Dr. Alice Murphy

Personal Information

Alice Murphy is a postdoctoral fellow in philosophy of science at the MCMP. Prior to joining the center, she received her PhD (2020) from the University of Leeds, her MA (2015) from the University of Warwick and her BA (2014) from the University of Bristol.

Public Engagement

Podcasts

• “Imagination in Science” Forum for Philosophy
• “Science and Aesthetics” Philosophy Exchange

Popular Writings

• “In What Way are Experiments Like Artworks?” (with Milena Ivanova) Commonplace. 2023
• "'Seeing' in Understanding" (with Federica I. Malfatti) Junkyard. 2021
• "Beauty and the Scientific Imagination" Junkyard. 2019

Research Interests

Alice is interested in imagination, creativity, and aesthetic values in science, as well as the relations between thought experiments and other practices such as computer simulations and physical experiments. She is co-editor of The Aesthetics of Scientific Experiments (Routledge, 2023) and is currently working on the role of aesthetic values and imagination in the context of central topics in the epistemology of science such as understanding, testimony and trust, and the impact of social values.

More about her work, and her published and working papers, can be found on her website.

Publications

1. Murphy, A. "Imagination and Creativity in the Scientific Realm". Oxford Handbook of Philosophy of Imagination and Creativity, edited by Amy Kind and Julia Langkau. Oxford University Press. Forthcoming.
2. Murphy, A. "Form and Content: A Defence of Aesthetic Value in Science". Philosophy of Science Vol 90 (3). 2023.
3. Ivanova, M. and A. Murphy (eds.) The Aesthetics of Scientific Experiments. Routledge. 2023.
4. Murphy, A. "Profound Experiments". M. Ivanova and A. Murphy (eds.) The Aesthetics of Scientific Experiments. Routledge. 2023.
5. French, S. and A. Murphy. “The Value of Surprise in Science". Erkenntnis 88. 2023.
6. Murphy, A. “Imagination in Science”. Philosophy Compass Vol 17 (6). 2022.
7. Murphy, A. “Toward a Pluralist Account of the Imagination in Science". Philosophy of Science Vol 87 (5). 2020.
8. Murphy, A. “The Aesthetic and Literary Qualities of Scientific Thought Experiments”. M. Ivanova and S. French (eds.) Aesthetics of Science: Beauty, Imagination and Understanding. Routledge. 2020.