RESEARCH
I am a philosopher of science, with special interests in the philosophy of biology and in data ethics. I am especially interested in how empirical practices can be assessed and evaluated from a philosophical perspective. Correspondingly, I explore two main areas of research (1) Causation in Biology and (2) Ancestry and Human Genomics.
CAUSATION IN BIOLOGY
I am interested in investigating what biologists mean when they talk about causes. From a philosophical perspective, causation is often studied from a metaphysical perspective. In scientific practice, however, some causal claims and causal explanations seem to be at odds with how philosophers tend to think about causes. I am interested in providing a philosophical analysis of how scientists appeal to causes in their research programs. I have done so by providing an epistemic assessment of notions such as downward causation and reciprocal causation in evolutionary developmental explanations.
ANCESTRY AND HUMAN GENOMICS
In this project, I assess scientific practices in human genomics from within. I am especially interested in how 'genetic ancestry' is a category used to cluster and label human groups. I have been intrigued by how 'genetic ancestry' is a complex construct and how it has consequences to our understanding of human genetic diversity. Moreover, I assess how clustering human genomic data according to ancestry raises ethical questions.
PUBLICATIONS
⏤ Haddad, Yasmin. 2023. “The Epistemic Harms of Direct-to-Consumer Genetic Tests.” Medicine, Health Care and Philosophy. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11019-023-10164-w.
⏤ Longino, H., Haddad, Y., Bueno Arbo., J and Silva Soares., M. 2021. “Filosofia da ciência e epistemologias feministas: entrevista com Helen Longino.” Em Construção, no. 10 (November). https://doi.org/10.12957/emconstrucao.2021.62842.
⏤ Haddad, Yasmin. 2016. “Previsão e Passagem: Considerações sobre a Causalidade em A Evolução Criadora.” ANALÓGOS 16 (1). https://doi.org/10.17771/PUCRio.ANA.28210.
UNDER REVIEW
IN PREPARATION
⏤ Haddad, Y. The Scope of Reciprocal Causation.
⏤ Haddad, Y. Demystifying Downward Causation in Biology.
⏤ Haddad, Y. The Value-Ladenness of Population Descriptors.
⏤ The Unbearable Lightness of Intervening: A Realist Metaphysics for Manipulability Theories of Causation (with Caleb Hazelwood)
⏤ A paper on reciprocal causation and the proximate/ultimate distinction.
TRANSLATIONS
⏤ De Laclos, Choderlos. 2019. “Da Educação Das Mulheres.” In Arqueofeminismo: Mulheres Filósofas e Filósofos Feministas Do Século XVII-XVIII, edited by Maxime Rovere, translated by Yasmin Haddad. São Paulo: n-1 edições.
⏤ Poullain De La Barre, François. 2019. “Da Igualdade Entre Os Dois Sexos, Discurso Físico e Moral, Onde Vemos a Importância de Se Desfazer Dos Preconceitos.” In Arqueofeminismo: Mulheres Filósofas e Filósofos Feministas Do Século XVII-XVIII, edited by Maxime Rovere, translated by Yasmin Haddad. São Paulo: n-1 edições.
⏤ Ravaisson, Félix. 2018. “Do Hábito.” Translated by Yasmin Haddad. Revista Ideação 1 (37).
SELECTED TALKS
2023
⏤ The Value Ladenness of Population Descriptors, CLMPST (Buenos Aires, Argentina)
⏤ The Scope of Reciprocal Causation, ISHPSSB Conference (Toronto, Canada)
⏤The Value-Ladenness of Population Descriptors, University of Exeter (Exter, UK), Egenis - Colloquium Series.
2022
⏤The Scope of Reciprocal Causation, Halifax Workshop in Philosophy of Biology, Dalhousie University, Halifax.
⏤Demystifying Downward Causation in Biology, Causation in the Life Sciences Conference, University of Kent, UK.
2021
⏤Demystifying Downward Causation in Biology (ISHPSSB - International Society for the History, Philosophy and Social Studies of Biology)
2020
⏤Downward Causation in Biology: a Philosophical Account, Redpath Museum (Redpath Seminar Series)
2019
⏤Emergence and Novelty in Evolutionary Biology, Canadian Society for the History and Philosophy of Science (CSHPS), University of British Columbia, Vancouver.
⏤Emergence and Evolutionary Novelties: towards and explanation in Philosophy of Biology, Canadian Philosophical Association (CPA), University of British Columbia, Vancouver.
⏤Emergence and Novelty in Evolutionary Biology, McGill Workshop Series