Martin Zach

Bordeaux Summer School – Philosophy in Biology & Medicine (1–5 June 2026)

Join us in collaboratively exploring the conceptual foundations of scientific research at the crossroads of philosophy, biology and medicine!

Apply by March 15
More information: bss-philinbiomed.u-bordeaux.fr/en/

Jokes on us. #philosophy

Veřejná diskuse: 🧐 Co je a není podle laiků filosofie, kdo se může označovat za filosofa a jakou roli tato disciplína hraje v očích běžné veřejnosti?

Rezervovace místa: bit.ly/TAV2025

On representation and similarity: The case of mouse models of cancer According to the similarity account, scientists use models to represent their targets by utilizing similarities in certain respects and to certain deg…

Happy to see this one published. From interest in the topic in 2017 to first presentation in 2018, draft in 2021 and submitting in 2022. #philsci
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

I am glad to have hosted Shimon Sakaguchi in Prague last year. I expect he's going to be a very busy man very soon. 🙂

Advancing cancer research via comparative oncology Nature Reviews Cancer - Comparative oncology combines evolutionary biology, ecology, veterinary medicine and clinical oncology to better understand cancer, for example, by identifying the molecular...

New paper out! rdcu.be/etKdN Experts in #cancer across the tree of life and philosophers of science teamed up to explore how comparative thinking can improve current approaches to cancer, including conceptually and therapeutically. #evolution #ecology #oncology #philosophy

ABSTRACT. According to a widely held view, scientific modelling consists of entertaining a set of model descriptions that specify a model. Rather than studying the phenomenon of interest directly, scientists investigate the phenomenon indirectly via a model in the hope of learning about some of the phenomenon’s features. I call this view the description-driven modelling (DDM) account. I argue that although it is an accurate description of much of scientific research, the DDM account is found wanting as regards the mechanistic modelling found in many branches of biology. By analysing research practices in cancer immunology concerning the development of mechanistic models of the process of cancer metastasis, this article presents and argues for a complementary account of scientific modelling, herein called the experimentation-driven modelling (EDM) account. In EDM, scientists investigate a set of experimental systems and then integrate the results obtained from experiments into a mechanistic model. While EDM shares some key features with DDM, the two are epistemically very different approaches to research.

A Complementary Account of Scientific Modelling
– Martin Zach

Abstract in alt text or read it here:
www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/...

#philsci #philsky

I am now considering introducing an intentional typo into the title of my presentation. 🤭 Don't tell anyone.

How the Public Sees Philosophy: Insights from a National Survey in the Czech Republic (guest post) - Daily Nous What do ordinary people think philosophy is for? That's one of the questions a pair of philosophers, Vít Gvoždiak and Martin Zach (Institute of Philosophy, Czech Academy of Sciences) aimed to answer. ...

Here's a guest piece (credits to @vtgvzdk.bsky.social ) which draws on a report we wrote together for the Czech media (it may yet come out) regarding the results of a national representative survey we did on the issue of how #philosophy is perceived by the public.
dailynous.com/2025/09/03/h...

Soon... Registration still open!
#ImmunoSky #philbio #philsci
Link: pmpos.flu.cas.cz/host-microbe...

Kolik je pohlaví a proč spousta lidí žádné nemá? - Médium.cz Kolik je biologických pohlaví? Záleží na definici. Evoluční biologie, genetika, medicína i filosofie vědy ukazují, že pohledů je víc — a některé naznačují, že ne každý člověk pohlaví vůbec má.

Po dlouhé době další blogový příspěvek, tentokrát na výbušné téma ohledně počtu pohlaví.
Odkaz 👉 medium.seznam.cz/clanek/marti...

Register at pmpos.flu.cas.cz/host-microbe...
On-site / online stream
@flu-cas.bsky.social @ggreslehner.bsky.social‬

With kind support from @iocbtech.bsky.social‬ @czechacademy.bsky.social‬ @honzadobes87.bsky.social‬ @sciencecharles.bsky.social‬

"Immunology Meets Philosophy vol. 2" focuses on host-microbe interactions while highlighting a variety of conceptual approaches and phenomena, from infectious diseases to evolutionary and metabolic perspectives. #ImmunoSky #philbio #philsci
On-site / online stream registration - link in comments 👇

Pokračování mého "blogu", tentokrát stručně představuji obor filosofie vědy a k čemu je dobrý.
Odkaz 👉 medium.seznam.cz/clanek/marti...

New book by Maël Lemoine in CUP. Very cool stuff! And surely provocative to many in philosophy of medicine. #philmed #philsci

Zabili filosofii, parchanti! - Médium.cz Filosofie je prý mrtvá, protože neudržela krok s moderní vědou. Jaký má ale filosofie vztah k vědě? Ačkoli určitá část filosofie opravdu zaspala dobu, obecně je filosofie mnohem pestřejší, než by se m...

Jak čas dovolí, formou krátkých příspěvků zkusím širšímu publiku představit obor filosofie vědy, včetně kontroverzních témat jako třeba ideologie ve vědě aj. První příspěvek je obecnější o vztahu filosofie a vědy, k čemuž se nejspíš občas vrátím. Za sdílení budu rád. medium.seznam.cz/clanek/marti...

Reinventing type 2 immunity in cancer - Nature This Review addresses the roles of type 2 immunity in cancer and the potential for cancer immunotherapies targeting this pathway.

"unlike type 1 immune responses, type 2 immunity is perceived as a potential promoter of tumorigenesis. Emerging evidence challenges this perspective, painting a more nuanced picture in which type 2 immunity might protect against or even actively suppress tumour growth and progression." #ImmunoSky

It's scary swimming in the great depths where darkness lurks.

Go follow @philinbiomed.bsky.social if you are interested in keeping track of events on conceptual questions in medicine and biology. #mediky #immunosky #philsci

Meaning and understanding in large language models - Synthese Can a machine understand the meanings of natural language? Recent developments in the generative large language models (LLMs) of artificial intelligence have led to the belief that traditional philoso...

My colleague, Vladimir Havlik, just published a paper in Synthese on meaning and understanding in LLMs - a controversial topic! Holiday reading for those interested. #AI #LLM #philsci

link.springer.com/article/10.1...

One of the coolest places to do a degree in #philsci #philbio #philmed The training takes place in an immunology lab but welcomes applications from all fields of biology and medicine, and is open to those considering a career in science and/or philosophy.

SPSP Newsletter # 22 November 2024

Check out the new SPSP Newsletter #22, covering biomedical validation, philosophy of science for and with astrophysics, "evolving evolution", Uni of Valpareiso highlights, ... #philsci #philbio #philmed

sway.cloud.microsoft/tvRXL53AU0du...

I am one of those who has no clue what process ontology ultimatrly is despite reading about it and talking to process ontologists. No problem with processes and ptocessual thinking, but with "process ontology". 🤷‍♂️

Published on #WorldPhilosophyDay out of all the days in existence as @elenapopaphi.bsky.social noted 🙂 #philosophy #PhilSky

How Technical Advances Changed the Concept of Antibodies Shaped by advances in scientific instrumentation and experimental techniques, the concept of antibody has undergone profound transformations throughout the history of immunology. Serological assays, ...

How did we arrive at our current notion of antibodies? With colleagues we show that the concept of antibodies has been the result of numerous shifts (progressive yet discontinuous conceptual changes in 100+ years) driven also by technology. #philsci #immunosky
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Here's a CFP for workshop on AI & consciousness that @tmarvan.bsky.social and I are co-organizing in Prague.

Science of Science: Understanding the Foundations and Limits of Science from an Interdisciplinary Perspective Abstract. How do we drive new knowledge and science? What are their present boundaries? And how can we improve science? We still do not understand these es

Glad to see this book in print by Alex Krauss. I read and commented on the draft. Now here's the final product in open access at OUP #philsci academic.oup.com/book/58964

YouTube video by Mezinárodní festival dokumentárních filmů Ji.hlava IF: Nové pojetí imunity / Revoluce v poznání o fungování našeho těla

Last week I was invited to give a public lecture on the conceptual changes regarding the understanding of immunity #immunosky, followed by an interview on the role of philosophy of science #philsci in such efforts. It's in Czech though .
www.youtube.com/watch?v=dqeK...

Thanks! Unfortunately I am skipping PSA yet again, but fingres crossed I can make it to EPSA.

Hello blue sky-ers! Long time no see. Looks like this platform may be coming to life after all, or is it? Feels like other social media I am on have become dull. I even set up IG: @martinzach.ig only to realize I don't know what to do there. Is there any hope for blue sky, or also a ghost platform?