Philosophy@Western

Bill Harper

Bill Harper has agreed to be the Rotman Institute Senior Fellow 2011-2012.

Philosophy of Cosmology Workshop

 

May 6-7, 2011

University of Western Ontario

 

Cosmology poses unique challenges to physicists and astronomers in the collection of data and in the interpretation of that data's relation to theory, both as evidence for existing theory and as inspiration for new theory. Philosophers of science have spent a good deal of the past century investigating the relations between theory and evidence.  This workshop aims to bring together philosophers and physicists, in order to broaden and deepen what mutual discussion there already is between the two fields.  The workshop will include papers on the epistemology of galaxy simulations, theoretical and observational problems regarding dark energy, and alternatives to dark matter and dark energy (modified Newtonian dynamics).  Go to the conference website for a full list of titles and abstracts.       

 

Confirmed Speakers:  Niayesh Afshordi (Perimeter Institute), Céline Cattoën (Alberta), Bill Harper and Dylan Gault (UWO), Dragan Huterer (Michigan), Stacy McGaugh (Maryland), Priyamvada Natarajan (Yale),  Simon Saunders (Oxford), and Lee Smolin (Perimeter Institute)

 

This workshop is sponsored by the Rotman Institute of Philosophy, the Department of Philosophy, the Dean of the Arts and Humanities, and the Department of Physics and Astronomy at UWO.  

 

The workshop will be followed by the annual LMP graduate conference in philosophy of science, on May 8-9, with George Smith (Tufts) as the invited keynote speaker.  

 

There is no fee to attend the workshop, but please send an email message to rotman "at" uwo.ca with the subject line "Cosmology Workshop," and indicate the number of people planning to attend.  You can also send inquiries about the conference to the same address.   

 

Organizing committee:  Chris Smeenk (chair), Erik Curiel, Dylan Gault, and Bill Harper

 

More exciting news from philosophy alumni

Gillian K. D. Crozier, Ph.D. 2005, UWO, Philosophy is now a Canada Research Chair in Environment, Culture and Values at Laurentian University. Congrats Gillian!

 

Laurentian University (from July 2011) Assistant Professor and Canada Research Chair in Environment, Culture and Values Department of Philosophy www.laurentian.ca/Laurentian/Home/Departments/Philosophy/

New book by Western Alum

Kuhn's Evolutionary Social Epistemology

• K. Brad Wray, State University of New York, Oswego

• Hardback

• ISBN: 9781107012233

• 3 b/w illus. 1 table

• Dimensions: 228 x 152 mm

• Not yet published - available from November 2011, Cambridge University Press
• $90.00 (C)

Kuhn's Structure of Scientific Revolutions (1962) has been enduringly influential in philosophy of science, challenging many common presuppositions about the nature of science and the growth of scientific knowledge. However, philosophers have misunderstood Kuhn's view, treating him as a relativist or social constructionist. In this book, Brad Wray argues that Kuhn provides a useful framework for developing an epistemology of science that takes account of the constructive role that social factors play in scientific inquiry. He examines the core concepts of Structure and explains the main characteristics of both Kuhn's evolutionary epistemology and his social epistemology, relating Structure to Kuhn's developed view presented in his later writings. The discussion includes analyses of the Copernican revolution in astronomy and the plate tectonics revolution in geology. The book will be useful for scholars working in science studies, sociologists and historians of science as well as philosophers of science.

K. Brad Wray is an Associate Professor in the Department of Philosophy at the State University of New York, Oswego. His research addresses issues in the philosophy of science and the philosophy of social science. His papers have been published in a variety of journals, including Philosophy of Science, Synthese, Social Studies of Science, Scientometrics, and American Philosophical Quarterly.

Ph.D. Philosophy, University of Western Ontario, 1997.

Publications

 

(Forthcoming).  “Epistemic Privilege and the Success of Science,” Nous.

 

(Forthcoming).  “Rethinking the Size of Scientific Specialties: Correcting Price’s Estimate,” Scientometrics.

 

(Forthcoming: 2010).  “Kuhn’s Constructionism,” Perspectives on Science, 18: 4.

 

(Forthcoming: 2009).  “Did Professionalization Afford Better Opportunities for Young Scientists?,” Scientometrics.

 

2009.  “The Salaries of Italian Renaissance Professors,” Scientometrics, 80: 2, 351-357.

 

2009.“The Epistemic Cultures of Science and Wikipedia: A Comparison,” Episteme, 6.1: 38-51.

 

2008.“The Argument from Underconsideration as Grounds for Anti-Realism: A Defence,” International Studies in the Philosophy of Science, 22: 3, 317-326.

 

2008.Kristina Rolin and K. Brad Wray.  “Social Empiricism and Science Policy,” Science Studies, 2/2008: 68-82.

 

2007.“Kuhnian Revolutions Revisited,” Synthese, 158: 1, 61-73.

 

2007.“Who has Scientific Knowledge?,” Social Epistemology, 21: 3, 337-347.

 

2007.“A Selectionist Explanation for the Success and Failures of Science,” Erkenntnis, 67: 1, 81-89.

 

2007.“Evaluating Scientists: Examining the Effects of Sexism and Nepotism,” in Value-free Science: Ideal and Illusions?, edited by Harold Kincaid, John Dupré, and Alison Wylie.  Oxford: Oxford University Press, pages 87-106.

 

2006.“Scientific Authorship in the Age of Collaborative Research,” Studies in History and Philosophy of Science, 37: 3, 505-514.

 

2005.  “Philosophy of Science after Mirowski’s History of the Philosophy of Science,” Studies in History and Philosophy of Science, 36, 779-789.

 

2005.  “Rethinking Scientific Specialization,” Social Studies of Science, 35: 1, 151-164.

 

2005.  “Does Science Have a Moving Target?,” American Philosophical Quarterly, 42: 1, 47-58.

 

2004.  “An Examination of the Contributions of Young Scientists in New Fields,” Scientometrics, 61: 1, 117-128.

 

2003.  “What Really Divides Gilbert and the Rejectionists?,” Protosociology, 18-19, 363-376.

 

2003.  “Is Science Really a Young Man’s Game?,” Social Studies of Science, 33: 1, 137- 149.

 

2002.“Social Selection, Agents’ Intentions, and Functional Explanation,” Analyse & Kritik, 1/2002: 72-86.

 

2002.  “The Epistemic Significance of Collaborative Research,” Philosophy of Science, 69: 1, 150-168.

 

2001.“Collective Belief and Acceptance,” Synthese, 129: 3, 319-333.

 

2001.  “Science, Biases, and the Threat of Global Pessimism,” Philosophy of Science, 68, (Proceedings), S467-S478.

 

2000.“Invisible Hands and the Success of Science,” Philosophy of Science, 67: 1, 163-175.

 

1999.  “A Defense of Longino’s Social Epistemology,” Philosophy of Science, 66, (Proceedings), S538-S552.

 

1999.  “The Role of Solidarity in a Pragmatic Epistemology,” Philosophia, 27:1-2, 273-286.

 

1997.“Rational Communities,” Perspectives on Science, 5: 2, 232-254.

 

Dean's Announcement: Lagerlund Next Chair

It is my pleasure to announce that Professor Henrik Lagerlund has accepted the post of Chair, Department of Philosophy. His appointment is effective July 1, 2011; he will serve a five-year term.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank Henrik for taking on this important task. This is a significant contribution to the Department, and to the Faculty.

I look forward to working with Henrik, and invite you to join me in congratulating him on the appointment.

Best

Michael

 

Henrik Lagerlund

UWO Philosophy Undergraduate Conference

Greetings!

I hope that you might join us for this year's annual Philosophy Undergraduate Conference! This year we aimed for an emphasis on philosophy of science, though of course we were open to any quality submissions, and thus accepted a few outside those parameters.

This Friday, March 18, our key-note, Ruth Millikan, will be presenting a talk entitled The Tangle of Biological Purposes that is Us. The talk will be held in room 1145 in Stevenson Lawson at 3:30, and will be followed by a dinner at the Curry Garden, 374 Richmond Street, for six o'clock.

 Tea and light refreshments will be available in the common room half an hour before the key note address, so come and join us for a quick word with Dr. Millikan before her talk!

Saturday, March 19 will feature our student speakers. Much like the key note event, the student talks will be held in room 1145.

 A light breakfast will be served at 9:30, followed by three talks, and a lunch at 12:30. There will be a further two talks, and finally a dinner at Gambrinus for five o'clock to close off the conference. Gambrinus is the new name of Chancey Smith's, located at 130 King (part of the Covent Garden Market).

Student paper titles include, in the order of delivery, Unbalanced Places - Darwin's Economy of Nature and Historicity, Baby Name Trends as an Example of Clark's Cross, Philosophy, Hegemony, and Climate Science, Feminism and Rational Choice Theory, and, finally, A Survey of Descartes' Eucharistic Theology.

We hope that you are able to join us!

Feel free to email us here at think@uwo.ca for more information regarding specifics!

Kyle Sarrasin

Director of the School of Thought

Undergraduate Philosophy Society

University of Western Ontario

CSWIP Request for Submissions

CANADIAN SOCIETY FOR WOMEN IN PHILOSOPHY 

CONFERENCE 2011, University of Victoria: 
Friday (pm) October 14 - Sunday (am) October 16 
http://www.cswip.ca

THEME: Global Justice, the Environment, and the Economy 
KEYNOTE SPEAKER: Dr. Laura Westra, Professor Emerita (Philosophy),
University of Windsor 

The Canadian Society for Women in Philosophy invites papers from all areas
of philosophy related to the theme of the conference. There are many
possible topics, the following being just a small sample:
• Conceptions of nature and the environment in the history of philosophy.
• The ethics and politics of food.
• Property and freedom.
• Aesthetics and the environment.
• Global justice and the role of international law.
• Controversial science: debating environmental research.
• Social, cultural, ethical, and political constructions of nature and the
environment.
• Capitalism and distributive justice.
• Shared contexts, shared worlds: families, communities, environments.
• Moral standing / moral consideration beyond humanity?
• Egalitarianism: local, national, global.
• Philosophical implications of biotechnology.
• Gender justice and climate change.
• Environmental science and the role of values.

SUBMISSIONS:
Standard submissions:
Submissions of long abstracts (1000 words) are invited (for eventual
presentation-papers not exceeding 3000 words). Please email the abstract as
both a double-spaced Word.doc and also as a RTF attachment, prepared for
anonymous review. Please note: this requires that you remove all
identifying-author tags from your document content and file properties.
Please include your full contact information in the email only (not with the
abstract). Submission deadline: midnight Eastern time, Friday April 1, 2011.
Submissions from graduate students wishing to be considered for the CSWIP
Graduate Award:
This newly instigated award gives special recognition to an outstanding
paper to be read by a graduate student at the CSWIP annual conference. The
Award will be announced at the conference. To be eligible the student must
be registered in a graduate degree programme and not yet have been awarded a
PhD by the time of the CSWIP submission deadline for the conference.
Submission deadline: Both the long abstract of 1,000 words and the completed
paper (not exceeding 3,000 words) must be prepared for anonymous review
(which requires that you remove all identifying-author tags from your
document content and file properties). Both the long abstract and the
completed paper must be submitted simultaneously by midnight Eastern time,
Friday April 1, 2011. Email the abstract and the paper as two separate
attachments. Please email as both a double-spaced Word and also as a RTF
attachment. Please include your full contact information in the email only
(not in the paper or with the abstract) and indicate in the email that you
wish to be considered for the CSWIP Graduate Award.

 
Please do not reply to this email to send submissions. All submissions to be
sent electronically to the review coordinator:
Dr. Kathryn Norlock,
Department of Philosophy, Trent University,
Peterborough, Ontario
at: kathrynnorlock@trentu.ca
 
Call for nominations for the CSWIP Award Committee: CSWIPAwardCommNom.pdf

 


 

Hobbes Workshop at Western

Hobbes on Law,  May 20-21, 2011 (all day Friday and half the Saturday).

The participants will be:

Arash Abizadeh (McGill, Political Science)
David Dyzenhaus (Toronto, Law and Philosophy)
Claire Finkelstein (Pennsylvania, Law and Philosophy)
Evan Fox-Decent (McGill, Law)
Michael Green (Ponoma, Philosophy)
Kinch Hoekstra (Berkeley, Political Science and Law)
Dennis Klimchuk (UWO, Philosophy and Law)
Margaret Martin (UWO, Law)
Alice Ristroph (Seton Hall, Law)
Susanne Sreedhar (Boston University, Philosophy)
Lars Vinx (Bilknet, Philosophy)
Arthur Yates (UWO, Philosophy)

Topics to be covered will include Hobbes on... toleration, punishment, the authority of law, and equity.  

I’d like to ask that you let me know relatively soon if you think you’d like to attend, Dennis Klimchuk, klimchuk@uwo.ca

Rotman Talk this Friday

The Rotman Institute of Philosophy 2010-2011 Speaker Series presents:

The Difference Between Ice Cream and Nazis: The Evolutionary Function of Moral Projection
Kyle Stanford (University of California Irvine)

March 4, 2011
3:30pm-5:00pm EST
University of Western Ontario, The Chu International Centre, Student Services Building (WSS) 2130

This lecture will be streamed live online at http://www.rotman.uwo.ca/, where you can also find full details.

Note that last month's talk by Colin Howson will be available soon on YouTube.

I hope you can join us for this talk,

Rob