Elisabeth A. Lloyd

Elisabeth A. Lloyd is Distinguished Professor Emerita at Indiana University, holding positions of: Arnold and Maxine Tanis Chair of History and Philosophy of Science; Adjunct Professor of Biology; Adjunct Professor of Philosophy; Affiliated Faculty Scholar at the Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender and Reproduction; and Adjunct Faculty at the Center for the Integrative Study of Animal Behavior, until 2022. Also held: Affiliate Scientist at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (2014-2020). 

Her research centers on philosophy of biology, philosophy of climate science, gender issues in science, and the use of models in science—especially in confirmation and explanation. She has published over 90 articles in philosophical, biological, climate science, sexology, and interdisciplinary journals, as well as books with university and commercial presses. 

Her earlier work has ranged from her first book, which offered a new technical analysis of evolutionary theory, was called “an exemplar of philosophy of science at its best” (Phil Review 1992, 431), to her book, The Case of the Female Orgasm: Bias in the Science of Evolution, that won prizes in both philosophy and science. Newer work, part of which involves learning climate modeling and science, ranges from a collection, aided by Eric Winsberg, of essays by both philosophers and climate scientists in Climate modelling: Philosophical and Conceptual Issues, to her recent essay, "Adaptationism and the Logic of Research Questions," that offers a rigorous framework for analyzing conflicting research programs. This framework was given as the Romanell Prize Lecture at the American Philosophical Assoc., and was expanded for the Elements Series book, Adaptation. It has been applied to varied sciences by various scientists and philosophers, including: climate science, archaeology, ant behavior, the neuroscience of smell, and others. 

Starting at UC San Diego, Lloyd moved from Assistant Prof. to become the first female Full Professor at UC Berkeley’s Philosophy Dept. She moved to Indiana’s History and Philosophy of Science Department in 1998 until retirement. Lloyd received her B.A. from the University of Colorado (1980), and her Ph.D. from Princeton (1984), after also receiving graduate training in Harvard’s Genetics Department (1983 & 84).