Kei Yoshida, Ph.D.

Current Positions

April 2022–Present, Professor, Faculty of Social Sciences, Waseda University

Previous Positions

March 2022–March 2024, Visiting Scholar, Faculty of Liberal Arts and Professional Studies, York University, Canada

April 2017–March 2022, Associate Professor, Faculty of Social Sciences, Waseda University

September 2018–January 2019, Sessional Instructor, Integrated Human Sciences Program for Cultural Diversity (IHS), University of Tokyo

April 2016–March 2018, Sessional Instructor, Integrated Human Sciences Program for Cultural Diversity (IHS), University of Tokyo

April 2015–March 2017, Assistant Professor, Faculty of Social Sciences, Waseda University

February 2014–March 2015, Project Lecturer, Integrated Human Sciences Program for Cultural Diversity (IHS), University of Tokyo

December 2013–February 2014, Research Fellow, Integrated Human Sciences Program for Cultural Diversity (IHS), University of Tokyo

December 2012–March 2013, Research Fellow, Department of Biomedical Ethics, Graduate School of Medicine, University of Tokyo

April 2012–September 2014, Sessional Instructor of Moral Philosophy, Department of Education, Rikkyo University [Half-term Only]

April 2011–March 2012, Project Lecturer, University of Tokyo Center for Philosophy (UTCP)

February 2011–March 2011, Visiting Scholar, Department of Philosophy, University of South Florida

April 2010–March 2015, Sessional Instructor of Logic, Department of Education, Tamagawa University

April 2009–September 2014, Sessional Instructor of Engineering Ethics, School of Engineering, Tokyo Denki University

October 2007–March 2011, Research Fellow, University of Tokyo Center for Philosophy (UTCP)

Areas of Specialization

Philosophy of Science, Philosophy of the Social Sciences

Areas of Competence

Political and Social Philosophy

Education

Ph.D. Philosophy, York University, Toronto, Canada (2005)

Dissertation: Towards a Rational Philosophy of the Social Sciences: Interpretivism and the Rationality of Other Cultures

Supervisory committee members: Prof. Ian C. Jarvie (Supervisor), Prof. Jagdish N. Hattiangadi, and Prof. H. Thomas Wilson

M.A. Philosophy, Sophia University, Tokyo, Japan (1999)

Master thesis: Rationalism or Relativism? From a Non-justificational Point of View

B.A. Humanities, International Christian University, Tokyo, Japan (1997)

Bachelor thesis: Modern and Postmodern Problems in Design

Publications

Single-Authored Books

Philosophy of the Social Sciences: An Introduction. Tokyo: Keiso Shobo, 2021 (in Japanese).

Rationality and Cultural Interpretivism: A Critical Assessment of Failed Solutions. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books, 2014.

Journal Articles

“What are the social sciences? For those who study at the School of Social Sciences,” Waseda Studies in Social Sciences 19 (1): 69–82, 2022 (in Japanese).

"Re-politicising philosophy of science: A continuing challenge for social epistemology," Social Epistemology 26 (3–4): 365–378, 2012. (invited to the 25th anniversary special issue).

Reprinted in On twenty-five years of social epistemology: A way forward, edited by James H. Collier. London: Routledge, 2013.

Alexander Bird and James Ladyman's response: Bird, Alexander, and James Ladyman. "Free Inquiry: The Haldane Principle and the Significance of Scientific Research," Social Epistemology Review and Reply Collective 2 (7): 14–22, 2013.

"Defending scientific study of the social: Against Clifford Geertz (and his critics)," Philosophy of the Social Sciences 37 (3): 289–314, 2007.

"Is 'epistemology naturalized' possible? A methodological criticism," Tetsugaku-Ronshu (The Proceedings of the Philosophical Society, Sophia University) 30: 83–103, 2001 (in Japanese).

"Irrational rationalism? A reply to Feyerabend," Popper Letters 11 (1): 5–16, 1999 (in Japanese).

Book Chapters

"Clarifying institutions in institutional individualism," The Palgrave Handbook of Methodological Individualism, edited by Nathalie Bulle and Francesco Di Iorio. Cham, Switzerland: Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 1, 457-484, 2023.

"On the reducibility of psychology: Taking a cue from the debate between Fodor and Kim," Approaches to the Welfare Society: In Honor of Professor Junichi Hisatsuka's 70th Birthday, edited by Hiroshi Osone, Shinjiro Morita, Megumi Kanagawa, and Hirofumi Konishi. Tokyo: Seibundoh, vol. 2, 655–671, 2019 (in Japanese).

"Jarvie on rationality and cultural relativism," The Impact of Critical Rationalism: Expanding the Popperian Legacy through the Works of Ian C. Jarvie, edited by Raphael Sassower and Nathaniel Laor. Cham, Switzerland: Palgrave Macmillan, 145–158, 2019.

"Overcoming cultural relativism: With a reference to the debate about a distinction between moral and conventional rules," Moral Psychology: Ethics Investigated from the Mind and Behavior, edited by Koji Ota. Tokyo: Shunjusha, 413–439, 2016 (in Japanese)

"What kind of relationship does economics have with neuroscience? A perspective from the philosophy of science," Does Economics Need the Brain and the Mind? edited by Toshiji Kawagoe. Tokyo: Kawade Shobo Shinsha, 85–104, 2013 (in Japanese).

"A neuroeconomic approach to pathological gambling," Ethics and Society in the Age of Neuroscience, edited by UTCP Program in Brain Sciences and Ethics. UTCP Booklet 15. Tokyo: University of Tokyo Center for Philosophy, 87–107, 2010 (in Japanese).

"Cognitive enhancement and fairness," Enhancement, Society, Humanity. UTCP Booklet 8. Tokyo: University of Tokyo Center for Philosophy, 25–37, 2009 (in Japanese). 

"Comparing and explaining different cultures: The case of Captain Cook," Utopia: Here and There. UTCP Booklet 4. Tokyo: University of Tokyo Center for Philosophy, 53–64, 2008.

"Rationality and other cultures," Science, vol. 3 of Karl Popper: A Centenary Assessment, edited by Ian C. Jarvie, Karl Milford, and David Miller. Aldershot: Ashgate, 251–260, 2006.

Encyclopedia Entries, Review Essays, Reviews, and Other Articles

"Review of Unintended Consequences and the Social Sciences: An Intellectual History, by Lorenzo Infantino," Philosophy of the Social Sciences 54 (3): 245–

251, 2024.

"Philosophy of social sciences," The Wiley Blackwell Encyclopedia of Social Theory, edited by Bryan S. Turner, Chang Kyung-Sup, Cynthia Epstein, Peter Kivisto, William Outhwaite, and J. Michael Ryan. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley-Blackwell, 1737–1742, 2018.

"Neuroeconomics," Encyclopedia of Philosophy and the Social Sciences, edited by Byron Kaldis. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE, 662–663, 2013.

"Andrews on the social intelligence hypothesis," Proceedings of the CAPE International Workshops, 2012, edited by Hisashi Nakao. Kyoto: Center for Applied Philosophy and Ethics, 172–176, 2013.

"Sociology as a political project: Fuller's argument against bioliberalism," Philosophy of the Social Sciences 39 (1): 99–106, 2009. 

"The current state of philosophy of the social sciences," Newsletter of the Philosophy of Science Society, Japan 40: 3–5, 2008 (in Japanese).

"Review of Naturalistic Hermeneutics, by Chrysostomos Mantzavinos," Philosophy of the Social Sciences 37 (1): 108–112, 2007. 

"My paper reconsidered: A reply to Professor Tachibana," Popper Letters 12 (1): 43–44, 2000 (in Japanese).

Co-edited Journal Special Issues

Special Issue: Selected Papers from the 2021 Joint Conference of the Asian Network for the Philosophy of the Social Sciences, the European Network of the Philosophy of the Social Sciences, and the Philosophy of Social Science Roundtable, Hitotsubashi University, March 4–7, 2021. Philosophy of the Social Sciences 52 (1–2), 2022.

Guest Editor: Reiko Gotoh, Kei Yoshida, Chor-yung Cheung, Francesco Di Iorio, Paul Dumouchel, Mark Tamthai, Alban Bouvier, Byron Kaldis, Eleonora Montuschi, Julie Zahle, Jesús Zamora-Bonilla, David Henderson, Kareem Khalifa, Mark Risjord, Paul Roth, Deborah Tollefsen, and Stephen Turner.

Special Issue: Selected Papers from Asian Conference on the Philosophy of the Social Sciences, Nankai University, 1-2 June, 2019, Philosophy of the Social Sciences 50 (3), 2020.

Guest Editor: Chor-yung Cheung, Francesco Di Iorio, Paul Dumouchel, Reiko Gotoh, Mark Tamthai, and Kei Yoshida.

Presentations and Commentaries

"Two roots of institutional individualism: Karl Popper and Ernest Gellner," at Karl Popper and 21st Century Philosophy of Science, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, June 2024.

"Rationality and social institutions," at Rationality in the Transnational World: New Perspectives (10th Birthday Conference of the Collegium, Institute of Advanced Studies of Lyon), University of Lyon, April 2019 (Invited).

"Beyond naturalism and interpretivism," at Shanxi University Workshop on the Developmental Trend of the Philosophy of Social Sciences, Shanxi University, China, March 2018 (invited).

"Between Scylla and Charybdis: Investigating a possibility of the social sciences," at 7th Asia-Pacific Conference on Philosophy of Science, National Chung Cheng University, Taiwan, December 2017.

"A possibility of institutional individualism," at 2016 Philosophy of Social Science Roundtable, University of South Florida, United States, March 2016.

"An institutional turn of methodological individualism" (in Japanese), at Japan Public Choice Society, Meikai University, Japan, November 2015.

"What is so wrong with cultural interpretivism?" at 3rd Hitotsubashi Seminar on Philosophy and Social Thought, Hitotsubashi University, Tokyo, Japan, December 2014 (in Japanese; invited).

"Overcoming cultural relativism: From a debate on the moral/conventional distinction," at Nagoya Philosophy Forum, Nanzan University, Nagoya, Japan, September 2014 (in Japanese; invited).

"A skeptical commentary on Tamler Sommers's metaskepticism," at Kyoto Moral Psychology Workshop, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan, July 2014 (invited).

"Considering a future of philosophy of the social sciences," at Workshop on the Future of Philosophy of the Social Sciences and Engineering, Japan Association for Philosophy of Science, June 2014 (in Japanese; invited).

"Andrews on the social intelligence hypothesis," at CAPE Philosophy of Animal Minds Workshop, Center for Applied Philosophy and Ethics, Kyoto University, Japan, January 2013 (invited).

"The naturalization of economics: Its scope and limits," at Symposium on Considering the Naturalization of Economics, Chuo University, Japan, November 2012 (in Japanese; invited).

"Homo economicus and neuroeconomics: Between reason and emotions," at Extra Meeting, Japanese Association for the Contemporary and Applied Philosophy, Kyoto University, Japan, September 2011 (in Japanese).

"Homo economicus and neuroeconomics: Between reason and emotions," at 1st East Asian Philosophy of Science Workshop, Hanyang University, South Korea, July 2011 (invited).

Discussant, "Thomas Kuhn, Knowledge Management, and The Intellectual: A Fuller STS?" at 35th Annual Meeting of Society for Social Studies of Science, University of Tokyo, Japan, August 2010.

"How is social science possible after neuroscience?" at 35th Annual Meeting of Society for Social Studies of Science, University of Tokyo, Japan, August 2010.

"From 'Brain Sciences and Ethics' to 'Society, Technology, and Society': UTCP's new attempt," at Technology Assessment Seminar, University of Tokyo Center for Philosophy, Japan, May 2010 (in Japanese; report).

"Fuller on intellectuals," at Review Symposium on Steve Fuller, STS Network Japan, Japan, March 2010 (in Japanese; invited).

"A neuroeconomic approach to pathological gambling," at Brain Science and Ethics Workshop, Howard Florey Institutes, Australia, March 2010 (report).

"Neuroeconomics viewed from philosophy of the social sciences," at Virtual Center for Advanced Studies in Institution, Tokyo Foundation, December 2009 (in Japanese; invited).

"Addictive gambling as a neuroeconomic problem," at Philosophy of Science Society, Japan, Takachiho University, Japan, November 2009 (in Japanese).

"The missing link between evolution and human morality," at UTCP Seminar Series: Neil Levy, University of Tokyo Center for Philosophy, Japan, July 2009 (report). 

"Altruism, trust, strong reciprocity: Lessons from neuroeconomics

to philosophy of the social sciences," at 2009 Philosophy of Social Science Roundtable, Emory University, United States, March 2009 (report). 

"Moral Relativism, tolerance, fallibilism: A problem with Jesse J. Prinz," at UTCP Lecture Series: Jesse J. Prinz, University of Tokyo Center for Philosophy, Japan, July 2008 (report). 

"Comparing and explaining different cultures: The case of Captain James Cook," at Age of Comparison? New York University, United States, March 2008. 

"Altruistic behavior: Lessons from neuroeconomics," at UTCP Seminar Series: Thomas Metzinger with Stephan Schleim, University of Tokyo Center for Philosophy, Japan, February 2008 (report).

"Sociology as a political project: Fuller, bioliberalism, value-freedom," at Philosophy of Science Society, Japan, Chuo University, Japan, November 2007 (in Japanese; report). 

"Defending scientific study of the social: On Geertz's interpretive anthropology and evolutionary psychologists' criticism of it," at Society for Meta-theoretical Studies of Mind Science, Meiji University, Japan, July 2007 (in Japanese; invited). 

"Democracy and philosophy of science: Mirowski's challenge," at Philosophy of Science Society, Japan, Hokkaido University, Japan, October 2006 (in Japanese). 

"Philosophy of the social sciences today," at Department of Philosophy, Sophia University, Japan, December 2005 (in Japanese).

"Rationality and relativism: The case of Sahlins vs. Obeyesekere," at Canadian Society for the History and Philosophy of Science, University of Western Ontario, Canada, May 2005. 

"Problems with interpretivism: Problems, aims, and methods in the philosophy of the social sciences," at Philosophy: Problems, Aims, Responsibilities, University of Warwick, United Kingdom, September 2004.

"Interpretive anthropology, anti anti-relativism, and the SSSM: A plague on both houses," at The Sciences and Humanities in a Changing World, 1st Interdisciplinary Graduate School and Seminar, Lund University, Sweden, June 2004.

"Democracy in science: Or science in democracy," at The Republic of Science: A Conference in Honor of Ian Jarvie, York University, Canada, December 2003.

"Rationality and other cultures," at Karl Popper 2002: Centenary Congress, University of Vienna, Austria, July 2002.

"A defense of falsificationism," at Sophia University Philosophical Association, Japan, October 1998 (in Japanese).

Translations

Jagdish Hattiangadi, "Seijiteki kanyou no futatsu no gainen," Popper Letters 12 (2): 43–60, 2000 (Japanese translation of Jagdish Hattiangadi, "Two concepts of political tolerance," The Worst Enemy of Science? Essays in Memory of Paul Feyerabend, edited by J. Preston, G. Munevar, and D. Lamb. New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000, 125–147).

Editorial, refereeing, and organizational work

Managing Editor, Philosophy of the Social Sciences, July 2023-Present

Member of the Editorial Board, Social Epistemology, September 2020-Present

Editor, Philosophy of the Social Sciences, January 2019–Present

Member of the Steering Committee, Asian Network for the Philosophy of the Social Sciences (ANPOSS), February 2018–Present

Member of the Scientific Committee, European Network for the Philosophy of the Social Sciences (ENPOSS), March 2022-April 2022

Member of the Local Organizing Committee, Asian Network for the Philosophy of the Social Sciences, European Network for the Philosophy of the Social Sciences, and Philosophy of Social Science Roundtable 2021 Joint Conference, September 2020-March 2021

Member of the Scientific Committee, European Network for the Philosophy of the Social Sciences (ENPOSS), March 2020-April 2020

Journal assistant, Philosophy of the Social Sciences, May 2003–August 2005; May–August 2002 (mainly worked for the book review section)

Referee for Philosophy of the Social Sciences (18); Social Studies of Science (2); Karl Popper: A Centenary Assessment (2); Journal of Economic Methodology (1)

Chair of a session at Philosophy: Problems, Aims, Responsibilities, University of Warwick

Organizer, The Republic of Science: A Conference in Honor of Ian Jarvie, York University