UK. She had teaching positions at the University of Maryland, Stanford University, and the London School of Economics. -
Cartwright's Philosophy
Nancy Cartwright's philosophy of science is based on Neurath and Mill's empiricism, not Hume or Carnap's. She is interested in how science succeeds and what philosophical and epistemological presuppositions are needed to comprehend that success. Cartwright, like many practicing scientists, adopts a pragmatic/realist approach to scientific and engineering findings and operations, particularly their causation. -
Cartwright's Philosophy (Cont.)
Scientists trigger an inverted population to lase when cable contaminants cause signal loss. Given these starting conditions, causation singular or generic is skepticism. Cartwright rethinks empiricism based on the evident importance of causation in science. The reconfiguration process challenges several scientific tenets, including the fundamentality of laws of nature. -
Where She is Now
Professor of Philosophy at Durham University and Distinguished Professor at UC San Diego, Nancy Cartwright FBA FAcSS (UCSD). She co-directs Durham's Centre for Humanities Engaging Science and Society. At Stanford University, she specialized in philosophy of the natural sciences, especially physics. At the London School of Economics and now Durham and UCSD, she specializes in philosophy and methodology of the social sciences. She studies objectivity and evidence for evidence-based policy.