Caltech Philosophy of Science Reading Group Homepage

The Caltech Philosophy of Science Reading Group provides a forum for philosophers to present their work to others or discuss recent and classic papers in the philosophy of science. The reading group typically meets every second week during the academic year. During the 2024-5 academic year, at least, meetings will take place on Zoom.

For the Winter 2026 term, the group will aim to meet every other Friday from 10am to 11.30am PST (i.e. 1pm to 2.30pm EST), beginning on the 23rd of January.

If you would like to sign up to receive email updates regarding the speakers and papers to be presented, you can do so here. If you are interested in presenting some of your work, feel free to email Mahmoud Jalloh at [email protected].

Winter 2026 Schedule

January 23rd. Benjamin Santos Genta, 'No AI Reproducibility? No Problem.'

Abstract: The replication crisis has spurred philosophical debate about the role of reproducibility in science. While some argue for methodological reforms to improve reproducibility, others contend that its value depends on the disciplinary context and is not always a necessary indicator of evidential quality. This paper examines a domain where reproducibility is widely regarded as essential: systematic reviews. I show that even under conditions of exceptional transparency, strict reproducibility is often unachievable in practice. I then argue that robustness analyses offer a viable epistemic substitute.