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My research focuses on philosophy of biology. I am currently working on the epistemology of biological possibility, the role of biological stochasticity and historical contingency in development and evolution.
For a more detailed research overview, see below. |
News
A new preprint of a chapter from a collective book on contingency, written with Francesca Merlin, is now available.
Merlin F., Casali M., (forthcoming), Replaying life's developmental tape, In McConwell A, Millstein RL, Dietrich MR, Beatty J, Contingency Across the Life Sciences: How Accidents Can Be Consequential, Chicago
University Press.
Merlin F., Casali M., (forthcoming), Replaying life's developmental tape, In McConwell A, Millstein RL, Dietrich MR, Beatty J, Contingency Across the Life Sciences: How Accidents Can Be Consequential, Chicago
University Press.
A new review is now live — on a wonderful book about modeling the possible!
Casali M., (2026), The modal turn in scientific modelling: exploring possibility across the sciences, Knuuttila, Grüne-Yanoff T., Koskinen, Wirling Y. (eds.), Modeling the possible: perspectives from philosophy of science. London/Routledge, 2025, 296.
Here the Metascience journal page
Casali M., (2026), The modal turn in scientific modelling: exploring possibility across the sciences, Knuuttila, Grüne-Yanoff T., Koskinen, Wirling Y. (eds.), Modeling the possible: perspectives from philosophy of science. London/Routledge, 2025, 296.
Here the Metascience journal page
New published paper
Check it out!
Casali M., Merlin F., Vianelli A., (2025), Dissecting Stochasticity in Translation: Time in Start Codon Selection as a Case-Study, Philosophy, Theory, and Practice in Biology 17(2): 6.
Check it out!
Casali M., Merlin F., Vianelli A., (2025), Dissecting Stochasticity in Translation: Time in Start Codon Selection as a Case-Study, Philosophy, Theory, and Practice in Biology 17(2): 6.
I won the Poster and Flash Talk Prize at the Porto 2025 ISHPSSB conference for my poster Replaying life's developmental tape. Here is the full video.
To watch the high-definition video, follow the YouTube link.
To watch the high-definition video, follow the YouTube link.
The prize challenged participants to explain their research project—presented as a poster at ISH 2025—in one entertaining minute.
New edited Volumes
Casali M., Michon M., Pence C., Eds., (2024), Vagueness in Sciences, special issue, Lato Sensu Journal.
Casali M., Michon M., Pence C., Eds., (2024), Vagueness in Sciences, special issue, Lato Sensu Journal.
Research Overview
My research focuses on philosophy of biology. I have long been interested in chance in biology, particularly in molecular and cellular biology, with a focus on gene expression, seeking to highlight the explanatory role of chance in scientific practice. I then turned to contingency, first at the molecular level, and then to historical contingency in evolution, where, with a co-author, I have proposed extending this notion to development. I have also worked on vagueness in science, seeking to show that its epistemic dimension is not always a limitation, but can itself be explanatorily productive.
More recently, I have been working on biological possibility from several angles. The first is more epistemological: investigating how biologists use modal reasoning and the notion of possibility in their own practice, in order to extrapolate the instances in which this use carries genuine epistemic value. Building on this, a further and deeper question asks under precisely which conditions biological possibility and modal reasoning can provide understanding in scientific contexts. A second, ongoing line of work addresses the metaphysics of possibility in biology, asking more generally what biological possibility is. Within this broader inquiry, I am developing a specific account according to which, in biological practice, the objective and epistemic dimensions of biological possibility are, more often than not, hybridized and entangled rather than cleanly separable. This project approaches this entanglement through the notion of impossibility, where the difficulty of disentangling the two dimensions becomes particularly apparent. This work is grounded, where possible, in direct engagement with biological practice, through ongoing conversations and collaboration with biologists.
My research focuses on philosophy of biology. I have long been interested in chance in biology, particularly in molecular and cellular biology, with a focus on gene expression, seeking to highlight the explanatory role of chance in scientific practice. I then turned to contingency, first at the molecular level, and then to historical contingency in evolution, where, with a co-author, I have proposed extending this notion to development. I have also worked on vagueness in science, seeking to show that its epistemic dimension is not always a limitation, but can itself be explanatorily productive.
More recently, I have been working on biological possibility from several angles. The first is more epistemological: investigating how biologists use modal reasoning and the notion of possibility in their own practice, in order to extrapolate the instances in which this use carries genuine epistemic value. Building on this, a further and deeper question asks under precisely which conditions biological possibility and modal reasoning can provide understanding in scientific contexts. A second, ongoing line of work addresses the metaphysics of possibility in biology, asking more generally what biological possibility is. Within this broader inquiry, I am developing a specific account according to which, in biological practice, the objective and epistemic dimensions of biological possibility are, more often than not, hybridized and entangled rather than cleanly separable. This project approaches this entanglement through the notion of impossibility, where the difficulty of disentangling the two dimensions becomes particularly apparent. This work is grounded, where possible, in direct engagement with biological practice, through ongoing conversations and collaboration with biologists.
keep (always) eyes on Gaza
This website contains summaries and publications of past work, and descriptions of work in progress. There is also a section devoted to illustration, since drawing helps me narrate the adventures and misadventures of pursuing a career in the humanities.
