Nancy Cartwright FBA FAcSS is Professor of Philosophy at Durham University and a Distinguished Professor at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD). In the first half of her career at Stanford University she specialised in the philosophy of the natural sciences, especially physics; in the second half, at the London School of Economics and now Durham and UCSD, she has specialised in philosophy and methodology of the social sciences with special attention to economics. Her current research focuses on objectivity and evidence, especially for evidence-based policy.
She was married to the late Sir Stuart Hampshire. They have two daughters, Emily Ellsworth Hampshire Cartwright and Sophie Hampshire Cartwright and two granddaughters, Lucy EC Charlton and Tabitha Cartwright Spray.
Upcoming…
April 5-6, 2025
Evidence-Based Medicine Reconsidered, University of Pittsburgh, US
Keynote Speech: “So, what IS mechanistic evidence?”
March 19-20, 2025
Seybert Lectures, University of Pennsylvania, US
Series Title: “Science for Use: In Praise of the Inexact, the Inelegant, and the Unassuming”
Lecture 1: “A Laudatio for Scientific Laws That Are Inelegant, Inexact, and Unassuming“
Lecture 2: “In Defence of Loose Talk in Science – So Long as It Is Not Detached”
March 15-16, 2025
Pragmatism and Measurement: New Directions, University of Pittsburgh, US
Keynote Speech: “In Defense of Ambiguity“
Recent Activities…
February 20, 2025
Nancy’s Birthday Celebration and Philosophy Workshop, University of California, San Diego, US
February 11, 2025 (2pm Pacific Time)
The Brazilian Society for Analytic Philosophy
Online Lecture: “Evidence for Singular Causal Claims”
November 17, 2024
29th Biennial Meeting of the Philosophy of Science Association, New Orleans, US
Symposium: “Objectivity in Science”, with Inkeri Koskinen, Eleonora Montuschi, Jack Wright, and Alison Wylie
October 24, 2024
Inaugural Mary Hesse Lecture, University of Cambridge, UK
Lecture: “In Praise of the Inexact, the Inelegant and the Unassuming”
September 30, 2024
BR-UK Webinar on Causality, Evidence and Policy in Behavioural Research [Video]
See here for more information on Nancy’s upcoming activities and recent lectures.
Now available…
Also…
- Cartwright, N., Foglesong, S., Furman, K., Hyde, BVE., Nyberg, G., Ortiz Villa, K. and Slanickova, H. (Forthcoming). “Towards a Theory of Objectivity for Activist Research.”
- Cartwright, N. and Cowen, N. (2025). “Disagreement about Evidence and Evidence Based Policy.”
- Cartwright, N. (2024) “Reliability Trumps Truth.”
- Cartwright, N. and Ray, F. (2024). “Modelling Objectively.”
- Cartwright, N. (2024). “Evidence, Relevance and Warrant: In Defence of Voluntarism.”
- Cartwright, N. and Ray, F. (2023). “Objectivity and Intellectual Humility in Scientific Research: They’re Harder Than You Think.”
- Joyce, K. E. and Cartwright, N. (2023) “How Should Evidence Inform Education Policy?”
- Cartwright, N. (2022). “How to Learn about Causes in the Single Case.”
- Cartwright, N. (2021). “Rigour Versus the Need for Evidential Diversity.”
- Joyce, K. E. and Cartwright, N. (2020). “Bridging the Gap Between Research and Practice: Predicting What Will Work Locally.”
- Cartwright, N. (2020). “Why Trust Science? Reliability, Particularity and the Tangle of Science.”
- Cartwright, N. (2020). “Middle-Range Theory: Without It What Could Anyone Do? (Lullius Lectures 2018).”
- Cartwright, N. (2019). “What Is Meant by ‘Rigour’ in Evidence-Based Educational Policy and What’s So Good About It?”
- Cartwright, N. (2019). “Commentary: Why Mixed Methods Are Necessary for Evaluating Any Policy.”
- Deaton, A. and Cartwright, N. (2018). “Understanding and Misunderstanding Randomized Controlled Trials.”
- Bradburn. N., Cartwright, N. and Fuller. J. (2017). “A Theory of Measurement.”
- Cartwright, N. (2017). “Causal Powers: Why Humeans Can’t Even Be Instrumentalists.”
- Bhakthavatsalam, S. and Cartwright, N. (2017). “What’s So Special about Empirical Adequacy?.”
See here for a complete list of Nancy’s books and published articles.