I’m a Visiting Assistant Professor at Hamilton College, coming most recently from a Post-doctoral Fellowship in philosophy at Western University after completing my Ph.D. in philosophy at Duke University in 2024, advised by Katherine Brading (with Andrew Janiak as co-chair).
My current research is at the intersection of history and philosophy of science and early modern philosophy. I also have a substantial side project in social philosophy, focusing on social movements. They are all tied to my obsession with the Enlightenment (the period of the first social movements!).
My fellowship was with the Extending New Narratives in the History of Philosophy project and one of my research aims is to recover important, non-canonical voices for the history of philosophy, which I also pursued while Research Lead for Project Vox.
You can reach me at mveldman[at]hamilton.edu
Research
My primary research focuses on 3 dynamics in Enlightenment thought:
- the relation of metaphysics to science (covering method, ontology, and natural theology)
- epistemology of hypotheses (in relation to explanation, hypothetico-deductivism, and the methodologies of science and metaphysics)
- conceptual evolution in physics (especially on final and efficient causation in mechanics)
I did a Master’s in Mathematics while at Duke, and a throughline for my work is the difference that mathematics and mathematization made to major developments in all these areas.
My dissertation (abstract here) reads Leonhard Euler’s natural philosophy as a contribution to the philosophy of science and to early modern thought. See my research section for more information about my post-doc project, publications, and works in progress.
Some recent work:
“Experimenting with Metaphysics: Du Chatelet’s Dissertation on fire.” In The Bloomsbury Handbook of Emilie Du Chatelet, 2026.
Mathematizing Metaphysics: the Case of the Principle of Least Action, Philosophy of Science, 2024.
Upcoming conference talks:
APA Central, Chicago, February 2026
Upstate NY Workshop on Modern Philosophy, April 2026
HOPOS, June 2026
Singapore Equilibrium Workshop, July 2026
Teaching
In Fall 2025, I taught
- Climate Change: Science, Ethics, and Politics (two sections)
- Social Ontology
In Spring 2026, I am teaching:
- History of Modern Western Philosophy
- Seminar on Social Movements
Current manuscripts
A paper on naturalism, God, and method in metaphysics (under review)
A paper on ameliorative inquiry in social metaphysics (under review)
A paper on Du Chatelet and hypothetico-deductive orthodoxy in philosophy of science (under review)
A paper on Leibniz’s attempt to use extra-empirical reasoning to resolve under-determination of hypotheses
A paper on Euler’s deploying mathematics against mid-century German metaphysics
An article on Euler for the SEP
A paper on hierarchy, egalitarianism, and the dilemma of moral legitimacy and effectiveness for social movements