Conversations at the Center – Edouard Machery and Kareem Khalifa

In this episode of Conversations at the Center, Center Director Edouard Machery sits down with senior fellow Kareem Khalifa.Kareem Khalifa is a professor of philosophy at UCLA (2022-present). Prior to that, he was at Middlebury College in Vermont (2006-2022). Starting in 2027, he will be a professor of history and philosophy of science at the University of Pittsburgh. His research interests include the general philosophy of science, philosophy of social science, and epistemology, with a special focus on the topics of understanding, explanation, modeling, inquiry, and values in science. He is currently extending his previous work in these areas to social-scientific conceptions of race, among other projects.In this podcast, Machery and Khalifa discussed the following works:Galbraith, Kenneth, and Kareem Khalifa. 2026. "Understanding: It’s All Interrogative." Philosophical Studies.Khalifa, Kareem. 2017. Understanding, Explanation, and Scientific Knowledge. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.--2023. "Should Friends and Frenemies of Understanding Be Friends? Discussing De Regt." In Scientific Understanding and Representation: Modeling in the Physical Sciences, edited by Insa Lawler, Kareem Khalifa and Elay Shech, 33-50. London: Routledge.Rice, Collin, and Kareem Khalifa. 2025a. "Thank You for Misunderstanding!" Philosophical Studies.--2025b. "Valuable Misunderstandings." Aeon.