Introductory SPSP meeting at PSA 2006

Invitation

Society for Philosophy of Science in Practice (SPSP)

Lunch meeting at PSA

November 3, 2006

Dear Colleague,

We have begun organizing a network of scholars under the working name of "Society for Philosophy of Science in Practice" (SPSP). We aim to promote a philosophy of science that engages more closely with scientific practice, and with the practical uses of scientific knowledge.

The idea for this group arose at the conference “Philosophical Perspectives on Scientific Understanding” last year in Amsterdam. This stimulating conference gathered philosophers with shared interests in philosophy of science as well as scholars from other disciplines who might not typically attend a philosophy conference. Organizing biennial conferences will therefore be one of the key activities of the SPSP. But we hope it will also be a network for collaborative projects, including special sessions at other professional meetings. Initially this group will be fairly informal, and there will not be any membership fees.

We are planning an organizational meeting at the PSA/HSS/4S conference in Vancouver at lunchtime on Friday November 3, 2006. For the exact time and location, please consult the PSA programme at http://philsci.org/news/PSA06 or the HSS programme at http://www.hssonline.org. If you will be in Vancouver, we would like to invite you cordially to participate in this meeting, where we will be presenting our basic aims and inviting input on future activities. We plan to discuss:

  1. The philosophical orientation of SPSP
  2. The goals of SPSP and its relation to other professional organizations
  3. The SPSP website and the possibility of running an e-mail list for discussion and information
  4. Electing an organizing committee
  5. Any other topics

The first biennial SPSP conference is planned to take place in Twente (The Netherlands) on August 23–25, 2007. Additional information about the aims of SPSP can also be found on our website:

http://www.gw.utwente.nl/spsp/

We hope to meet you in our future activities!

With kind regards,

Rachel A. Ankeny
Mieke Boon
Marcel Boumans
Hasok Chang
Henk de Regt