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) Ancestry and human population genomics and (2) Causation in biology
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.
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.
PUBLICATIONS
⏤ Haddad, Yasmin. 2024. "Demystifying Downward Causation in Biology". Forthcoming in Journal for General Philosophy of Science.
⏤ Haddad, Yasmin. 2024. "The Scope of Reciprocal Causation". Forthcoming in Philosophy, Theory, and Practice in Biology.
⏤ 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.
UNDER REVIEW
⏤ Haddad, Y. and Neto, C. Values in Genomics. The Routledge Handbook of Values and Science.
⏤ Haddad, Y. (Revise & Resubmit) The Value-Ladenness of Population Descriptors.
IN PREPARATION
⏤ Haddad, Y. Measuring Ancestry.
⏤ Haddad, Y. Neto, C. Value Trade-offs and Alignments. A Case from Genomics.
⏤ Haddad, Y. Doolittle, F. Reciprocal Causation: Reviving Mayr's Proximate/Ultimate Distinction.
⏤ The Unbearable Lightness of Intervening: A Realist Metaphysics for Manipulability Theories of Causation (with Caleb Hazelwood)
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).