The news section of the German Society for Philosophy of Science (GWP)

CFP: Agent-Based Models in Philosophy: Prospects and Limitations (Ruhr-University Bochum, March 20-22, 2019, Deadline: November 15, 2018)

Submitted by Dunja Šešelja (MCMP, LMU Munich).

***Call for abstracts***

Agent-Based Models in Philosophy: Prospects and Limitations

March 20-22, 2019
Institute for Philosophy II, Ruhr-University Bochum
http://homepage.ruhr-uni-bochum.de/defeasible-reasoning/ABM-Phil-2019.html

***The conference theme***
Over the last decade agent-based models (ABMs) have become an increasingly popular method across philosophical disciplines: from ethics and political philosophy to philosophy of science and social epistemology. They have been used to investigate the evolution of social norms, the efficiency of scientific inquiry, opinion dynamics, networks of epistemic trust, argumentation strategies, etc.  At the same time, a precise, widely agreed-upon methodology of agent-based modeling in philosophy is lacking. In fact, how ABMs should be constructed and used is controversially discussed in philosophy and beyond. While some argue that ABMs require empirical calibration, others emphasize the virtue of simplicity typical for abstract, highly idealized models. These issues have been closely related to a variety of epistemic functions ABMs are designed to perform: from providing normative generalizations to offering only ‘how-possibly’ explanations.
This conference provides a forum for discussing the proper role and the limits of ABMs proposed in the philosophical literature, novel application contexts of ABMs, as well as their relation to other philosophical methods (e.g., case studies, formal models of scientific inference, conceptual analysis). It aims to bring together experts with practical modeling expertise from social sciences and philosophy and scholars who engage in methodological reflections of this method.

***Keynote speakers***
Corinna Elsenbroich (University of Surrey)
Cailin O’Connor (University of California, Irvine)
Samuli Reijula (University of Tampere)
Daniel Singer (University of Pennsylvania)
Kevin Zollman (Carnegie Mellon University)

***Call for submissions***
We invite submissions in the form of a short abstracts (≤ 150 words) and an extended abstract (≤ 1.000 words) to be sent via EasyChair by November 15: https://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=abmphil2019

***Important dates***
Deadline for submissions: November 15, 2018
Notifications: December 1, 2018
Conference: March 20-22, 2019 (starting on March 20 in the afternoon)

***Program Committee***
Eckhart Arnold (Bavarian Academy of Sciences)
AnneMarie Borg (Ruhr-University Bochum)
Justin Bruner (University of Groningen)
Patrick Grim (Stony Brook, University of Michigan)
Johannes Marx (University of Bamberg)
Conor Mayo-Wilson (University of Washington)
Aydin Mohseni (UC Irvine)
Ryan Muldoon (University of Pennsylvania)
Rush Stewart (LMU Munich)
Johanna Thoma (London School of Economics)

***Organizers***
Gregor Betz (Karlsruhe Institute of Technology)
Dunja Šešelja (LMU Munich)
Christian Straßer (Ruhr-University Bochum)

http://homepages.ruhr-uni-bochum.de/defeasible-reasoning/index.html

CfA: EPSA21 Call for Venues (Deadline: August 17, 2019)

Submitted by EPSA.

Call for Venues – 8th EPSA Biennial Conference 2021

The European Philosophy of Science Association (EPSA) calls for proposals for the venue of EPSA21, its eighth conference, to be held in the autumn of 2021. The biennial conference is the main scientific event of the EPSA, typically attracting 300-400 philosophers of science from across the world. It usually comprises 200 contributed and symposia talks, organized in as many as eight different sections, and taking place in five or six parallel sessions. A selection of papers from the conference will be published as a special edition of the European Journal for Philosophy of Science.

The conference is typically hosted by a philosophy of science unit, and its venue must be a recognized European academic or research institution. The event takes place in the autumn over a period of 3-4 days (which must include a Saturday) in alternating years to the conferences of the Philosophy of Science Association (PSA). Past conferences have taken place at Madrid (2007), Amsterdam (2009), Athens (2011), Helsinki (2013), Düsseldorf (2015), and Exeter (2017). EPSA19 will take place in Geneva, Switzerland.

A Local Organizing Committee (LOC) is set up at the host institution — with a remit to organize the event itself. About one year in advance, the Steering Committee (SC) of the EPSA puts out a call for papers and selects a Program Committee (PC) comprising distinguished philosophers of science. The LOC, SC, and PC are non-overlapping sets of people, with the exception of the Chairs of the LOC and PC, who may be drawn from the SC.

Proposals (one PDF document) should be submitted to the President of the Association (Prof. Samir Okasha. email: phil-epsa@bristol.ac.uk) by August 17, 2019 and must include the following:

  • The name of the organizing unit or research institution.
  • The name of the academic or research institute hosting the event.
  • The proposed dates in the autumn of 2021 (expected to be a long weekend from end of August to end of November 2021).
  • The names of the members of the LOC, including Chair(s) and/or Deputy. (Please note that the members of the LOC have to be EPSA members.)
  • The CV of the Chair(s) of the LOC.
  • An estimated budget proposal, including rough estimates for the following expenses: a) building and facilities, b) catering, c) conference registration packs (x200 delegates minimum), d) personnel, e) expected financial contribution by the host institution and/or a funding agency.
For more information about our past conferences, please visit our website or contact us at phil-epsa@bristol.ac.uk.