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The Minnesota Center for Philosophy of Science advances research and graduate training in the philosophy of science and related studies of science and technology. It fosters a local community through a variety of activities and special events. This local community includes scholars from a number of different disciplines throughout the University of Minnesota as well as area colleges and universities. The Center brings together researchers from around the world through its visiting fellow program and conferences, and conducts collaborative research through its workshops, the results of which are published in Minnesota Studies in the Philosophy of Science.
Ken Waters will be delivering the Samuel Russell Endowed Chair Lecture on April 16th from 4-5pm in the Upson Room in Walter Library. Please join us for this event if you are able.
"Why Genetics Succeeds: An Epistemology of Scientific Practice"
Abstract: What accounts for the spectacular success of contemporary genetics and allied sciences? The usual explanation of success in science is theory-focused. It assumes that investigation is based on a core theory that grasps the fundamentals underlying the domains of phenomena being investigated. I am developing an alternative explanation that draws attention to concrete descriptive knowledge, procedural knowledge, and research strategies. These elements are integrated with modest theoretical knowledge to form what I call an investigative matrix. According to this practice-centered epistemology, an investigative matrix can be used to systematically investigate phenomena that are not explained, even potentially explained, by the modest theoretical knowledge upon which the research depends. On this view, the success of a mature science need not be based on theoretical knowledge of the fundamentals. Instead, it can be based on investigative strategies that presuppose a modest theory of limited aspects of the domain being investigated. In this talk, I will show that the theoretical basis of success in contemporary DNA-centered sciences can be understood in this way. There is no need to posit a fundamental theory of genetics to understand why research in DNA-centered sciences succeeds so well.
For further information, see:
https://events.umn.edu/Why-Genetics-Succeeds-An-Epistemology-of-Scientific-Practice-019850.htm
The Minnesota Center for Philosophy of Science will hold the second of two workshops
on Philosophical Perspectives on Causal Reasoning in Biology on May 3-May 6, 2012. We have limited space for graduate students and recent PhDs. We will cover lodging for
three nights and meals and contribute up to $350 towards travel.
The workshop is by invitation only. Graduate students and recent PhDs interested in
participating should send a CV and a letter explaining their interest, and arrange for
a letter of recommendation to be sent directly to the Center at mcps@umn.edu. All
application materials should be received by March 22, 2012 for full consideration.
This is the second workshop of a project organized by Ken Waters, Jim Woodward,
and Mike Travisano. The first workshop brought together a small group of
biologists, philosophers working in the general area of causation, and philosophers
of biology to discuss issues involving causal concepts in biology. Participants
prepared for the first meeting by reading classic philosophical works on causation.
Biologists and philosophers made presentations describing causal phenomena or
issues in their research areas that called for careful causal analysis.
The second workshop will be devoted to discussing papers written by participants
of the first workshop about the nature of causation and causal reasoning in
biological sciences. Participants, including new graduate student and recent PhD
participants, will prepare for the second workshop by reading these papers in
advance. Discussion of individual papers will be initiated by a five-minute reflection
by the author about how their paper relates to others in the workshop and a ten-minute
commentary on the paper (by another participant). New graduate student
and recent PhD participants will be expected to give at least one and possibly more
commentaries. Papers will be revised in light of workshop discussion and submitted
to Minnesota Studies for the Philosophy of Science.
Congratulations to Joe Martin who has won an Interdisciplinary Doctoral Fellowship Award to visit the Center for the 2012-13 academic year. Joe's faculty sponsor at the Center will be Bill Wimsatt. His PhD supervisor is Michel Janssen (HST). His project is entitled "Solid Foundations: Structuring American Solid State Physics, 1939-1993"
