Bert Baumgaertner, assistant professor of philosophy at the University of Idaho, is one of the co-principal investigators on a nearly $10.6 million grant won from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The grant is to support the university’s new Center for Modeling Complex Interactions. According to a press release from UI, “the center will focus its efforts on using mathematical, statistical and molecular models to address biomedical research questions of urgent relevance in the world today.” More specifically, the initial projects funded by the grant each focus on “viral co-infection — when an organism is infected by two or more viruses at the same time.”  Professor Baumgaertner works in epistemology, philosophy of science, philosophy of mind, and philosophy of language. The grant will fund his research project to “adapt his models for studying the communication of philosophical questions to study the spread of viral infections through changed behavior of infected individuals.”

Interesting — comparing philosophy questions to a kind of infection. I think I’d be afraid of the cure.

(via Graham Hubbs)