
Professor Tuomas Tahko
Expertise
Metaphysics, Metaphysics of Science, Philosophy of Science, Epistemology, Philosophical Logic, Philosophy of Mind, Aristotle
Current positions
Professor of Metaphysics of Science
Department of PhilosophyHead of School
School of Arts
Contact
Press and media
Many of our academics speak to the media as experts in their field of research. If you are a journalist, please contact the University’s Media and PR Team:
Biography
I moved to Bristol in 2018. Before that, I’ve worked at Helsinki as a University Lecturer and Academy of Finland Research Fellow and at Durham University as a Research Fellow. I’ve also been a Visiting Scholar at University of Sydney, University of Toronto, University of Reading, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, New York University, and the eidos Centre in Metaphysics of the University of Geneva. I did my PhD at Durham University under the supervision of E.J. Lowe, finishing in 2008. I was the PI of a European Research Council Consolidator Project 'The Metaphysical Unity of Science' (2018-23). Currently, I am Faculty Research Director for Arts.
Research interests
I specialize in contemporary analytic metaphysics, with an emphasis on methodological and epistemic issues: 'meta-metaphysics'. I also work at the interface of metaphysics and philosophy of science: 'metaphysics of science'. Broader research interests include issues in epistemology, philosophical logic, philosophy of science, philosophy of mind, and history of philosophy. I am the PI of an ERC Consolidator Project "The Metaphysical Unity of Science" (MetaScience, 2018-2023).
Projects and supervisions
Research projects
Nature and AI
Principal Investigator
Description
Workshop on AI and its relationship with nature and human observers, ideas exchange between philosophy, computer science, biology, and other fields.Managing organisational unit
Department of PhilosophyDates
16/04/2025 to 31/07/2025
The Metaphysical Unity of Science
Principal Investigator
Description
European Research Council Consolidator GrantManaging organisational unit
Department of PhilosophyDates
01/09/2018 to 31/08/2023
Thesis supervisions
Publications
Selected publications
18/01/2021Unity of Science
Unity of Science
Possibility Precedes Actuality
Erkenntnis
The Modal Basis of Scientific Modelling
Synthese
Recent publications
06/03/2025Unification Principles for Biochemical Kinds
Special Objects
Contemporary Reflections on Substantial Kind Change in Avicenna
Theoria
Natural Kind Essentialism
The Routledge Handbook of Essence in Philosophy
Laws of Metaphysics for Essentialists
Argumenta
Laws of Nature
The Routledge Handbook of Properties
Teaching
My teaching experience ranges from Metaphysics and Epistemology to Philosophy of Mind, Philosophical Logic, and Metaphilosophy. I particularly enjoy teaching about methodological issues in philosophy, especially Metametaphysics and Metaphysics of Science.