Isaac Record is a philosopher of science and technology and teaching professor at Michigan State University’s Lyman Briggs College. He is the Founding Director of the Collaborative Experiential Learning Laboratory (CELL).

Isaac’s research explores accounts of communal knowledge practices, which have been developed in exciting ways by philosophers of scientific methodology and social epistemology, and concerns about trust in technology, under investigation by philosophers, anthropologists, and sociologists of technology. Isaac studies the practices of scientists who use instruments, the debates that accompany the introduction of new techniques to established disciplines, and the epistemological consequences of pursuing inquiries within a technological infrastructure. He believes that empirical investigations into knowledge practices are a necessary complement to traditional philosophical work based on conceptual analysis and thought experiments. The resulting situated understanding of our epistemic and ethical condition is sensitive to a network of factors, including values, capabilities, and material resources, allowing us to better integrate our understandings of knowledge and action.

Dr. Record earned his PhD from the University of Toronto’s Institute for History & Philosophy of Science & Technology in 2012. From 2012-2015, Isaac was a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Semaphore Research Cluster, Faculty of Information, University of Toronto. There, he explored the epistemic, ethical, and practical dimensions of emerging technologies such as 3D printers, programmable controllers, and sensor toolkits. Isaac is also developing a book-length treatment of knowledge practices on the Internet.

Selected Publications