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
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,