Durham: Scientific Realism in Light of the History of Science
Two-Day Colloquium:
Scientific Realism in Light of the History of Science
Date: 7th-8th September 2012
Venue: Birley Room, Hatfield College, Durham University, UK
Sponsored by the Arts and Humanities Research
Council as part of the project 'Evaluating Scientific Realism: A New
Generation of Historical Case Studies'
SYNOPSIS
It is ubiquitously acknowledged that the history
of science is a crucial consideration when assessing contemporary scientific
realist positions. Laudan’s seminal paper ‘A Confutation of Convergent Realism’
(1981) laid down the challenge to the realist explicitly: what kind of
substantial realist position can stand up against the abundance of successful
but false theories in the history of science? Since then the realist has
responded in a number of ways, and has enjoyed considerable success in
answering the challenges. But just recently a new wave of historical case
studies has been presented, especially tailored to challenge the contemporary
realist. These new cases, combined with some recalcitrant old cases, continue
to ask important questions of today’s realists, and at the very least help us
to choose between the different available positions. This two-day meeting
brings together some of the world’s leading historians and philosophers of
science to assess the current state of play, and move towards finally answering
the fundamental question: which scientific realist positions, if any, survive
full knowledge of the history of science?
SPEAKERS
o Assoc. Prof. Theodore Arabatzis (Athens)
o Prof. Jed Buchwald (Caltech)
o Prof. Anjan Chakravartty (Notre Dame)
o Prof. David Knight (Durham)
o Prof. Helge Kragh (Aarhus)
o Prof. Stathis Psillos (Athens)
o Prof. Gregory Radick (Leeds)
o Dr. Juha Saatsi (Leeds)
o Dr. Derek Turner (Connecticut)
o Dr. Peter Vickers (Durham)
For titles and abstracts see http://www.dur.ac.uk/evaluating.realism/colloquium.htm
REGISTRATION
Please register for the colloquium by 1st August
at the latest, by sending an email to Jean Best: jean.best@durham.ac.uk . The
first 15 people to register won’t have to pay anything, and will receive free
coffee and tea, biscuits, and a buffet lunch each day, which will all be
provided by the university. For all others registration will cost £12.
BURSARIES
There will be a small budget to help towards to travel costs
of students who wish to attend, allocated on a first-come first-served basis.
Please enquire with Jean Best about this.
CONTACT
For any other queries about this workshop, please
contact Peter Vickers.
Dr Matthew D Eddy
Durham University, Department of Philosophy, 50/51 Old Elvet, Durham, DH1 3HN, United Kingdom. http://www.dur.ac.uk/m.d.eddy/ http://durham.academia.edu/MatthewEddy
Durham University, Department of Philosophy, 50/51 Old Elvet, Durham, DH1 3HN, United Kingdom. http://www.dur.ac.uk/m.d.eddy/ http://durham.academia.edu/MatthewEddy