CfP: Ignorances in the sciences

We are pleased to send you the call for papers for the special issue "Ignorances in the sciences" of the journal Lato Sensu. The submission deadline is January 31, 2025. Papers can be written in French or in English.

In this special issue, we propose to take an epistemological stance at the ways in which ignorance is present in the sciences. It seems to play many roles. It is a social and political construct of the scientific enterprise, a heuristic and driving force in scientific discovery, while possessing an epistemological and conceptual status that distinguishes it from a simple lack of knowledge. This observation of pluralism leads us to question the ignorances in the sciences. We are looking for proposals that explore both a general epistemological framework for ignorance and its epistemological (and even ethical) implications in special sciences. Contributions in the following topics are particularly welcome:
  • Definitions and conceptualisations of scientific ignorance
  • Representations of ignorances in the sciences
  • Evolutions of ignorances in the sciences
  • Epistemic roles and influences of ignorances in the sciences
  • Strategies for circumventing or accommodating ignorances in the sciences
This call for papers is in the wake of the “ignorances in the sciences” international workshop that was held in Lyon in March 2024. It is however open to anyone and not limited to the participants of the workshop. Interdisciplinary perspectives with an epistemological scope are welcome, whether they come from philosophers, scientists or disciplines linked to the theme of ignorances in the sciences as set out above.

Editors of the special issue:
  • Lucie Boël (Université Jean Moulin Lyon 3)
  • Mathias Girel (ENS-PSL)
  • Éric Pardoux (ENS Lyon - CNRS)
  • Benjamin Spada (Université de Bordeaux)
  • Pierre de Tuoni (Université Grenoble Alpes)