Durham PhD Studentships in Philosophy of the Natural, Social and Policy Sciences
Durham University - Two PhD Positions in Philosophy of
the Natural, Social and Policy Sciences
The Department of Philosophy at Durham University and
Centre for Humanities Engaging Science and Society (CHESS) are inviting
applications for two full-time, three-year PhD positions in philosophy of the
natural, social and policy sciences, starting in October, 2014. Suitable
candidates should have a Masters degree (with merit or distinction) or
equivalent, an interest in science and policy and are expected to work in one
of the six areas below. We are especially interested in work on these topics
that interfaces with climate science, medicine, economics and other social
sciences, and social policy.
Evidence, conviction, endeavour
The nature of evidence; policy deliberation,; policy
formation and implementation; evidence-based medicine; evidence-based social
policy; hierarchies of evidence; evidence amalgamation; non-randomised and
randomised experiments; theory and practice of measurement.
Expertise
The nature of scientific expertise; problems of
legitimacy and extension; experts in democracy; experts versus mechanical
objectivity; the nature of tacit knowledge.
Moral and social order
Visions of well-ordered and disordered, decent and
indecent societies; strategies of creating and maintaining order in society;
the nature and role of institutions; justifying economic systems; studies of
specific cases
Narratives, modelling and representation Models and
representation in science; representation in art versus representation in the
sciences; literary methods and thought experiments in the sciences and
humanities; narratives as evidence; understanding and narratives.
Modality and power
Causality and causal powers; theories of causation;
causal inference; counterfactuals.
Values in science and policy
What role values play and why; whose values and who
decides; well-ordered science; areas of special concern, e.g. genetic
engineering, human subject research, politically sensitive issues where
scientific results matter.
Primary supervisors of PhD dissertations will be CHESS
directors Professors Nancy Cartwright and Julian Reiss (julian.reiss@durham.ac.uk) or
associate director Dr Wendy Parker. Successful candidates are expected to contribute
to the research environment at the Centre. Application deadline is February 17,
2014.
To apply for a post please go to the university online
system at https://www.dur.ac.uk/postgraduate/apply/
and please note that candidates should also discuss their research proposal
with a member of CHESS. Please send a CV, grade average and two-page research
proposal to Nicola Craigs atn.j.craigs@durham.ac.uk.
Dr Matthew D Eddy
Durham University, Department of Philosophy, 50/51 Old
Elvet, Durham, DH1 3HN, United Kingdom. http://community.dur.ac.uk/m.d.eddy/