CfP: Vagueness in Sciences - 15th May
The submission of articles for the special issue of the journal Lato Sensu dedicated to Vagueness in Sciences is now open.
We remind you that we accept contributions associated with all types of science, and that there are no strict guidelines regarding the size of the articles submitted.
The objective of this special issue is to open up the reflection on the notion of vagueness from the prism of the philosophy of science, with the aim of questioning the meaning of this notion in different fields of scientific research. The call is open to all contributions (in French or in English) on this theme.
You can submit directly via the dedicated platform here:
Here are some examples of possible questions (non-exhaustive list):
1. What does vagueness mean in different areas of research? Should we consider it as something multidimensional? Is it present in all areas? If so, in what ways? Does vagueness favour certain ontological and/or epistemological levels?
2. Is vagueness reducible to a simple epistemological problem? For example, is it reducible to our limited cognitive capacity? Or is it ontologically intrinsic to reality itself? Are only concepts vague or also natural processes/phenomena? Can these two perspectives be reconciled?
3. Does scientific progress inevitably imply a gradual reduction of vagueness? Are precise concepts always better than vague concepts? Can vagueness evolve over time?
4. Is vagueness always in opposition to our cognitive predisposition to simplification? In other words, do we have a cognitive aversion to vagueness?
5. Is vagueness always and only a limit? Or are there cases in which it can usefully supplement an explanation? Can this notion play an epistemic and/or heuristic role? For example, can it contribute positively to the generalization, longevity, resilience and fertility of an explanation?
6. Conceptually, and to delineate the concept of “vague” in English, what is the difference between “vagueness”, “haziness”, and “fuzziness”?7. What is the relationship between complexity and vagueness?
Special issue editors:
Marco Casali (LabEx Who Am I? & IHPST, Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne)
Marie Michon (IHPST, Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne)
Charles Pence (Université Catholique de Louvain)