2nd Biennial SPSP — Minnesota 2009

PhilSci Archive SPSP 2009

Anyone on the SPSP2009 program can post their preprints. The header for the SPSP2009 conference is up and customized posting instructions are available at:

http://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/archive/00004675/

Papers are available at:

http://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/view/confandvol/2009spspsfposipminj18202009.html

Call for papers (closed)

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. For registration and further information visit our website http://www.philosophy-science-practive.org. We expect to provide notification about the acceptence of papers by March 31st, 2009.

Deadline for submission: February 1st, 2009.

Notification about acceptence: March 31st, 2009

The Society for Philosophy of Science in Practice (SPSP) aims to create an interdisciplinary community of scholars who approach the philosophy of science with a focus on scientific practice and the practical uses of scientific knowledge. For further details on our objectives, see our mission statement@http://www.philosophy-science-practice.org

The SPSP biennial conferences provide a broad forum for scholars committed to making detailed and systematic studies of scientific practices — neither dismissing concerns about truth and rationality, nor ignoring contextual and pragmatic factors. The conferences aim@cutting through traditional disciplinary barriers and developing novel approaches. We welcome contributions from not only philosophers of science, but also philosophers working in epistemology and ethics, as well as the philosophy of engineering, medicine, agriculture, and other practical fields. Additionally, we welcome contributions from historians and sociologists of science, pure and applied scientists, and any others with an interest in philosophical questions regarding scientific practice.

The SPSP Conference in 2009 will be held concurrently with a large workshop for teachers on integrating historical, philosophical and sociological perspectives into science teaching (http://ships.umn.edu/2009). Joint sessions are planned.

In addition to keynote lectures by invited speakers, the conference will feature parallel sessions with contributed papers. For the 2009 conference, we particularly welcome contributions on the topics listed below; however, other topics are by no means excluded. Please indicate clearly in your abstract which of the following topics (if any) your paper addresses — this will help us construct coherent themed sessions.

In addition to individual papers, proposals for whole, thematic sessions with coordinated papers are strongly encouraged, particularly those which include multiple disciplinary perspectives and/or input from scientific practitioners. Session proposals must include a 500-word abstract for each paper (or an equivalent amount of depth and detail, if the format of the proposed session is a less traditional one). Multiple submissions of any form by the same person will not be allowed.

Philosophy of Science and Science Education: How does philosophy of science inform science teaching? What ideas about scientific practice, including those based on historical and sociological perspectives, are important to teach? How can they be effectively taught in a science classroom? How is such understanding assessed? What insights and challenges might such contexts offer to philosophers?
Epistemology of Scientific Practice: There has been a degree of disconnection between epistemology and the philosophy of science, despite the clear relevance of the two fields to each other. We welcome contributions that flesh out epistemologists’ concerns in terms of scientific practice, or broaden traditional epistemological categories in order to make them more suitable for the understanding of knowledge practices.
Experimental Practices: More than 20 years ago the ‘new experimentalists’ in philosophy of science called for a more serious engagement with experimental practice. The work continues, and significant questions remain. How are scientific phenomena produced and observed — in the laboratory, in the observatory, in the field, and even in the armchair? What exactly does the knowledge of phenomena consist in? What are the characteristics of the technologies and sites that enable scientists to identify the objects of their study and to theorize about them?
Practices of Modeling, Simulations and Computer Experiments: Anyone familiar with today’s cutting-edge scientific research will feel how out of touch our common philosophical images of scientific activity are. Most scientific theorizing today seems to happen in the form of modeling and simulation. Has there now been enough philosophical work on modeling, after the flurry of activity in recent decades? Have we, for instance, paid enough attention to the more applied and complex subjects that tend to be neglected in traditional philosophy of science, including climatology, synthetic chemistry, ecology and seismology?
‘Knowing Well’, Values, and Evidence-for-Use: How do philosophical approaches to knowledge change when the context shifts from ‘pure’ science to applied science and public policy, in areas such as engineering, agriculture and medicine? How do we go beyond mere knowing to ‘knowing well’? How does the blurring of the traditional distinction between ‘fact’ and ‘value’ affect our conceptions of evidence and epistemic justification? And how do individual and social values and sense of responsibility shape the scope, focus and methods of scientific practice?
Rationality, Pluralism and ‘Styles of Reasoning’: Philosophers tend to accept very few kinds of reasoning as rational: deductive, inductive/statistical, and perhaps abductive. From historical and empirical studies it appears that scientific practices employ many other styles of reasoning. Often, these other ‘styles’ are seen as ‘merely heuristic’ and unable to play a role in the justification of knowledge. Is it possible to present more interesting accounts of these other styles of reasoning and of rationality?
Philosophical Pragmatism and Science in Practice: Are there existing philosophical frameworks that are particularly well-suited for the understanding of ‘science in practice’? In recent years many people have paid renewed attention to the American pragmatists in this connection: Dewey, Peirce, James, and also C. I. Lewis. Can pragmatism really provide useful guidance for the philosophy of science in practice? If so, which ideas are most useful for which purposes?
Social Epistemology: Within both the philosophy and sociology of science, there is a shared interest in the production, assessment, and validation of knowledge. We welcome contributions which synthesize sociological and philosophical points of view — empirically based research into the origination and transmission of scientific knowledge, as well as considerations about the social issues which arise when such knowledge is applied in a variety of types of practice.

Keynote speakers:

Helen Longino

Mary Morgan

For further information about the conference, see the conference website: http://ships.umn.edu/spsp

Call for Expressions of Interest SPSP 2011 (closed)

Site for the Third Biennial International Conference of the Society for Philosophy of Science in Practice (SPSP), 2011

The organization committee of the Society for Philosophy of Science in Practice (SPSP) invites expressions of interest to host the third international conference of the SPSP to be held in 2011, most likely during the northern hemisphere summer. The hosting site will be responsible for all local arrangements, with the organization committee taking responsibility for programming and other arrangements. We anticipate a 2.5 to 3 day conference, roughly similar in format to the first and second international conference, with approximately 100 attendees (though this number may be greater depending on the conference’s location and other events to be held in conjunction with it). In both conferences we have sponsored 2-3 plenary speakers. Therefore, registration fee needs to be set to cover these costs. Importantly, we strongly appreciate efforts to keep costs down, for instance by multiple options for lodging, meals, etc. Other opportunities for reducing costs for graduate students are welcome as well.

For more details, please see http://www.gw.utwente.nl/spsp/

Expressions of interest should contain the following information, in no more than approximately 1000 words total:

practical information regarding proposed conference facilities including meeting rooms with audiovisual support; accommodation (a mixture of types of lodging is desirable including lower cost options for graduate students); arrangements for registration and program printing; coffee/tea breaks, meals, and receptions; estimated costs; overview of travel to and accessibility of the conference site; other activities or conferences to be held in conjunction with the SPSP; ideas for and prospects for obtaining funds and support staff for the conference; and prior experience of the proposed local arrangements chair(s) and local arrangements committee members.
Intellectual reasons why the proposed hosting institution/location is appropriate for SPSP, considering its goals and mandate; these could include but are not limited to other conferences to occur in conjunction with the SPSP conference, an active philosophy of science community in the local area, etc.

Expressions of interest should be submitted by email no later than May 15th 2009, to Marcel Boumans: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . The organization committee will consider proposals in advance of the SPSP2009 conference held in June, in hopes of announcing the location for the next conference@that time.

Organisation Committee

Rachel A. Ankeny

The University of Adelaide This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Mieke Boon

University of Twente