Kerah Gordon-Solmon appreciates on summer in the Toronto Star
Kerah Gordon-Solmon published a fun piece about the pleasures of summer in the Toronto Star.
Kerah Gordon-Solmon published a fun piece about the pleasures of summer in the Toronto Star.
Postdoctoral Fellow
Philosophy
Arts & Science
Education
PhD in Philosophy (University of Western Ontario)
MA and BA in Philosophy (Queenâs University)
Research Interests
Philosophy of science, science policy, history of philosophy of science, environmental philosophy
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Jamie began a Postdoctoral Fellowship in Philosophy at Queenâs University in 2026 as a part of the SSHRC-funded project entitled âEpistemic Corruptionâ supervised by Professors Sergio Sismondo and Daryn Lehoux. Prior to this, he was a postdoc at Leibniz University, Hannover and at the Institute for the History and Philosophy of Science and Technology at the University of Toronto. His research primarily centers around science funding policy, engaging in questions relating to the use of peer review in evaluating research promise. This engagement is inspired by the pluralism advocated by Paul Feyerabend. Beyond this, his research draws upon historical research on figures such as Feyerabend, Thomas Kuhn, Arne Naess, and Michael Polanyi. His research also involved a perennial interest in environmental philosophy, with a focus on practices involving regenerative agriculture. His dissertation, A Pluralism Worth Having: Feyerabendâs Well-Ordered Science, was completed in 2018 at the University of Western Ontario under the supervision of Kathleen Okruhlik.
Publications
Edited Volumes
Tsou, J., Shaw, J. & Fehr, C. 2025. Values, Pluralism, and Pragmatism: Themes from the Work of Matthew J. Brown. Boston Studies in the Philosophy and History of Science.
Shaw, J. & Bschir, K. 2021. Interpreting Feyerabend: Critical Papers. Cambridge University Press.
Selected Peer-Reviewed Articles
Shaw, J. 2025. âFunding Big Science: Managing Diversity, Social Responsibility, and Limited Resources.â European Journal for the Philosophy of Science, 15(74).
Shaw, J. 2024. âBias, Lotteries, and Affirmative Action in Science Funding Policy.â British Journal for the Philosophy of Science.
Shaw, J. 2023. âPeer Review, Innovation, and Predicting the Future of Science: The Scope of Lotteries in Science Funding Policy.â Philosophy of Science, 90(5): 1297-1306.
Shaw, J. 2023. âPeer Review in Funding-by-Lottery: A Systematic Overview and Expansion.â Research Evaluation, 32(1): 86-100.
Shaw, J. 2022. âThere and Back Again: Revisiting Vannevar Bush, the Linear Model, and the Freedom of Science.â Research Policy, 51(10), 104610.
Shaw, J. 2022. âOn the Very Idea of Pursuitworthiness.â Studies in the History and Philosophy of Science, 19: 103-112.
Shaw, J. 2021. âFeyerabendâs Well-Ordered Science: How an Anarchist Distributes Funds.â Synthese, 68: 419-449.
Shaw, J. 2017. âWas Feyerabend an Anarchist? The Structure(s) of âAnything Goesâ.â Studies in History and Philosophy of Science, Part A, 64: 11-21.
Selected Book Chapters
Shaw, J. 2026. âThe Values of Science Funding Institutionsâ in K. Elliott & T. Richards (eds.). The Routledge Handbook of Values in Science. New York: Routledge, pp. 281-293.
Shaw, J. 2025. âThe Limits of Ethical Pluralism: Mill, Feyerabend, and Experiments of Livingâ in J. Tsou, J. Shaw, & C. Fehr (eds.), Values, Pluralism, and Pragmatism: Themes from the Work of Matthew J. Brown. Boston Studies in the History and Philosophy of Science, pp. 23â44
Shaw, J. 2025. âFunding Priorities and Climate Change: Lessons from Agriculture and Action-Oriented Scienceâ in D. Maier, J. Donahuser, & M. Weber (eds.), Disruptive Innovations and the Environmental Crisis: Ethical, Practical, and Sociopolitical Concerns. Routledge Press, pp. 144â165.
Shaw, J. 2024. âThe Impact of Science Funding Policy on Kuhnâs Structure of Scientific Revolutionsâ, in K. B. Wray (ed.). Structure of Scientific Revolutions at 60. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 37-52.
Desjardins, E., Shaw, J., Barker, G., Bzovy, J. 2019. âGeofunctions, Pluralism, and Environmental Managementâ, in T. DesRoches, B. Williston, & F. Jankunis (eds.) From the North of 49: New Perspectives in Canadian Environmental Philosophy. Montreal: McGill-Queenâs University Press, pp. 234-264.
Popular Articles
Shaw, J. 2025. âThe High Priests of Science are Holding it Hostage.â IAI News. https://iai.tv/articles/the-high-priests-of-science-are-holding-it-hostage-auid-3250?_auid=2020
Kerah Gordon-Solmon published two papers in moral philosophy, both with open access:
"The Curious Case of Secondary Permissibility" in Ergo
"Blaming Oneself for Wronging Oneself" in Analysis
AI/Technology Policy:
AI/Technology Policy: