Lynn Chiu, Philosophy of Biology

I'm a philosopher affiliated with the ImmunoConcept Lab of University of Bordeaux/CNRS, France, currently situated in Vienna, Austria. I am interested in scientifically and socially impactful philosophy of science.

I work on problems of ecological individuality in the biological and psychological sciences. My approach is conceptual and analytic, generated from interdisciplinary collaborations with developmental biologists, physiologists, and perceptual scientists.

Employment & Fellowships:

  • Affiliated Researcher. University of Bordeaux. 2018-
  • Postdoc. University of Bordeaux/CNRS under Thomas Pradeu's ERC-IDEM. 2015 - 2018.
  • Dissertation Writing-up Fellow. KLI Institute for Evolution and Cognition Research. 2013.

Education:

  • Ph.D./M.A. Philosophy, University of Missouri. 2009 - 2015.
  • Visiting Ph.D. Theoretical Biology, University of Vienna. 2014.
  • M. S. Psychology, National Taiwan University. 2006 - 2009.
  • B. S. Life Sciences, National Yang Ming University. 2002 - 2006.

Areas of Specialization:

  • Philosophy of Biology
  • Philosophy of Science
  • Philosophy of Cognitive Science

Areas of Competence: Philosophy of Mind, Logic & Critical Thinking, Bioethics, Indian Philosophy

Languages: English (native), Mandarin (native), French (beginner), German (beginner)

Other Languages: Python, Netlogo, Perl

Emails: lchiu@immuconcept.org, chiulynnc@gmail.com

Twitter: @drlynnchiu

Publications:

  1. Chiu & Gilbert (2015) The birth of the holobiont: Multi-species birthing through mutual scaffolding and niche construction. Biosemiotics 8: 191. (publisher link)
  2. Chiu & Eberl (2016) Microorganisms as scaffolds of host individuality: an eco-immunity account of the holobiont. Biol Philos 31: 819 (publisher link)
  3. Chiu et al. (2017) Protective Microbiota: From Localized to Long-Reaching Co-Immunity. Front. Immunol. (publisher link) [download pdf]
  4. Laurent, ... Chiu, ...,et al. (2017) Immune-mediated repair: A matter of plasticity. Front. Immunol. 8:454. (publisher link) [download pdf]
  5. Chiu (forthcoming) Decoupling, Commingling, and the Evolutionary Significance of Experiential Niche Construction in "Evolutionary Causation: Biological and Philosophical Reflections" eds Uller, T. and Laland, K. ( Vienna Series in Theoretical Biology, MIT Press)
  6. Chiu & Pradeu (under review) Extending Organisms

Awards:

  • 2017 ISHPSSB Callebaut Prize for Interdisciplinarity
  • 2015 Biosemiotic Achievement Award for the Year 2015 (with Scott Gilbert)
  • 2010 Association for the Scientific Studies of Consciousness Poster Prize (Philosophy Category)