José Antonio Pérez Escobar

José Antonio Pérez Escobar receiving ETH medal for outstanding doctoral theses

José Antonio Pérez Escobar was a PhD student at the Chair of History and Philosophy of Mathematical Sciences from 2017 until 2021. His dissertation Explanations in biology: teleology, mathematics and scientific practice surveys the role of teleological explanations in biology and their interactions with the mathematization of this discipline (specifically mathematical modelling and “distinctively mathematical explanations”). This work has led to several publications and a book project under contract with Springer’s Synthese Library. In addition, José was awarded the Medal of ETH Zurich for his dissertation (see picture).

In parallel, José worked on Wittgenstein’s philosophy of mathematics, the pure/applied distinction in mathematics and several psychology projects, all leading to further publications in prestigious journals. He also lectured on Wittgenstein’s philosophy of mathematics and philosophy of psychiatry during his time at the chair.

After leaving the chair, he became a postdoctoral researcher with two projects granted by the Swiss National Science Foundation: “Mathematizing biology: measurement, intuitions, explanations and big data” (École Normale Supérieure Paris, 2022-2023) and “Mathematical models and normativity in biology and psychology: descriptions, or rules of description?” (University of Geneva, 2024).