Eran Tal

I am an Associate Professor of Philosophy at McGill University and Canada Research Chair in Data Ethics. I specialize in philosophy of science, philosophy of measurement, and the ethics of big data and artificial intelligence.

Until 2016 I was a Marie Curie Research Fellow at the University of Cambridge, and before that an Alexander von Humboldt Research Fellow at Bielefeld University in Germany.

Email: eran.tal@mcgill.ca (see my full contact details)

Here you can find my CV, find out about my current research projects or read my recent papers.

You can also find me on Twitter (@erantal).

News

  • I have been appointed Canada Research Chair in Data Ethics. In this role, I am developing principles for the ethical collection and use of scientific and medical data, based on the concept of responsible measurement. See my research page for additional details.

  • My paper "Two Myths of Representational Measurement" has been published in Perspectives on Science.

  • An updated version of my entry "Measurement in Science" is now published in the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.

  • I delivered a keynote lecture at the Philosophy of Scientific Experimentation 6 (PSX6) international conference at Saint Louis University in September 2021.

  • I am collaborating with a group of health outcomes researchers led by Nancy Mayo in developing a new measure of health-related quality of life for older people. Our project has recently been awarded $1.1M from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR).

  • My joint project with Skye Barbic (UBC), "Psychiatric Illness in Canadian Youth: Mobilizing Measurement to Improve Clinical Care" ran from 2019 to 2021 with funding from the Healthy Brains for Healthy Lives initiative. See our project website for more details.

  • I'm a founding member of the Montreal Philosophy of Science Network, dedicated to research collaboration across the city's four universities. Among our past speakers are Peter Galison, Elliott Sober, Margaret Morrison, Leah McClimans, Bernhard Nickel, Philip Kitcher, Mike Thicke, Helen Longino, and Melissa Jacquart.

Upcoming talks

  • (with Sebastian Rodriquez Duque) "Fitness for Purpose in Psychometrics", Epistemology of Psychological Measurement workshop, LMU Munich, June 2022.

  • “Who Needs Magnitudes?”, Measurement at the Crossroads, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore Milano, June 2022

  • (with Sebastian Rodriquez Duque and Skye Barbic) “Philosophy of Measurement in the Clinic: A Normative Framework for Measuring Mental Health”, Measurement at the Crossroads, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore Milano, June 2022

  • (with Sebastian Rodriquez Duque) "Fitness for Purpose in Psychometrics", Society for Philosophy of Science in Practice, Ghent University, July 2022

  • “Who Needs Magnitudes?”, Philosophy of Science Association, Pittsburgh, November 2022

  • (with Sebastian Rodriquez Duque) "Fitness for Purpose in Psychometrics", Philosophy of Science Association, Pittsburgh, November 2022