Rate My Professor Matthew Slater

Matthew H. Slater is Professor of Philosophy, Chair of the Philosophy Department, and Director of the Bucknell Humanities Center at Bucknell University. He holds an A.B. from Dartmouth College and a Ph.D. from Columbia University, awarded in 2006. His research centers on the philosophy of science, with particular emphasis on biological classification, natural kinds, social epistemology, science communication, and the public understanding of science. Slater investigates topics such as the metaphysics of species, cell types as natural kinds, macromolecular pluralism, and the role of scientific consensus in public trust. He has received a Scholar's Award from the National Science Foundation to study scientific literacy and develop better methods for enhancing public understanding of science.

Slater's influential publications include the book Are Species Real?: An Essay on the Metaphysics of Species (Palgrave Macmillan, 2013), Metaphysics and the Philosophy of Science: New Essays (Oxford University Press, 2017, co-edited with Zanja Yudell), and the forthcoming The Nature of Biological Kinds (Oxford University Press). Notable articles feature Natural Kindness (British Journal for the Philosophy of Science, 2015), which won the 2015 Karl Popper Prize; Understanding and Trusting Science (Journal for General Philosophy of Science, 2019); Understanding 'understanding' in Public Understanding of Science (Public Understanding of Science, 2018); and Open Questions in Scientific Consensus Messaging Research (Environmental Communication, 2020). His work has advanced debates on pluralism in scientific classification and the societal impact of science communication, earning over 970 citations on Google Scholar. Slater contributes to interdisciplinary efforts bridging philosophy, biology, and public policy on scientific literacy.