Tuesday, December 9, 2014

CFP: Values in Medicine, Science, and Technology 2015

Announcing the 5th Annual

Values in Medicine, Science, and Technology Conference


At the Center for Values in Medicine, Science, and Technology
The University of Texas at Dallas
May 19-22, 2015
Keynote Speaker:
Science, technology, and medicine have a major impact on our lives. We live with constant technological innovation and scientific discovery, and this changes the conditions that we live in, as well as the way we understand ourselves and the world around us. Science, technology, and medicine are thus entangled with our values, our culture, and our politics, and they have an important impact on policymaking and action. Making value judgments is important to the way that we fund, conduct, evaluate, and apply scientific research.

We invite proposals for papers that engage with these issues from a variety of disciplinary and theoretical approaches, including philosophy of science, technology, & medicine, epistemology, ethics and political philosophy, history, science and technology studies, policy studies, and natural and social sciences.

This year's conference will have three target themes:
  1. Gender, sex, and sexuality in science, technology, and medicine
  2. Science and values in the work of Paul K. Feyerabend, on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of Against Method
  3. Distinguishing legitimate from illegitimate roles for values in science
We welcome any paper and panel proposals in the broad area of values in medicine, science, and technology, but we will give priority to proposals on these target themes.

Suggested topics for papers and panels include:
  • The value of diversity in epistemic communities
  • Sexism, heterosexism, or transphobia in technology culture
  • Sex and gender in medical research or practice
  • Feminist critique of gender differences research
  • Feyerbend's relationship to feminist philosophy of science
  • Feyerabend on science, values, and democracy
  • The indirect/direct role distinction
  • The ideal of well-ordered science
  • The cognitive status of values and value judgments
We will consider proposals for individual papers, but also thematic panel sessions and more informal formats. Please feel free to contact us early to discuss potential panel formats at values@utdallas.edu

For contributed papers, please submit a 250-500 word abstract. For symposia and other multi-participant panels, submit an abstract up to 250 words describing the topic of the panel and descriptions of up to 100 words describing each participant's contribution.

Submit your proposals here.


Please do not submit more than once for each presentation format (so you can submit as part of a group symposium as well as an individual paper, but not two papers). Participants will generally only be able to appear on the program once in any capacity. Papers that are not accepted for presentation will be automatically considered in our open roundtables session.

Deadline is 1st of February 2015.

The Center for Values in Medicine, Science, and Technology works to foster diversity and inclusiveness in our programming, events, and outreach efforts. Proposal authors and panel organizers will be asked to submit an optional 50-100 word diversity statement to explain their commitment and contributions to diversity in their proposal and in general. Conference proposals will be reviewed for quality, but final programming decisions will be made with diversity and inclusiveness in mind. Contributed paper proposals will be anonymously reviewed at all stages, whereas final decisions on organized panel proposals may consider identity of the panelists.

Conference facilities will be wheelchair accessible, and interpreters for the deaf and hard of hearing can be provided upon request. For any questions about the conference, please contact values@utdallas.edu

The Center for Values in Medicine, Science, and Technology is an institutional member of the Consortium for Socially Relevant Philosophy of/in Science and/or Engineering (SRPoiSE).

Saturday, October 18, 2014

PhilPapers Editorship Vacancies

I have decided to step down from my roles as Area Editor for General Philosophy of Science and as Editor for Scientific Realism at PhilPapers. Due to personal reasons, I didn't have as much time as I would have liked to dedicate to this wonderful project and I have decided it would be wiser for me to focus my efforts on the two categories of which I will retain Editorship (i.e. Properties, and Dispositions and Powers) instead. This means that the above-mentioned editorships are now vacant. Qualified applicants are encouraged to apply through the PhilPapers application system. PhilPapers is one of the most useful and powerful professional tools we have and it relies on Editors to function at its best, so I hope many of you will consider applying!

(UPDATE: David Chalmers informs me that, in the process of removing my name from those editorships, all the editorships in the general philosophy of science area have been removed as well. This )

Thursday, September 25, 2014

EBM+ blog

Readers of this blog may be interested in the blog of the EBM+ consortium, accessible at www.ebmplus.org


EBM+ is a consortium whose members are keen to develop the methods of evidence-based medicine to better handle evidence of mechanisms.


Tuesday, May 27, 2014

New Journal: Ergo

The first issue of Ergo is out and can be accessed here: http://www.ergophiljournal.org/

The following are four blog posts discussing each of the papers appearing in the first issue:

Julia Jorati (OSU) on a paper in early modern by Paul Lodge (Oxford):
http://philosophymodsquad.wordpress.com/

Anna Mahtani (LSE) on a paper by Michael Caie (Pittsburgh):
http://choiceandinference.com/http://m-phi.blogspot.ca/

Ellen Clark (Oxford) on a paper in philosophy of biology by
Christopher Hitchcock (Caltech) and Joel Velasco (Texas Tech):
http://philosomama.blogspot.co.uk/

Thomas Nadelhoffer (Charleston) on a paper in experimental philosophy
by John Turri (Waterloo):
http://philosophycommons.typepad.com/xphi/

Wednesday, April 2, 2014

CFP: Inductive Logic and Confirmation in Science II

(24-25 October 2014Department of Philosophy, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, USA)
  • Submission deadline: *** Friday, May 30, 2014 ***
  • Notification by: June 30, 2014
  • Submission requirement: Extended abstract (1,000 words or less)
  • Submit extended abstracts via email to jonah.n.schupbach@utah.edu.
  • Accommodations: Expenses for travel, hotel, and meals will be covered in full for any graduate students presenting at the conference. Hotel and meals will be provided for all other presenters.
  • Publication: Selected papers from ILCS1 and this workshop may be published in an edited volume or journal special issue. When submitting, please note whether you would like your paper to be considered for inclusion in a proceedings volume.
  • Website: http://jonahschupbach.com/ILCS/
Keynote Speakers:
  • Tania Lombrozo (University of California, Berkeley)
  • Elliott Sober (University of Wisconsin, Madison)
  • Katie Steele (London School of Economics)
Conference Organizers:
This is the 2nd workshop on Inductive Logic and Confirmation in Science.  ILCS1, organized by Juergen Landes and Jon Williamson, was held in Paris in October 2013.  This series of workshops is addressed to all researchers (early and not so early career) in all disciplines who have an interest in inductive logic and confirmation theory as they relate to science and the philosophy of science.  PhD students are particularly encouraged to participate.  The workshop is free and open to anyone.  If you plan to attend (and are not on the list of presenters), please register by simply dropping an email to the organizers with your name and affiliation.

Tuesday, February 25, 2014

Post Doc: Notre Dame

Postdoctoral Fellowship in History and Philosophy of Science
The History and Philosophy of Science Graduate Program at the University of Notre Dame seeks to appoint a Postdoctoral Fellow beginning August 2014 for one year, renewable for a second year. Applicants must have completed all requirements for the doctoral degree by June 30, 2014.

Applications are welcome from scholars in any area of history and philosophy of science. In addition to pursuing his or her research and participating actively in the intellectual life of the program, the HPS Postdoctoral Fellow will teach two graduate courses per year, one of which may be in the candidate’s area of specialization. We are especially, but not exclusively, interested in candidates able to teach our graduate philosophy of science survey course (interest in teaching one of our graduate history of science survey courses may also be an asset), and encourage you to explain how your research and teaching experience is well suited to our interdisciplinary program.

The annual stipend is $48,000. The fellowship package also includes health insurance and $3000 per year towards research expenses and conference travel. A summary of benefits can be found at: http://hr.nd.edu/assets/121245/p1_benefit_summary_2014.pdf.

Applicants should send the following materials in electronic form only, in PDF format by email attachment, to reilly@nd.edu, including “HPS post-doc” and your last name in the subject line. The deadline for receipt of application materials is March 30th.
1. Cover letter giving a brief summary of your primary field of expertise and qualifications for the fellowship.
2. Summary of your dissertation (two page maximum).
3. Plan of research to be undertaken during a two-year fellowship period (two page maximum).
4. Writing sample (30 page maximum).
5. Where applicable, a proposal for a graduate philosophy of science survey course, bearing in mind that our courses are taken by history-, philosophy-, and theology and science-track students (one page maximum).
6. Proposal for a graduate seminar in your area of specialization (one page maximum).
7. Full curriculum vitae.
8. Names and affiliations of three referees whom you have asked to write to us directly.
Please note: applications that are printed and received via mail or courier will not be accepted and processed.                 
The three letters of reference should be sent separately, either electronically (reilly@nd.edu) or by mail (Reilly Center, 453 Geddes Hall, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN 46556), to arrive by the application deadline. Candidates are responsible for ensuring that their letters of reference arrive by the deadline.

The HPS graduate program is housed in the Reilly Center for Science, Technology and Values, and draws faculty from a variety of departments including History, Philosophy, the Program of Liberal Studies, Theology, and English. For further information about the Reilly Center and the HPS program, please visit http://reilly.nd.edu/. The HPS Postdoctoral Fellowship is funded by the College of Arts and Letters.

Inquiries may be directed to Anjan Chakravartty (Director, History and Philosophy of Science Graduate Program): chakravartty.1@nd.edu.

The University of Notre Dame is an equal opportunity, affirmative action educator and employer with strong institutional and academic commitments to racial, cultural, and gender diversity. Women, minorities, and those attracted to a university with a Catholic identity are encouraged to apply. Information about Notre Dame, including our mission statement, is available athttp://www.nd.edu.

Friday, February 14, 2014

Lakatos Award 2013


Condratulations to Laura Ruetsche and David Wallace. Very well-deserved!
The London School of Economics and Political Science announces that the Lakatos Award for an outstanding contribution to the philosophy of science, has been won jointly by Laura Ruetsche of the University of Michigan for her book Interpreting Quantum Theories (Oxford University Press, 2011) and by David Wallace of Oxford University for his book The Emergent Multiverse (Oxford University Press, 2012). Each will win a prize of £7500.
The Lakatos Award is given for an outstanding contribution to the philosophy of science, widely interpreted, in the form of a book published in English during the previous five years. It was made possible by a generous endowment from the Latsis Foundation. The Award is in memory of the former LSE professor, Imre Lakatos, and is administered by an international Management Committee organised from the LSE, but entirely independent of LSE’s Department of Philosophy, Logic and Scientific Method.
The Committee, chaired by John Worrall, decides the outcome of the Award competition on the advice of an international, independent and anonymous panel of Selectors who produce detailed reports on the nominated books. ________________________________________________________________________
Nominations can now be made for the 2014 Lakatos Award, and must be received by Monday 21st April 2014. The 2014 Award will be for a book published in English with an imprint from 2009-2014 inclusive. A book may, with the permission of its author/s, be nominated by any person of recognised standing within philosophy of science or an allied profession. (The Management Committee is not empowered to nominate books itself but only to respond to outside nominations.)
Please address any nominations, or any requests for further information about the 2014 Award to the Award Administrator, Tom Hinrichsen, att.a.hinrichsen@lse.ac.uk.
________________________________________________________________________
Imre Lakatos, who died in 1974 aged 51, had been Professor of Logic with special reference to the Philosophy of Mathematics at LSE since 1969. He joined the Department of Philosophy, Logic and Scientific Method in 1960. Born in Hungary in 1922, he graduated (in Physics, Mathematics and Philosophy) from Debrecen University in 1944. He then joined the underground resistance. (His mother and grandmother perished in Auschwitz.) After the War, he was active in the Communist Party and had an influential position in the Ministry of Education. In 1950 he was arrested and spent the next three years as a political prisoner. After his release, he was given refuge in the Hungarian Academy of Science where he translated western works in science and mathematics into Hungarian. After the suppression of the Hungarian uprising he escaped to Vienna and from there, with the aid of a Rockefeller fellowship, on to Cambridge, England. He there wrote his (second) doctoral thesis out of which grew !his famous Proofs and Refutations (CUP, 1976, edited by John Worrall and Elie Zahar). Two volumes of Philosophical Papers, edited by John Worrall and Gregory Currie, appeared in 1978, also from CUP.www2.lse.ac.uk/philosophy/lakatos/Home.aspx________________________________________

Monday, January 13, 2014

Society For Exact Philosophy, 42nd Annual Meeting



SEP 2014
42nd annual meeting of the Society for Exact Philosophy

June 22-24, 2014
California Institute of Technology
Pasadena, CA

The 2014 meeting of the Society for Exact Philosophy will be held 22-24 June 2014 at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, CA.This year's meeting is being held in conjunction with the Formal Epistemology Workshop (FEW) which runs June 20-22nd at the University of Southern California. June 22nd will be a special day devoted to joint activities in Pasadena. It is hoped that interested participants will take advantage of the spatiotemporal proximity of these sister events.

Keynote Speakers

Susan Haack, University of Miami
Scott Soames, University of Southern California
Bas van Fraassen, San Francisco State University

Call for Papers and Abstracts

"The SEP is dedicated to providing sustained discussion among researchers who believe that rigorous methods have a place in philosophical investigations."

SEP 2014 invites submissions of papers and abstracts in all areas of analytic philosophy.

For more information, including instructions for submissions, visit the conference web site at:  http://www.phil.ufl.edu/SEP/meeting/2014

Information on the Society and its previous meetings is on the web at http://www.phil.ufl.edu/SEP

Join us in Pasadena!