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

CfP: Protolang 7 (HHU Duesseldorf, September 6-8, 2021, Deadline: February 15, 2021)

Submitted by Corina Strößner (Ruhr University Bochum).

Call for papers: Protolang 7 (HHU Düsseldorf, September 6-8, 2021)

The 7th International Conference “Ways to Protolanguage” is going to take place at the University of Düsseldorf from Sept 6 to Sept 8, 2021. The thematic focus of Protolang is on delineating the socio-cultural, semiotic, symbolic, ecological genetic, anatomical and neuro-cognitive requirements for evolving (proto)language. Sign use, tools, cooperative breeding, pointing, vocalisation, intersubjectivity, bodily mimesis, planning and navigation are among many examples of such possible factors through which hominins have gained a degree of specificity that is not found in other forms of animal communication and cognition. We aim at identifying the proximate and ultimate causes as well as the mechanisms by which these requirements evolved; evaluating the methodologies, research tools and simulation techniques; and enabling extended and vigorous exchange of ideas across disciplinary borders.

Keynote speakers of Protolang 7 and their main research areas:

  • Michel DeGraff (Massachusetts Institute of Technology)
    Linguistic theory, creole studies, language and education
  • Katja Liebal (Leipzig University)
    Human biology and primate cognition
  • Asifa Majid (University of York)
    Psychology of language and communication
  • Albert Newen (Ruhr University Bochum)
    Philosophy of mind
  • Cailin O’Connor (University of California Irvine)
    Philophy of science and evolutionary game theory
  • Asli Ozyurek (Max-Planck-Institute for Psycholinguistics Nijmegen)
    Multimodal language processing

We invite scholars from linguistics, behavioral science, cognitive science and related disciplines to contribute experimental and theoretical research. Please submit abstracts of up to 500 words, excl. references, via easychair (https://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=protolang7).

  • Deadline for submission: February 15th 2021
  • Notification: March 2021

Note on Covid-19:
We are very much aware that it is currently far from clear whether Protolang 7 can take place as a physical conference. We still plan for an on-site conference with an option to participate online, but are prepared to make it a fully virtual conference if necessary.

CfP: Minds & Machines Special Issue on “Machine Learning: Prediction Without Explanation?” (Deadline: April 30, 2021)

Submitted by Florian Boge (Wuppertal University).

 

Call for Papers for a Minds & Machines Special Issue on

Machine Learning: Prediction Without Explanation?

https://www.springer.com/journal/11023/updates/18180316

***Extended Deadline: 30 April 2021***

Description
Over the last decades, Machine Learning (ML) techniques have gained central prominence in many areas of science. ML typically aims at pattern recognition and prediction, and in many cases has become a better tool for these purposes than traditional methods. The downside, however, is that ML does not seem to provide any explanations, at least not in the same sense as theories or traditional models do.

This apparent lack of explanation is often also linked to the opacity of ML techniques, sometimes referred to as the ‘Black Box Challenge’. Methods such as heat maps or adversarial examples are aimed at reducing this opacity and opening the black box. But at present, it remains an open question how and what exactly these methods explain and what the nature of these explanations is.
While in some areas of science this may not create any interesting philosophical challenges, in many fields, such as medicine, climate science, or particle physics, an explanation may be desired; among other things for the sake of rendering subsequent decisions and policy making transparent. Moreover, explanation and understanding are traditionally construed as central epistemic aims of science in general. Does a turn to ML techniques hence imply a radical shift in the aims of science? Does it require us to rethink science-based policy making? Or does it mean we need to rethink our concepts of explanation and understanding?

In this Special Issue, we want to address this complex of questions regarding explanation and prediction, as it attaches to ML applications in science and beyond.
We invite papers focusing on but not restricted to the following topics:

  • (How) can ML results be used for the sake of explaining scientific observations?
  • If so, what is the nature of these explanations?
  • Will future science favor prediction above explanation?
  • If so, what does this mean for science-based decision and policy making?
  • What is explained about ML by methods such as saliency maps and adversarials?
  • Does ML introduce a shift from classical notions of scientific explanation, such as causal-mechanistic, covering law-, or unification-based, towards a purely statistical one?
  • (Why) should we trust ML applications, given their opacity?
  • (Why) should we care about the apparent loss of explanatory power?

The Special Issue is guest edited by members of the project The impact of computer simulations and machine learning on the epistemic status of LHC Data, part of the DFG/FWF-funded interdisciplinary research unit The Epistemology of the Large Hadron Collider

For more information, please visit https://www.lhc-epistemology.uni-wuppertal.de

Timetable
Deadline for paper submissions: 30 April 2021
Deadline for paper reviewing: 18 June 2021
Deadline for submission of revised papers: 02 July 2021
Deadline for reviewing revised papers: 06 August 2021
Papers will be published in 2021

Submission Details
To submit a paper for this special issue, authors should go to the journal’s Editorial Manager https://www.editorialmanager.com/mind/default.aspx The author (or a corresponding author for each submission in case of co- authored papers) must register into EM.
The author must then select the special article type: “Machine Learning: Prediction without Explanation?” from the selection provided in the submission process. This is needed in order to assign the submissions to the Guest Editor.
Submissions will then be assessed according to the following procedure:
New Submission => Journal Editorial Office => Guest Editor(s) => Reviewers => Reviewers’ Recommendations => Guest Editor(s)’ Recommendation => Editor-in-Chief’s Final Decision => Author Notification of the Decision.
The process will be reiterated in case of requests for revisions.

Guest Editors

  • Dr. Florian J. Boge, postdoctoral researcher, Interdisciplinary Centre for Science and Technology Studies (IZWT), Wuppertal University
  • Paul Grünke, doctoral student, research group “Philosophy of Engineering, Technology Assessment, and Science”, Institute for Technology Assessment and Systems Analysis (ITAS), Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT)
  • Prof. Dr. Dr. Rafaela Hillerbrand, head of the research group “Philosophy of Engineering, Technology Assessment, and Science”, Institute for Technology Assessment and Systems Analysis (ITAS), Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT)

For any further information please contact:
– Dr. Florian J. Boge: fjboge@uni-wuppertal.de
– Paul Grünke: paul.gruenke@kit.edu

CfP: Salzburg Conference for Young Analytic Philosophy SOPhiA 2021 (University of Salzburg, September 9-11, 2021, Deadline: May 1, 2021)

Submitted by Christian J. Feldbacher-Escamilla (DCLPS, University of Duesseldorf)

 

CALL FOR PAPERS (Salzburg, deadline: May 1, 2021)

Salzburg Conference for Young Analytic Philosophy: SOPhiA 2021
September 9 – 11, 2021
Department of Philosophy (Humanities), University of Salzburg, Austria

Aim:
SOPhiA 2021 provides an opportunity for students and doctoral candidates in philosophy to take a first peek into the philosophical business and to get in touch with prospective and well-established philosophers. Contributions in every discipline of philosophy (epistemology, ethics, logic, metaphysics, philosophy of mind, philosophy of religion, philosophy of science, etc.) are welcome. As common in analytic philosophy, contributors should make use of understandable language as well as rational argumentation. In addition to the conference presentations, there will also be affiliated workshops on selected topics in analytic philosophy.

Keynote Speakers:

  • Marian David (University of Graz)
  • Herlinde Pauer-Studer (University of Vienna)
  • Markus Schrenk (University of Duesseldorf)

Workshops:

  • Scientific Impartiality and Marginalized Groups (Organisation: Sophie Nagler (Oxford, MCMP) & Hannah Pillin (LSE, MCMP) & Deniz Sarikaya (Hamburg))
  • Moral and Scientific Expertise (Organisation: Alexander Christian, Julia Mirkin (Duesseldorf))
  • Social Ontology (Organisation: Thorben Peterson (Bremen))
  • Realities of Free Will (Organisation: Maria Sekatskaya (Duesseldorf))

Call for papers:
Students and doctoral candidates (pre-doc) in philosophy are encouraged to submit an abstract prepared for double-blind review. We are committed to fostering diversity and equality in our programs. Submissions from underrepresented groups are particularly welcome. Abstracts should not exceed 2.000 characters. All submissions should be suitable for a presentation of approximately 20 minutes in length (plus 10 minutes discussion). Please submit your abstract with a biographical note and a short CV attached in a separate document at http://www.sophia-conference.org/ until May 1, 2021. Attendees are asked to register at the same site before the conference. Note that authors may appear as co-authors on multiple submissions, but not more often than once as first author/presenter.

Additional information concerning COVID-19:
At the moment, we are planning the conference as a physical event. If it will be possible to hold the conference as a physical event in September 2021, the conference will conform to the COVID-19 safety measures for public events according to recent standards at that time. The organising committee reserves the right to hold the conference as a mixed or online event if need be. Authors of accepted contributions will be updated and informed in time about the status of the conference.

SOPhiA best paper award:
Contributors are also invited to submit a full paper (from 4.000 up to 8.000 words) not including any author or affiliation information. A selection of full papers will be published in KRITERION — Journal of Philosophy. The best contribution will also be awarded with 250 EUR at SOPhiA 2021. Please prepare your full paper according to the guidelines available at http://www.kriterion-journal-of-philosophy.org/ and submit it via e-mail (subject line: SOPhiA 2021) to editor@kriterion-journal-of-philosophy.org. Please note that only full papers in English submitted before the general deadline (May 1, 2021) can be considered for the SOPhiA best paper award and that contributors are not allowed to be first or co-author of more than one paper submitted for the SOPhiA best paper award.

Submission deadline: May 1, 2021
Notification deadline: June 1, 2021
Website: www.sophia-conference.org

CfP: Virtual Entities in Science: A virtual workshop (Online, March 5, 12, and 19, 2021, Deadline: January 15, 2021)

Submitted by Adrian Wüthrich (TU Berlin).

2nd Call for Papers

We extend the deadline for submissions to the workshop announced below until 15 January 2021. For this second call, we particularly encourage contributions dealing with the life sciences, or with periods before the 20th century.

Virtual entities in science: a virtual workshop

5, 12 and 19 March 2021, online 

Organized by the Project “Virtual Particles” (A1) of the Research Unit “The Epistemology of the Large Hadron Collider”

Not only since the sudden increase of online communication due to the COVID-19 situation has the concept of the “virtual” made its way into everyday language. In this context, it mostly denotes a digital substitute of a real object or process. “Virtual reality” is perhaps the best known term in this respect. 

With these digital connotations, “virtuality” has been used also in science and research: Chemists use virtual laboratories, biologists do virtual scanning of molecular structures, and geologists engage in virtual field trips. 

But the concept of the “virtual” has a much longer tradition, dating back to long before the dawn of the digital age. Virtual displacements and virtual images were introduced in classical physics already in the 18th century. They represented auxiliary objects or processes without instantiation, with the purpose of efficiently describing specific physical systems. Through Heisenberg’s use of “potentia” in his late attempts to interpret quantum mechanics, the term “virtual” may even relate back to Aristotle.

In today’s physics, the term virtual is mostly associated with the quantum world, first and foremost with the “virtual particle” of quantum field theory. It has become such an integral part of modern high energy physics that its ontological character may be considered to go beyond the purely auxiliary, which is typically associated with the virtual. The various possibilities for a virtual particle to manifest itself in a measurement highlights, furthermore, how “potentiality” continues to be a characteristic feature of virtual entities. 

In other disciplines, however, use of the term “virtual” without a digital connotation is much rarer. While concepts like “virtual adrenaline” in medicine and biochemistry arise in the 1940s, and the “virtual moon” figures quite prominently in some (English translations of) Babylonian calendar texts, these examples seem to be rather singular occurrences of entities that were explicitly called “virtual”. The basic idea behind the terminology of the virtual, however, could be much more common, even outside of physics. The “invisible hand” in economics, or the “vital force” in biology, for instance, do carry aspects of a virtual entity, even if they have not been called that way. 

For this workshop we invite contributions that address the historical formation and philosophical interpretation of concepts of virtual entities in physics and other disciplines – in whatever terms they may come. The main goal of the workshop is to bring to the fore similarities and differences in the meanings and functions of these concepts so as to be able to precisely characterize why certain entities are considered virtual in specific contexts, why a different terminology was often used in each individual case and in what sense the virtual entities relate to the real world. 

We are looking for contributions that address the role of these concepts in theoretical as well as experimental activities, and for investigations into the origins of the terminology of the virtual as it was applied to the various disciplines of natural science. Work that integrates philosophical and historical approaches is particularly welcome. 

Among other things, contributions may focus on one of the following aspects which are usually associated with virtual entities, in particular if we think of the virtual particle of modern quantum field theory:

·    The terminology of virtuality, including its etymology, and why it was applied to the entities in question: Why not other terms like “substitute” or “auxiliary”? 

·    The potentiality inherent in virtual entities to bring about certain effects, which may eventually be realized or not: How is this to be understood exactly? 

·    The ontology of virtual entities: How is it different from real entities, and how do we get epistemic access to virtual entities? 

The workshop will be held online. Apart from the contributed talks, the program will feature a small number of keynotes. To contribute a paper, please send a title and an abstract (approx. 200 words) along with your name, affiliation and contact details to adrian.wuethrich@tu-berlin.de no later than 15 January 2021 (extended deadline). 

For further information and updates please consult the conference webpage or contact one of the organizers. 

Robert Harlander, Jean-Philippe Martinez, Friedrich Steinle, Adrian Wüthrich (adrian.wuethrich@tu-berlin.de)

CfA: Heinrich Hertz Fellowship in History and Philosophy of Physics (University of Bonn, Deadline: January 31, 2021)

Submitted by Niels Martens (University of Bonn).

The Heinrich Hertz Fellowship in History and Philosophy of physics is designed to allow graduate students (typically PhD students but Master students can also apply) and early-career postdoctoral scholars to spend either half of or a full academic year at the University of Bonn to work on any topic in the history and philosophy of physics. They have no formal duties apart from following their own research agenda and interacting with the other historians and philosophers of physics in Bonn [ https://www.history-and-philosophy-of-physics.com/ ]. Hertz fellows are provided with:

  • A (possibly shared) office in the Institute of Philosophy of the University of Bonn. 
  • Reimbursement of all travel and visa costs to come to Bonn. 
  • A monthly stipend of 2500 Euros to cover accommodation and maintenance during the stay in Bonn. Stipends are not generally taxable in Germany. Fellows have to show that they have sufficient (travel) health insurance for their stay in Bonn. 
  • Reimbursements of some conference travel and similar expenses during the stay in Bonn.

Fellows can apply to spend either the winter semester, the summer semester or both (i.e. the whole academic year including the time between the two semesters) in Bonn. In the academic year of 2021/2022, the winter semester goes from early October to the end of January (with a two week break for the holidays) while the summer semester lasts from early April till the end of July.  

If you are interested in a Hertz fellowship, please send your complete application documents by 31 January 2021 to Ms Yvonne Luks at office.lehmkuhl@uni-bonn.de. Before sending your application, please combine and convert all of your documents into one PDF file. A complete application will consist of a.) a cover letter, a curriculum vitae, a writing sample of no more than 10.000 words; and b.) up to three letters of reference which must be sent by the letter writers or the placement service directly to the above address. In your cover letter, please state for which semester(s) you would like to come to Bonn, what kind of research project you intend to pursue during your time here, and why pursuing this project in Bonn would be particularly useful to you. If you have questions, please contact Prof. Lehmkuhl (dennis.lehmkuhl@uni-bonn.de)

The University of Bonn is committed to diversity and equal opportunity. It is certified as a family-friendly university. It aims to increase the proportion of women in areas where women are under-represented and to promote their careers in particular. It therefore urges women with relevant qualifications to apply. Applications will be handled in accordance with the `Landesgleichstellungsgesetz’ (State Equality Act). Applications from suitable individuals with a certified serious disability and those of equal status are particularly welcome.

CfP: Special Issue on Bayesian Epistemology (Deadline: January 15, 2021)

Special Issue on Bayesian Epistemology: Deadline 15.Jan.2021

Bayesian epistemology remains the dominant account of rational beliefs, it underpins the dominant account of decision making in science and beyond, as well as many of our statistical methods. While important applications continue to to emerge, the work on the foundations of Bayesian epistemology never stops and a number of challenges are emerging.

The aim of this special issue is bring together scholars exploring applications, challenges and foundations of Bayesian epistemology.
The special issue will appear in the open-access journal Kriterion.

Topics of interest (in alphabetic order) are not limited to:

    Accuracy
    Bayesianism and Artificial Intelligence
    Bayesian Networks
    Bounded Rationality
    Causation
    Confirmation
    Disagreement
    Evidence
    Evidence Aggregation
    Expansion
    Foundational Aspects of Bayesian Statistics
    Higher Order Evidence
    Imprecise Bayesian Approaches
    Induction
    Inference
    Interpretations of Probabilities
    Judgement Aggregation
    Maximum Entropy (Applications, Inference and Methods)
    Multi Agent Epistemology
    Objective Bayesian Epistemology
    Principles of Bayesianism (Conditionalisation, Probabilism, Total Evidence)
    Replication
    Updating Procedures (Jeffrey, KL, L&P).

Deadline for submissions: 15.Jan.2021.
Submissions of a manuscript (pdf only) prepared for double-blind peer review are to be sent to the guest editor:
juergen_landes@yahoo.de

This special issue appears in conjunction with a conference dedicated to Bayesian epistemology.

This special issue and the conference are organised by
Juergen Landes (LMU Munich)

CfR: Thinking about the Cultural Evolution of Thinking (DCLPS, University of Duesseldorf, January 22, 2021, Zoom)

Submitted by Karim Baraghith (DCLPS, University of Duesseldorf).

 

The DCLPS is organising a one-day Zoom-workshop on

THINKING ABOUT THE CULTURAL EVOLUTION OF THINKING

Date & Venue: January 22, 2021, Zoom
Website: http://dclps.phil.hhu.de/tacet/

 

Invited Speakers:

  • Azita Chellappoo (Bochum)
  • Cecilia Heyes (Oxford)
  • Larissa Mendoza Straffon (Bergen)
  • Samir Okasha (Bristol)
  • Mason Youngblood (New York)

 

Abstract:
Over the past decades, theories of cultural evolution gained more and more attention in the special sciences and in philosophy of science. Of particular interest is the mutual interaction and connection between culture and cognition. Culture has a huge impact on how (and what) we think and core aspects of thinking (such as memory, causal understanding, a theory of mind, rationality and other ‘cognitive gadgets’) are responsible for the products of cultural evolution.

Both share a Darwinian explanatory framework at their core, involving variation, selection, and reproduction/transmission. However, biological and cultural evolution differ in many important aspects and precise mechanisms – and many of these differences originate in the fact that we face ‘thinkers’ and more or less rational agents in cultural evolution. For example, cultural selection is subject to a whole range of ‘biases’ that have no analogue in biological evolution and are mostly grounded in cognitive capacities of the cultural agents.

While it is the aim of the special sciences to empirically explore this vast field of possible links between culture and thinking, social learning and cognition, it is the aim of philosophy of science to conceptually structure and represent this growing body of research. This workshop aims at bringing together scholars of both fields to inspire dialogue and future collaborations.

 

Call for registration:
To register, please contact one of the organisers before January 22, 2021.

 

Organisation & Contact:
Karim Baraghith karim.baraghith@hhu.de and Christian J. Feldbacher-Escamilla christian.feldbacher-escamilla@hhu.de
Duesseldorf Center for Logic and Philosophy of Science, DCLPS, University of Duesseldorf
Inductive Metaphysics: a DFG funded research group, the goal of which is to establish how empirical sources and inductive forms of inference play a role in metaphysical research

 

Important links:
Workshop website: http://dclps.phil.hhu.de/tacet/
DCLPS: https://dclps.phil.hhu.de
Inductive metaphysics: https://indmet.weebly.com/

CfA: Organise Events Celebrating World Logic Day 2021 (January 14, 2021)

Submitted by Benedikt Loewe (Universities of Amsterdam, Hamburg, and Cambridge).

 

World Logic Day 2021

14 January 2021

http://wld.cipsh.international/

Twitter: @UNESCO_WLD
Facebook: @WorldLogicDay

UNESCO proclaimed 14 January to be World Logic Day, a global day of
supporting the development of logic through teaching and research, as well
as to public dissemination of the discipline. The Conseil International de
Philosophie et des Sciences Humaines (CIPSH) and its member organisation,
the Division for Logic, Methodology and Philosophy of Science and
Technology of the International Union of History and Philosophy of Science
and Technology (DLMPST/IUHPST), are coordinating the dynamic and global
annual celebration of World Logic Day aiming at fostering international
cooperation, promoting the development of logic, in both research and
teaching, supporting the activities of associations, universities and
other institutions involved with logic, and enhancing public understanding
of logic and its implications for science, technology and innovation.

We invite everyone in the world interested in logic to organise events
celebrating World Logic Day 2021 on 14 January 2021 (or on convenient date
close to the 14th of January). WLD events

  • can be academic or non-academic,
  • can be aimed at the general public or specialists,
  • can focus on any of the many facets of logic from disciplines such as
    mathematics, philosophy, computer science, linguistics, or others, and
  • can use any format, e.g., it could be a lecture, a workshop, a panel
    discussion, an information bazaar, etc. etc.

Please be aware that in the current global pandemic, almost all events
will be virtual. This is a huge opportunity since it will allow people
from outside of your local community to participate without any travel
expenses. However, it also means that all WLD events will be in
competition with each other for the attention of the global logic
community, especially if they all take place at the same time. Be aware of
this issue as you organise your WLD event and decide on the time schedule.
As mentioned, the event does not have to be on 14 January 2021, but can be
on a date close to that day.

If you are organising an event and wish to be listed in the official list
of WLD 2021 events on our website and use the official WLD logo in your
announcements, please follow the simple and informal instructions below to
obtain the status of an official WLD 2021 event.

Instructions:

(1) Create a website for the event or a draft flyer (in pdf format) that
describes the event. The website/flyer must contain the following
information:

  • What is going to happen? (Format, speakers, etc.)
  • When is it going to happen? (Date and time.)
  • Who is organising it? (Name of the main organiser and contact
    information.)
  • In which format is it going to happen? (If in a physical location,
    give location information; if online, say how participants may obtain the
    login information.)

(2) Send an e-mail to wld (at) cipsh (dot) international with the link to
the website and/or with the draft flyer as a pdf attachment and a formal
request to be added to the list of UNESCO WLD events. We expect to decide
on each request within five working days. If you have not received a
message within a week, feel free to send a reminder.

(3) If your event fits with the principles of UNESCO World Logic Day, it
will be added to the official list on our website and you will get the
official WLD graphics to use on your website and in your flyer. (You can
send us an updated flyer for the list on our website once you have
incorporated the graphics.)

After the event, please send a brief report (at most one page, in pdf
format) to wld (at) cipsh (dot) international that will be published on
the website.

CfP: Philosophy and Methodology of Medicine (LMU Munich, June 1-3, 2021, Deadline: March 3, 2021)

Submitted by Jürgen Landes (MCMP, LMU Munich).

 

*********************************************
The Munich Center for Mathematical Philosophy invites abstracts for the following event:

Philosophy and Methodology of Medicine

Online at the MCMP, LMU Munich
June 1-3, 2021
https://www.mcmp.philosophie.uni-muenchen.de/events/workshops/container/methodology_medicine_2021/index.html
*********************************************

The claims of medicine have been supported by a wide variety of different methods, ranging from randomized controlled trials to expert judgement and mechanism-based reasoning. Miriam Solomon has therefore aptly characterized medicine in terms of a developing, untidy, methodological pluralism. But can philosophers help with this development? In recent years, philosophers of science have become increasingly interested in assessing the strengths and weaknesses of the various methods employed in medicine. Some have defended the methodological superiority of randomized controlled trials, or at least meta-analyses of such trials. Others have challenged this superiority by on the one hand stressing the weaknesses of such methods in terms of their internal or external validity, and on the other hand emphasising the strengths of alternative methods, including methods involving expert judgement and mechanistic evidence.

This online conference will bring together philosophers of science and medical methodologists in an attempt to make progress towards resolving these debates concerning the strengths and weaknesses of the various methods employed in medicine.

We welcome submissions of abstracts of no longer than one page (not including references) for thirty-minute talks on topics in the philosophy and methodology of medicine, including but not limited to:

  • Causal inference in medicine
  • Foundational issues in statistics in medicine
  • Bias in medical inference
  • Medical epistemology
  • Multi-agent medical epistemology
  • Mechanisms in medicine
  • Analogy and extrapolation in medicine
  • Expert judgement in medicine.

The conference will be preceded by a Summer School to introduce graduate students and others to the main themes in the debates.

Call for abstracts

Upload an abstract (pdf) at https://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=phiandmethofmed21.

Length of abstract: Up to 1 page of text, references can go on Page 2.

Deadline: 03.03.2021.

The Easychair submission form also asks you to fill a field called ”abstract”. Just type ”N/A” or similar.

Expected notifications: End of March 2021

Organizers
Jürgen Landes (MCMP)
Michael Wilde (Kent)

CfR: 31st Novembertagung on the History and Philosophy of Mathematics (HU Berlin, November 26–28, 2020)

Submitted by Paul Hasselkuß (Heinrich Heine University Duesseldorf).

31st Novembertagung on the History and Philosophy of Mathematics “AXIOMATICS: ANCIENT AND CONTEMPORARY PERSPECTIVES”


November 26th–28th 2020, 9:30 – 18:00 CET / UTC+1Online, hosted by Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Germany


The Novembertagung is an international graduate conference on the History and Philosophy of Mathematics and neighbouring fields. It aims to provide an opportunity for graduate students at all levels to present and discuss their research in an informal and safe environment. It also allows early career researchers to share experiences, get advice, and establish new contacts.

Keynote talks:

  • Tinne Hoff Kjeldsen (Copenhagen): TBA
  • Juliette Kennedy (Helsinki): “The Foundational Project. Where Do We Stand?”
  • Dirk Schlimm (McGill): “Axioms in Mathematical Practice”

The full programme can be found on our website: https://wp.me/P3q6kn-dU. To participate, please register here: https://wp.me/P3q6kn-dO. Please note: to maintain the usual community-feeling and to allow networking, we hope that you participate in most of the conference.


On the theme: While Euclid (c. 3rd century BC) is usually celebrated as the beginning of axiomatic science, many features that are nowadays taken to be essential to axiomatics––such as the explicit statement of inference rules and the requirement of primitive, undefined notions––appear to be alien to ancient mathematics. A major contemporary change in the view on axiomatics was initiated by the adoption of the set-theoretic axiomatic framework as a foundation of mathematics in the first half of the 20th century. Proof theory and model theory subsequently developed as independent research fields and had a wide impact on philosophical thought. On the other hand, some philosophers also argue that the axiomatic view on mathematics may be harmful in that it omits fundamental aspects of mathematical practice and idealizes mathematical reasoning in an unfaithful way.

Organization: Paul Hasselkuß (Universität Düsseldorf), Tiago Hirth (ULisboa), Deborah Kant (Universität Konstanz), Deniz Sarikaya (Universität Hamburg), Tobias Schütz (Universität Mainz), Anna Kiel Steensen (ETH Zürich), and Benjamin Wilck (Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin).

Support: This event is hosted by the Research Training Group Philosophy, Science and the Sciences at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin and generously supported by the British Society for the History of Mathematics (BSHM), International Commission on the History of Mathematics (ICHM), GDR 3398 “Histoire des mathématiques”, the German Society for Philosophy of Science (GWP), the Ludus association and the Schimank – Foundation.


Contact: For any query, do not hesitate to send us an e-mail at novembertagung2020 [at] gmail [dot] com. Further info can be found on our website: https://novembertagung.wordpress.com.

CfR: 4th TiLPS History of Analytic Philosophy Workshop (Tilburg University, online, December 14-15, 2020)

Submitted by Sander Verhaegh (TiLPS, Tilburg University).

 

Call for Registration: 4th TiLPS History of Analytic Philosophy Workshop (online)

Date: December 14 and 15, 2020
Location: Online (Zoom)
Website: https://thapw2020.wordpress.com

Everyone is cordially invited. If you would like to attend, please register at https://thapw2020.wordpress.com/registration/ before December 1. The conference is free of charge and will take place via Zoom. All speakers and registered participants will get access to the online repository with video presentations and receive an invitation for the Q&A sessions on Zoom.

Keynotes
Esther Ramharter (Institute Vienna Circle/University of Vienna)
Sami Pihlström (University of Helsinki)

Panel discussion: The canon of analytic philosophy
Sandra Lapointe (McMaster University)
Esther Ramharter (Institute Vienna Circle/University of Vienna)
Sami Pihlström (University of Helsinki)

Contributed talks
Adam Tamas Tuboly (Institute of Philosophy, Budapest)
Andrea Reichenberger (Paderborn University)
Anna Bellomo (ILLC, University of Amsterdam)
Annapaola Ginammi (ILLC, University of Amsterdam)
Arnaud Dewalque (University of Liège)
Byeong-uk Yi (University of Toronto)
Caterina Sisti (Scuola Normale Superiore)
Christian J. Feldbacher-Escamilla (DCLPS, University of Duesseldorf)
Daniel Kuby (University of Konstanz)
David E. Dunning (Mathematical Institute, University of Oxford)
Dirk Franken (University of Mainz)
Dominik Jarczewski (Dominican School of Philosophy and Theology, Cracow)
Dongwoo Kim (Graduate Center, CUNY)
Edoardo Peruzzi (Scuola Normale Superiore, Pisa)
Edward Guetti (Hunter College, CUNY)
Eugenio Petrovich (University of Siena)
Flavio Baracco (Vossius Center, University of Amsterdam)
Fons Dewulf (Ghent University)
Frederique Janssen-Lauret (University of Manchester)
Gareth R. Pearce (University of Vienna)
Giulia Corti (King’s College London)
Giulia Felappi (University of Southampton)
Günther Eder (University of Vienna)
Henri Wagner (University Bordeaux Montaigne)
James Matthew Fielding (Université Paris I, Panthéon-Sorbonne)
Jamie Shaw (University of Toronto)
Jan Claas (Hamburg University)
Jann Paul Engler (University of St. Andrews/University of Stirling)
Joan Bertran-San-Millán (Institute of Philosophy, Czech Academy of Sciences)
Jody Fairhurst (Universitat de les Illes Balears)
Joel Katzav (The University of Queensland)
Jonas Raab (University of Manchester)
Joshua Eisenthal (California Institute of Technology)
Karl Egerton (University of Hertfordshire)
Kian Mintz-Woo (University College Cork)
Krystian Bogucki (University of Warsaw)
Landon D. C. Elkind (University of Alberta)
Lois Rendl (University of Vienna)
Luca Corti (University of Padua)
Lukas Skiba (University of Hamburg)
Marta Maria Vilardo (University of Catania)
Matt Carlson (Wabash College)
Miklós Márton (ELTE University Budapest)
Ori Simchen (University of British Columbia)
Paul L. Franco (University of Washington-Seattle)
Rachel Boddy (Utrecht University)
Robert May (University of California, Davis)
Serdal Tümkaya (Middle East Technical University)
Shunichi Takagi (University College London)
Simone Nota (Trinity College Dublin)
Teemu Tauriainen (University of Jyväskylä)
Tibor Bárány (Budapest University of Technology and Economics)
Ties van Gemert (Tilburg University)
Wim Vanrie (Ghent University)

Full program available on https://thapw2020.wordpress.com/conference-program/

CfR: ZfW-Ringvorlesung “Wissenschaft und Öffentlichkeit in der Corona-Krise” (Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster)

Submitted by Ludger Jansen (ZfW, Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster).

 

Einladung — Call for participation

 

ZfW-Ringvorlesung „Wissenschaft und Öffentlichkeit in der Corona-Krise“

 

Vorträge ab dem 12.11.2020 immer Donnerstag, 18:15 bis 20:00 Uhr, online, nach Anmeldung

 

Thema

Die Corona-Krise markiert eine Zäsur im Verhältnis von Wissenschaft und Öffentlichkeit. Wissenschaftlich sichtbar gemachte Gefahren und Risiken führen zu außergewöhnlichen politischen Maßnahmen und tiefgreifenden Änderungen in vielen Bereichen der Gesellschaft und der alltäglichen Lebensführung der Menschen.

Die interdisziplinäre Ringvorlesung des Zentrums für Wissenschaftstheorie an der Universität Münster geht dieser Transformation nach und lädt dazu ein, grundsätzlich über die
gesellschaftliche Dynamik der Corona-Pandemie und das Verhältnis von Wissenschaft und Öffentlichkeit zu reflektieren. Wie lässt sich das Geschehen beschreiben und einordnen? Was darf der Staat in solchen Ausnahmesituationen und wo liegen die Grenzen zwischen wissenschaftlicher Expertise, politischer Meinung und verschwörungstheoretischer Verirrung?

Die Fachdisziplinen der Vortragenden reichen von der Philosophie und Soziologie über die Rechtswissenschaften bis hin zur Virologie und Journalistik. Die Ringvorlesung richtet sich an ein allgemeines Publikum.

Die Veranstaltung findet ausschließlich in digitaler Form über die Plattform ‚Zoom‘ statt, jeweils donnerstags von 18.15-20.00 Uhr. Um an einem oder mehreren der Termine teilzunehmen, melden Sie sich bitte an unter: https://listserv.uni-muenster.de/mailman/listinfo/rv-corona. Die Zugangsdaten werden Ihnen dann per E-Mail zugesandt.

 

Organisation:
Fabian Anicker und Carsten Ohlrogge

 

Weitere Informationen:
zfw@wwu.de

 

Homepage:
https://www.uni-muenster.de/Wissenschaftstheorie/ringvorlesung/WissenschaftundOeffentlichkeitinderCorona-Krise.html

 

Anmeldung:
https://listserv.uni-muenster.de/mailman/listinfo/rv-corona

 

Vorträge (Do 18:15-20:00 Uhr)

  • 12.11.2020 Prof. Dr. Rudolf Stichweh: Die Corona-Pandemie und die soziologische Differenzierungstheorie
  • 26.11.2020 Volker Stollorz, Redaktionsleiter Science Media Center: Journalismus über Wissenschaft im Weltereignis Pandemie. Praxis und Herausforderungen
  • 03.12.2020 Prof. Dr. Christoph Möllers: Verfassungsrechtliche
    Grenzen der Pandemiebekämpfung und Grenzen des Verfassungsrechts in der Pandemie
  • 14.01.2021 Prof. Dr. Michael Butter: Verschwörungstheorien in der Corona-Krise
  • 21.01.2021 Dr. Manuel Rivera: Krise wovon – Wandel wohin? Werte und Wahrnehmungsmuster im Klima- und Pandemiediskurs
  • 28.01.2021 Prof. Dr. Dieter Birnbacher: Triage unter Krisenbedingungen. Gibt es eine gerechte Lösung?
  • 04.02.2021 Prof. Dr. Melanie Brinkmann: Von Wuhan in die Welt: der Siegeszug des SARS-CoV-2

CfP: EPSA21 (University of Turin, September 15-18, 2021, Deadline: EXTENDED (TBA))

Submitted by EPSA.

 

EPSA21: Call for Papers and Symposia
8th Biennial Conference of the EPSA in Turin, Italy

UPDATE: It has been decided that EPSA21 will include online as well as in-person presentations. In order to accommodate those who want to take advantage of this change, the submission deadline will be extended beyond 18 January 2021.

The European Society for Philosophy of Science (EPSA) invites contributed papers and proposals for symposia for its next conference, EPSA21, to be held in Turin (Italy) on 15-18 September 2021. The conference will feature contributed talks, symposia, and posters covering all subfields of the philosophy of science, and will bring together a large number of philosophers of science from Europe and overseas. We also welcome philosophically-minded scientists and investigators from areas outside the philosophy of science, for example, as symposium participants; and we particularly welcome submissions from women, ethnic minorities, and other under-represented groups in the profession.

The conference has ten sections:
1. General Philosophy of Science
2. Philosophy of the Physical Sciences
3. Philosophy of the Life Sciences
4. Philosophy of the Cognitive Sciences
5. Philosophy of the Social Sciences
6. Philosophy of Technology and Philosophy of Interdisciplinary Research
7. Philosophy of Science in Practice
8. Formal Philosophy of Science
9. Integrated History, Philosophy, and Social Studies of Science
10. Ethical Issues in the Sciences

The EPSA21 Programme Committee, headed by Caterina Marchionni and Jon Williamson, will strive for quality, variety, and diversity on the programme. A selection of accepted contributed and symposium papers will appear in the European Journal of Philosophy of Science (EJPS).

Contributed Papers
We invite submissions of both a short abstract (max. 1000 characters) and an extended abstract (max. 1000 words) through EasyChair, our online submission system, by DEADLINE EXTENDED (TBA). The extended abstract should include the number and title of the relevant section and the title of the paper. The allocated time for delivering contributed papers at the conference will be 30 minutes, including discussion. Please prepare your abstracts for blind review, and submit your extended abstract as a PDF file.
Authors who want their paper to be considered for the poster session in case of non-acceptance as a talk should tick the appropriate box in EasyChair. Authors whose papers could not be accepted for presentation as a talk but who are offered a place in the poster session will be notified in the decision email.
A graduate student prize will be awarded to the best student paper accepted for presentation at the conference.

Symposia
We invite submissions of both a short abstract (max. 1,000 characters) and a full proposal through EasyChair, our online submission system, by DEADLINE EXTENDED (TBA). The full proposal should include the number and title of the relevant section, the title of the proposed symposium, the contact details of the organizer(s) (who may or may not be a speaker) and the names and short CVs of all speakers (max. 1 page in total), a general description of the topic and its significance (max. 1,500 words), and titles and abstracts of all papers (max. 300 words for each paper).
Accepted symposia will be allocated 120 minutes, including discussions. They can have any format but the maximum number of speakers is five.
Symposium proposals that explore connections between different areas or research programs in philosophy of science or between philosophy of science and sciences are encouraged. Please submit the full proposal as a PDF file.

Poster Session
We invite contributions of posters, which will be presented in a dedicated poster session. Posters can be submitted either as a second option for papers that are also submitted as contributed talks or specifically for the poster session. For poster submissions, please follow the guidelines for contributed papers, add the word “Poster” below the title on both abstracts, and submit your abstracts either by ticking the “Poster” box in the contributed paper track or by uploading your material in the poster track in EasyChair.

Submission Guidelines and Rules
  • The deadline for all submissions is DEADLINE EXTENDED (TBA).All submissions should be made through EasyChair. Please note that first-time users have to register as users of EasyChair.To present at the conference, you must be an active and paying member of the EPSA. Join or renew membership today.Authors can simultaneously make one submission for each of the three above types (contributed paper, symposium, poster), but any author can appear on the programme only once as a presenter or symposium organizer.In case of acceptance of multiple submissions by one author, the programme committee will give symposium participation priority over contributed talks and contributed talks over posters.For co-authored contributed papers, symposium papers, and posters it will be assumed that the first author will present the paper or poster unless specified otherwise. Accordingly, authors presenting at EPSA21 may also appear as co-authors of other papers that are part of the programme, but not as first author/presenter.The decisions on the acceptance of submissions will be announced on 19 April 2021.

Submit online 

For all enquiries, please contact the EPSA mailbox at phil-epsa@bristol.ac.uk.
EPSA21 in Turin – Join the EPSA for a discount on conference registration  and more.JOIN

CfP: Virtual Entities in Science: a virtual workshop (March 5+12+19, 2021, Deadline: November 15, 2020)

Submitted by Adrian Wüthrich (TU Berlin).

 

Call for Papers

Virtual entities in science: a virtual workshop

5, 12 and 19 March 2021, online

Organized by the Project “Virtual Particles” (A1) of the Research Unit “The Epistemology of the Large Hadron Collider”

Not only since the sudden increase of online communication due to the COVID-19 situation has the concept of the “virtual” made its way into everyday language. In this context, it mostly denotes a digital substitute of a real object or process. “Virtual reality” is perhaps the best known term in this respect.

With these digital connotations, “virtuality” has been used also in science and research: Chemists use virtual laboratories, biologists do virtual scanning of molecular structures, and geologists engage in virtual field trips.

But the concept of the “virtual” has a much longer tradition, dating back to long before the dawn of the digital age. Virtual displacements and virtual images were introduced in classical physics already in the 18th century. They represented auxiliary objects or processes without instantiation, with the purpose of efficiently describing specific physical systems. Through Heisenberg’s use of “potentia” in his late attempts to interpret quantum mechanics, the term “virtual” may even relate back to Aristotle.

In today’s physics, the term virtual is mostly associated with the quantum world, first and foremost with the “virtual particle” of quantum field theory. It has become such an integral part of modern high energy physics that its ontological character may be considered to go beyond the purely auxiliary, which is typically associated with the virtual. The various possibilities for a virtual particle to manifest itself in a measurement highlights, furthermore, how “potentiality” continues to be a characteristic feature of virtual entities.

In other disciplines, however, use of the term “virtual” without a digital connotation is much rarer. While concepts like “virtual adrenaline” in medicine and biochemistry arise in the 1940s, and the “virtual moon” figures quite prominently in some (English translations of) Babylonian calendar texts, these examples seem to be rather singular occurrences of entities that were explicitly called “virtual”. The basic idea behind the terminology of the virtual, however, could be much more common, even outside of physics. The “invisible hand” in economics, or the “vital force” in biology, for instance, do carry aspects of a virtual entity, even if they have not been called that way.

For this workshop we invite contributions that address the historical formation and philosophical interpretation of concepts of virtual entities in physics and other disciplines – in whatever terms they may come. The main goal of the workshop is to bring to the fore similarities and differences in the meanings and functions of these concepts so as to be able to precisely characterize why certain entities are considered virtual in specific contexts, why a different terminology was often used in each individual case and in what sense the virtual entities relate to the real world.

We are looking for contributions that address the role of these concepts in theoretical as well as experimental activities, and for investigations into the origins of the terminology of the virtual as it was applied to the various disciplines of natural science. Work that integrates philosophical and historical approaches is particularly welcome.

Among other things, contributions may focus on one of the following aspects which are usually associated with virtual entities, in particular if we think of the virtual particle of modern quantum field theory:

  • The terminology of virtuality, including its etymology, and why it was applied to the entities in question: Why not other terms like “substitute” or “auxiliary”?
  • The potentiality inherent in virtual entities to bring about certain effects, which may eventually be realized or not: How is this to be understood exactly?
  • The ontology of virtual entities: How is it different from real entities, and how do we get epistemic access to virtual entities?

The workshop will be held online. Apart from the contributed talks, the program will feature a small number of keynotes. To contribute a paper, please send a title and an abstract (approx. 200 words) along with your name, affiliation and contact details to adrian.wuethrich@tu-berlin.de no later than 15 November 2020.

For further information and updates please consult the conference webpage or contact one of the organizers.

Robert Harlander, Jean-Philippe Martinez, Friedrich Steinle, Adrian Wüthrich (adrian.wuethrich@tu-berlin.de)

CfA: JOB: Lehraufträge am ZfW Münster im Sommersemester 2021 (October 13, 2020)

Submitted by Ludger Jansen (WWU Münster).

 

Das Zentrum für Wissenschaftstheorie (ZfW) vergibt für das Sommersemester 2021 vier vergütete

Lehraufträge (2 SWS)

Die Lehrveranstaltungen sind den Allgemeinen Studien zugeordnet, richten sich an wissenschaftstheoretisch interessierte Studierende aller Fächer und sollen einem der drei folgenden Bereiche zugeordnet werden:

  1. Klassiker der Wissenschaftstheorie (z.B. Kuhn, Popper etc.),
  2. Vertiefungsveranstaltungen zur allgemeinen Wissenschaftstheorie,
  3. Seminare zur speziellen Wissenschaftstheorie (z. B. zur Wissenschaftstheorie der Physik, Psychologie, Sozial- und Kulturwissenschaften etc.).

BewerberInnen sollten

  • über einen qualifizierten Hochschulabschluss und über grundlegende Kompetenzen in einem der genannten Lehrbereiche verfügen und
  • bereit sein, eigenständig Seminarkonzepte zu entwerfen und den besonderen Bedürfnissen der Studierenden in den Allgemeinen Studien anzupassen.

Besonders erwünscht sind Bewerbungen von nicht nur philosophisch, sondern auch natur-, kultur- oder sozialwissenschaftlich ausgewiesenen AbsolventInnen.
Bewerbungen mit den üblichen Unterlagen (Lebenslauf, Zeugnisse) sowie einem kurzen Seminarkonzept (max. eine halbe DIN-A4-Seite, ggf. zuzüglich eines groben Sitzungsplans) sind bis zum 13. Oktober 2020 an PD Dr. Ludger Jansen (ludger.jansen@wwu.de) zu richten. Die Einsendung mehrerer Seminarkonzepte ist möglich. Bitte geben Sie an, ob das Seminar wöchentlich oder als Block geplant ist und ob es als Präsenz- und/oder Onlineveranstaltung stattfinden kann.
Infos: http://www.uni-muenster.de/Wissenschaftstheorie

CfA: Research Assistant, Postdoc, Integrating Ethics and Epistemology of Scientific Research (Leibniz University Hannover, Deadline: September 30, 2020)

Submitted by Leonie Wiemeyer (Leibniz University Hannover).

 

The Research Training Group GRK 2073 “Integrating Ethics and
Epistemology of Scientific Research”) at the Institute of Philosophy of Leibniz University Hannover invites applications for a position as a

Research Assistant – Postdoc (m/f/d, Salary Scale E13 TV-L, 100 %)

to start on 1 January 2021. The position is limited to 30 September
2024. Application deadline: 30 September 2020.

For further information, please see https://grk2073.org/apply/.

We would be very grateful if you could disseminate this job opening at your research institute and among early-career researchers, for example via mailing lists and social media. Please contact Leonie Wiemeyer (leonie.wiemeyer@philos.uni-hannover.de) with any questions you may have.

CfA: PraeDoc Position and Coordinator Position (University of Vienna, Deadline: August 30, 2020)

Submitted by Anne Sophie Meincke (University of Vienna).

 

I PraeDoc positions at the Department of Philosophy at the University of Vienna

The University of Vienna (20 faculties and centres, 178 fields of study, approx. 9.800 members of staff, about 90.000 students) seeks to fill the position from 01.10.2020 of a

University Assistant (prae doc)
at the Department of Philosophy

Reference number: 10969

The advertised positions are located at the Vienna Doctoral School of Philosophy, Department of Philosophy. Starting in Oct. 2020, the Vienna Doctoral School in Philosophy (VDP) unites the research strengths of the Department of Philosophy of the University of Vienna to create an international hub for doctoral research in academic philosophy.
The VDP supports research from all major domains of philosophical research. Moreover, the VDP endorses and promotes a plurality of different philosophical traditions, methods, and forms of thought. The VDP is committed to diversity in its composition. The VDP fosters cross-fertilization between research projects in different fields and in different traditions, and it gives its doctoral researchers a competitive edge by providing them with broad areas of competence as well as in-depth specialization. The VDP’s ambitious profile builds on the unusually high number of internationally leading VDP faculty members from a wide variety of philosophical domains and schools of philosophical research.

Duration of employment: 4 year/s

Extent of Employment: 30 hours/week
Job grading in accordance with collective bargaining agreement: §48 VwGr. B1 Grundstufe (praedoc) with relevant work experience determining the assignment to a particular salary grade.

Job Description:
The successful candidates will pursue their independent doctoral research project in any subfield of philosophy within a structured PhD program in cooperation with at least one VDP supervisor at the Department of Philosophy of the University of Vienna in accordance to the VDP Code of Good Practice.
The successful candidates will participate in research and administration (incl. participation in publication projects, workshop organization, and VDP self-organized activities).
The successful candidates will develop their doctoral thesis project in cooperation with their supervisor(s) and their Thesis Advisory Committee. We expect the successful candidate to sign a doctoral thesis agreement within 12-18 months.
Participation in teaching and independent teaching of courses as defined by the collective agreement.

Applications are invited from all subfields of philosophical research (esp. Theoretical Philosophy, Practical Philosophy, History of Philosophy).

Profile:
– MA in Philosophy (alternatively: MA in a subject that is relevant to the proposed research topic with a BA or substantive coursework in Philosophy)
– Excellent command of written and spoken English
– Ability to carry out independent research and to work in a team

The University of Vienna strives to promote equality in academia. In light of recent findings on implicit bias, we kindly ask applicants to submit their application in an anonymized form.

The applicant must select at least one potential supervisor; a list of the potential supervisors, together with their fields of specialization, can be found at:
https://vd-philosophy.univie.ac.at/faculty/

Your application should include:
– A letter of motivation (anonymized)
– An academic curriculum vitae (anonymized)
– List of publications, evidence of teaching experience (if available)
– A short doctoral project proposal (2000 words max., excluding bibliography; anonymized)
– A writing sample (5000 words max.; anonymized)
– A separate document with the applicant’s general information (incl. the names of 1-2 potential VDP supervisors)
– Degree certificates (relevant undergraduate and graduate transcripts and diplomas)
– Two letters of recommendation, to be sent by the referees directly to jobcenter@univie.ac.at (Reference number: 10969)

Research fields:
Main research field
Special research fields Importance
Philosophy, Ethics
Philosophy MUST

Applications including a letter of motivation (German or English) should be submitted via the Job Center to the University of Vienna (http://jobcenter.univie.ac.at) no later than 30.08.2020, mentioning reference number 10969.

For further information please contact Sailer, Katherina +43-1-4277-46401.

The University pursues a non-discriminatory employment policy and values equal opportunities, as well as diversity (http://diversity.univie.ac.at/). The University lays special emphasis on increasing the number of women in senior and in academic positions. Given equal qualifications, preference will be given to female applicants.

Human Resources and Gender Equality of the University of Vienna
Reference number: 10969
E-Mail: jobcenter@univie.ac.at
Privacy Policy of the University of Vienna

https://univis.univie.ac.at/ausschreibungstellensuche/flow/bew_ausschreibung-flow;jsessionid=DB70D9FDB462E09976090AEA3E3FAE22?_flowExecutionKey=_c39491053-6BB7-1D89-8FE3-A9E56BC1001F_k684A320F-6420-A59A-F0E3-42DAE0B0AB0D&tid=79893.28&_language=en

 

 

II Coordinator position for the Vienna Doctoral School in Philosophy (VDS)

The University of Vienna (20 faculties and centres, 178 fields of study, approx. 9.800 members of staff, about 90.000 students) seeks to fill the position as soon as possible of a

Coordinator
at the Faculty of Philosophy and Education

Reference number: 10980

The open position is located at the Faculty of Philosophy and Education of the University of Vienna, Austria. The successful applicant will work together with the Directors towards establishing the newly funded Vienna Doctoral School in Philosophy (VDP) as a hub of academic research in philosophy, and an inclusive and supportive work environment. Information on the VDP is available on https://vds-philosophy.univie.ac.at/.

Duration of employment: 4 year/s

Extent of Employment: 40 hours/week
Job grading in accordance with collective bargaining agreement: §54 VwGr. IVa with relevant work experience determining the assignment to a particular salary grade.

Job Description:
The tasks of the successful candidate will be to coordinate and implement the measures and structures of the doctoral school, especially the following:
– Coordination of the constitution and meetings of the Thesis Advisory Committees of the VDP doctoral researchers,
– Advisory service for the doctoral students, e.g., support of the doctoral researchers with the set-up of self-organized activities (DocWIP etc.),
– Coordination and organization of the VDP activities, esp. the VDP invited lecture series, workshops, and the VDP summer school,
– Public relations, networking for the VDP incl. content generation and maintenance of the VDP webpage; coordination of the measures for quality assessment, in coordination with the central services of the University of Vienna,
– Administrative duties, esp. the administration of the VDP budget. Various administrative tasks, such as the international dissemination of advertisement for open VDP doctoral researcher positions, coordination of the allocation of travel grants etc., room management for the VDP activities,
– Coordination of the various bodies of the VDP in cooperation with the student service center and the Dean’s office,
– 20 % (8 hours per week) may be used for own scientific projects (research, publications).

Profile:
– Completed PhD in any area of philosophy,
– Interest in, knowledge of, and preferably international experience with the structure and organization of current doctoral research in philosophy at the international level; interest in new developments and best practices in this area.
– Solid language skills in English and German,
– Excellent computer skills. The Coordinator will have to work with SAP and Typo3 and special programmes of University of Vienna; experience with these tools or other content management and accounting systems is preferred.
– Reliability, capacity for teamwork as well as for independent work under sometimes stressful conditions,
– Research project in philosophy.

Applications should include the following:
– A letter of motivation that elaborates on the candidate’s views on and own experience with good practices in doctoral training in Philosophy
– CV
– Academic certificates
– Research project (2000 words max. [not counting bibliography])
– Writing sample (preferably, a published paper or book chapter)
– Relevant transcripts and diplomas
– Two letters of recommendation, to be sent by the referees directly to dekanat.philbild@univie.ac.at (Subject: JC10980, Letter of recommendation, Name).

Applications including a letter of motivation (German or English) should be submitted via the Job Center to the University of Vienna (http://jobcenter.univie.ac.at) no later than 30.08.2020, mentioning reference number 10980.

For further information please contact Schmid, Hans Bernhard +43-1-4277-46488.

The University pursues a non-discriminatory employment policy and values equal opportunities, as well as diversity (http://diversity.univie.ac.at/). The University lays special emphasis on increasing the number of women in senior and in academic positions. Given equal qualifications, preference will be given to female applicants.

Human Resources and Gender Equality of the University of Vienna
Reference number: 10980
E-Mail: jobcenter@univie.ac.at
Privacy Policy of the University of Vienna

https://univis.univie.ac.at/ausschreibungstellensuche/flow/bew_ausschreibung-flow;jsessionid=76BC23E2AF0603EE0DFBC90857C2B745?_flowExecutionKey=_cABF3C42A-D9F5-FB50-5214-A122E9FD022D_kBDFCFB96-C617-F6E3-0CFE-04414F4CB78F&tid=79988.28&_language=en

CfP: Synthese Topical Collection: “Simplicity out of Complexity? Physics and the Aims of Science” (EXTENDED Deadline: September 30, 2020)

Submitted by Florian J. Boge (University of Wuppertal).

 

Synthese Topical Collection on
Simplicity out of Complexity? Physics and the Aims of Science
Extended Deadline: 30 September 2020

Guest Editors
Florian J. Boge (University of Wuppertal)
Paul Grünke (Karlsruhe Institute of Technology)
Martin King (University of Bonn)
Miguel Ángel Carretero Sahuquillo (University of Wuppertal)

Description
The world we live in is notoriously complex: there is an outright zoo of material particles, a vast variety of different species, a whole plethora of stars and galaxies, and so forth. Yet many scientific achievements, such as the Standard Model of particle physics or Darwin’s theory of natural selection, allow us to manage part of this complexity by means of a simple set of laws or general rules.
Simplicity has often been assumed to be an epistemic ideal, most clearly exemplified in physics, with its trend towards encompassing theories that feature only a small number of fundamental laws, capable of explaining a large number of diverse phenomena.
This view of science, with physics at the center stage, has arguably provided the dominant narrative in mainstream philosophy of science throughout the 20th century. Yet many questions arise when one zooms in on the details. For instance: in what sense can the laws of physics be said to be simple, when concrete computations based on them are tedious or even impossible? How do notions of simplicity differ across the sciences, and what are their commonalities? Does the striving for simplification of perceived complexity imply an unjustified reductionism? Is simplicity really an epistemic ideal or just endorsed for pragmatic reasons, and maybe even an unreliable guide to truth? If so, what should it be replaced with?
The aim of this Topical Collection is to bring together contributions from different fields, such as (the philosophy of) physics, biology, economy, psychology, linguistics, or general philosophy of science. Topics may include but are not limited to:

  • epistemic vs. practical: Is simplicity an epistemic goal of science or just a practical benefit? (Why) should theories aim for simplicity, or (why) not?
  • physics vs. other sciences: Does the complexity of the world largely preclude simple science? Is complexity also an aim of the special sciences? Does contemporary physics really aim at simplicity?
  • the concept of simplicity in science: What does it mean to be a ‘simple’ theory? What is simplicity? Can there be a unified account of simplicity or should one embrace pluralism?

We invite contributions from the full spectrum of disciplines and their respective philosophies, scientists and scholars reflecting on their respective and neighboring research fields, as well as historians, philosophers and sociologists of science investigating the epistemologies, practices, and discourses of fellow epistemic communities.

For further information, please contact the guest editors:
Florian J. Boge fjboge@uni-wuppertal.de
Paul Grünke paul.gruenke@kit.edu
Martin King mking@uni-bonn.de
Miguel Ángel Carretero Sahuquillo carreterosahuqu@uni-wuppertal.de

The extended deadline for submissions is 30 September 2020
Submit your paper through the Synthese Editorial Manager under a dedicated heading entitled “T.C.: Simplicity out of Complexity? Physics and the Aim of Science”. Please visit Editorial Manager® (https://www.editorialmanager.com/synt/Default.aspx) and select this heading when submitting the manuscript.

Submitted papers will be peer-reviewed as per usual journal practice. At least two reviewers will be assigned to each paper and final decisions will be taken by Synthese Editors in Chief, following the recommendation of the Guest Editors, which is based on the reviewers’ reports. Please prepare papers for anonymous reviews.

CfA: Three PhD Positions in Interdisciplinary Project in Philosophy and Physics (University of Konstanz, Deadline: August 9, 2020)

Submitted by Thomas Müller (University of Konstanz).

 

Three PhD Positions in Interdisciplinary Project in Philosophy and Physics (f/m/d; part-time 65%, E 13 TV-L or comparable)

The start date is December 1st, 2020, or by agreement. Three positions are available for four years each. Two positions (PhD1, PhD3) will be filled at the University of Konstanz and one (PhD2) at the University of Innsbruck.

The project “The future of creativity in basic research: Can artificial agents be authors of scientific discoveries?“, funded by the VolkswagenStiftung programme “Off the Beaten Track“, studies the role that current and emerging technologies of Artificial Intelligence (AI) can play in basic research, focusing on agency, creativity, and authorship. The project is led by Prof. Thomas Müller at the Department of Philosophy, University of Konstanz, and by Prof. Hans J. Briegel at the Institute of Theoretical Physics, University of Innsbruck. The project connects methods and techniques from philosophy, physics, and AI in an integrated interdisciplinary approach to study the transformative role of new technologies in basic research. See the press release for details:

https://www.uni-konstanz.de/en/university/news-and-media/current-announcements/press-releases/press-releases-in-detail/ist-kuenstliche-intelligenz-zu-forschung-faehig/

There are three work packages corresponding to the three PhD positions, two centered on philosophy and based at Konstanz and one centered more on applications in physics and based at Innsbruck: PhD1 (KN): The meaning of experiment in AI-driven research; PhD 2 (IBK): Implementation and case studies; PhD 3 (KN): Agency and attributability of automated research. Each work package will approach our topic from a different perspective: philosophy of science, actual science, and action theory. Methods will vary accordingly, but formal modeling will be used throughout. This includes, to varying degrees, the use of (multi-)agent simulations and the implementation and refinement of machine learning algorithms.

Required background:

  • A completed university degree in a relevant field (philosophy, physics, or computer science / AI)
  • Real research experience will be of advantage
  • Strong communication skills
  • Fluency in English
  • An interest in interdisciplinary research

Application deadline: 9 August 2020
More details and link to the online application:
https://stellen.uni-konstanz.de/jobposting/ed4846445eb970ebe94602e81e1921dfb954e042

CfA: Lehrkraft für besondere Aufgaben (WWU Münster, Deadline: August 7, 2020)

Submitted by Markus Seidel (WWU Münster).

 

Am Zentrum für Wissenschaftstheorie der Westfälischen Wilhelms-Universität Münster ist ab dem 1. Oktober 2020 befristet bis zum 30. September 2021 eine Stelle

einer Lehrkraft für besondere Aufgaben
Entgeltgruppe 13 TV-L (100%)

im Rahmen einer Elternzeitvertretung zu besetzen.

Die regelmäßige Arbeitszeit beträgt bei Vollbeschäftigung zurzeit 39 Stunden 50 Minuten wöchentlich.

Stellenbesetzungen werden grundsätzlich auch in Teilzeit vorgenommen, sofern nicht im Einzelfall zwingende dienstliche Gründe entgegenstehen.

Der Aufgabenbereich umfasst:

1) Das Lehren von Seminaren mit wissenschaftsreflexivem Inhalt auf einem einführenden Niveau.
2) Die Koordination der Lehre am Zentrum für Wissenschaftstheorie (unter Beteiligung von Geschäftsführung und Sekretariat), z.B.
die Gestaltung des Lehrprogramms einschließlich Auswahl der Lehrbeauftragten,
die Zertifizierung unserer Seminare,
Korrespondenz mit und Betreuung der Lehrbeauftragten,
Allgemeine Studienberatung am ZfW,
die Notenverbuchung,
die Organisation des „Studierendentages“ und des „Essaypreises“ am ZfW.

Die Lehrverpflichtung beträgt bei Vollzeit 12 SWS.

Vorausgesetzt werden eine abgeschlossene Promotion im Fach Philosophie oder einem anderen für die Stelle relevanten Fach sowie Lehrerfahrung im Bereich der Wissenschaftstheorie. Weiterhin erwartet werden Organisationsstärke, selbständige Arbeitsweise, Flexibilität, Kommunikations- und Teamfähigkeit sowie Belastbarkeit. Kenntnisse universitärer Strukturen und Abläufe sind von Vorteil.

Die WWU tritt für Geschlechtergerechtigkeit ein und strebt eine Erhöhung des Anteils von Frauen in Forschung und Lehre an. Bewerbungen von Frauen sind daher ausdrücklich erwünscht; Frauen werden bei gleicher Eignung, Befähigung und fachlicher Leistung bevorzugt berücksichtigt, sofern nicht in der Person eines Mitbewerbers liegende Gründe überwiegen.

Schwerbehinderte werden bei gleicher Qualifikation bevorzugt eingestellt.

Bei Fragen wenden Sie sich bitte an Herrn Dr. Jens Salomon.

Ihre aussagekräftige Bewerbung mit den üblichen Unterlagen senden Sie bitte elektronisch bis zum 07.08.2020 (Bewerbungsschluss) als eine einzige PDF-Datei an:

Dr. Jens Salomon
Geschäftsführer
Zentrum für Wissenschaftstheorie
Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität
Domplatz 23
48143 Münster
zfw@uni-muenster.de

Link zur Stellenausschreibung: https://www.uni-muenster.de/Rektorat/Stellen/ausschreibungen/st_20201007_sk7.html