Upcoming Lecture: "Causes Don't Push" by Professor Angela Potochnik
Join us for the Lynne and James Spellman Lecture in the History of Science, featuring Dr. Angela Potochnik, professor of philosophy, head of the Philosophy Department and founding director of the Center for Public Engagement with Science at the University of Cincinnati.
The lecture, titled "Causes Don't Push," will take place on Friday, Oct. 2, 2026, from 3-5 p.m. in the Graduate Education Auditorium (GRAD 163).
Lecture Overview
Complex systems approaches have proved useful across a wide range of scientific fields. In "Causes Don't Push," Potochnik explores what these approaches can teach us about one of the most fundamental concepts in science and philosophy: causation.
Philosophical accounts of causation—including both physical and counterfactual approaches—often assume that causation can be understood as an isolated, direct influence from one thing to another. Potochnik argues that this picture, which she calls "billiard-ball causation," can be deeply misleading.
Instead, she proposes a conception of causation that takes seriously the complexity and interconnectedness revealed by contemporary scientific practices. She describes this alternative as a "causal mesh," in which causal relationships are understood within broader systems of interaction rather than as isolated instances of one thing directly pushing or producing another.
Drawing on complex systems methods, as well as the uses and limitations of experimental practices and modeling techniques, Potochnik examines how this shift in our understanding of causation can clarify important features of scientific inquiry. It also offers a way of addressing philosophical puzzles about causation, particularly challenges that have emerged for the influential interventionist conception of causation.
The lecture promises to connect contemporary philosophy of science with questions about scientific methodology, modeling, experimentation and the nature of causal explanation.
About Professor Angela Potochnik: Potochnik is professor of philosophy, head of the Philosophy Department and founding director of the Center for Public Engagement with Science at the University of Cincinnati. Her research addresses the nature of science and its successes, the relationships between science and the public, and methods in science, especially biology.
Potochnik is the author of Idealization and the Aims of Science (2017) and Science and the Public (2024). She is also coauthor of Recipes for Science: An Introduction to Scientific Methods and Reasoning (2018; 2nd ed. 2024) and Public Engagement with Science: Defining the Project (2025).
She earned her Ph.D. from Stanford University in 2007. Her scholarship brings philosophical analysis to questions about scientific methods, explanation, modeling, idealization and the ways scientific knowledge is developed and communicated.
Through her leadership of the Center for Public Engagement with Science, Potochnik also works to strengthen relationships between science and the public. Her work examines not only how scientific knowledge is produced, but also how scientific practices and findings can be meaningfully connected with broader communities.
About the Lecture Series: The Lynne and James Spellman Lecture in the History of Science was endowed by Lynne Spellman, Professor Emerita and former chair of the Department of Philosophy at the U of A, and her husband, Jim, with the intent of promoting interest in the sciences.
We invite all students, faculty and members of the community to attend this year's lecture and to join us for an engaging exploration of causation, complex systems, and the ways scientists understand relationships within the world they study.
Event Details
Event: Lynne and James Spellman Lecture in the History of Science
Lecture: "Causes Don't Push"
Speaker: Dr. Angela Potochnik, professor of philosophy, University of Cincinnati
Date: Friday, Oct. 2, 2026
Time: 3-5 p.m.
Location: Graduate Education Auditorium (GRAD 163)
We look forward to welcoming Potochnik to campus for the 2026 Spellman Lecture in the History of Science.
Contacts
Christy Wear,
Department of Philosophy
479-575-4174, cswear@uark.edu