LTT: Eleanor Knox
Title: Spacetime, functionalism, and inertial frames Abstract: I advocate a form of spacetime functionalism that identifies spacetime with whatever picks out a structure of inertial frames. In this talk, I’ll […]
Annual Lecture Series (in-person)
Lunchtime Talks (in-person)
Conferences (in-person)
Online-Only Events
Title: Spacetime, functionalism, and inertial frames Abstract: I advocate a form of spacetime functionalism that identifies spacetime with whatever picks out a structure of inertial frames. In this talk, I’ll […]
Friday 3/24 3:30PM - 5:30PM CL 1008 Title: Starting Points in Ohio: A pragmatist account of the asymmetry of explanation Abstract: Recent discussions around explanation have concerned the issue of […]
Title: A Novel Perspective on Pluralism in Climate Modeling Abstract: Modeling the mass-extinction event at the Permian Triassic Boundary (PTB), which is believed to have followed a warming event triggered by […]
Title: Renormalization group explanations in particle physics Abstract: Despite the highly analogous forms that renormalization group methods take in particle physics and condensed matter physics, there are key modal differences […]
Spacetime Functionalism Conference Cathedral of Learning 1008, April 1st-2nd Spacetime Functionalism holds that spacetime is spacetime by virtue of the role it plays with respect to other physics. It promises […]
Title: Validity drifts in psychiatric research Abstract: I develop the notion of validity drift and apply it to psychiatric research. A validity drift occurs when, in the course of developing […]
Title: Crafting Scientific Narratives Abstract: How do particular sets of experimental data become evidence for particular scientific claims? In this talk I call attention to the narrative constraints that shape […]
Title: Where the Philosophy of Cognitive Science Went Wrong Abstract: One can hardly overestimate the influence of Jerry Fodor on the philosophy of cognitive science. Fodor has left us two […]
Title: Expectation and exception: expertise as an epistemic constraint Abstract: I document historical cases of anomalies that resulted in theory changes, with an eye to the course of their reception […]
Dan Burnston (Center for Philosophy of Science, Philosophy Department at Tulane University) and Wayne Wu (Philosophy and the Neuroscience Institue CMU) to participate. Intention and Agency in Mind and Brain! […]
The 2023 meeting of SPP will be held at the University of Pittsburgh on June 20-23. Registration for the conference is here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/society-for-philosophy-and-psychology-annual-meeting-2023-registration-616545753947 Registration includes an option to add a pre-conference, […]
This talk has unfortunately been cancelled. Title: Philosophy of Science comes to California Abstract: The talk describes how 20th Century philosophy of science migrated from Europe to the Los […]
Title: The Model View Meets Quantum Ontology Abstract: What is here called the “model view” of science is a distinct perspective advanced by Ronald Giere and Paul Teller, which places […]
Title: The World Crisis – And What To Do About It Abstract: Humanity faces two fundamental problems of learning: learning about the universe, and learning how to become civilized. We […]
Title: How, in a field rife with controversy, some neuroscientific models become generally accepted as good models? Abstract: There is much disagreement in Neuroscience. Many highly regarded and high-impact findings […]
Title: Mathematics and Society Reunited: The Social Aspects of Brouwer’s Intuitionism Abstract: Brouwer’s philosophy of mathematics is usually regarded as an intra-subjective, even solipsistic approach, which also underlies his mathematical […]
Title: Epistemic Diversity, Ethics, and the Optimal Timing of Clinical Trials Abstract: Ethically acceptable research with human participants should satisfy at least two ethical criteria: it should produce sufficient social […]
Title: Voicing disagreement in science: Missing women Abstract: This paper examines the authorship of post-publication criticisms in the scientific literature, with a focus on gender differences. Bibliometrics from journals in […]
Godel Meets Laplace There’s an understanding of what determinism entails illustrated by the familiar image that Laplace gave us of a demon that can predict everything that will happen in […]
Title: Understanding Integration: Lessons from Integrative Modeling in Structural Biology Abstract: Although the value of integrative research has been widely acknowledged, philosophers have yet to develop a comprehensive understanding of […]
Title: Why Natural Social Contracts are Not Fair Abstract: Many theorists have employed game theory to model the emergence of stable social norms, or natural “social contracts”. One branch of […]
Title: Induction as action: resolving the problem of Whewell’s idealism Abstract: William Whewell is a towering and yet ambiguous figure in Victorian science. Together with Herschel and Mill, he sought […]
Title: Coarse-grained Theories of Cooperation and Myxobacteria Abstract: A particular strain of myxobacteria known as Myxococcus xanthus has received attention for its cooperative predation. I examine whether the same explanations proposed […]
Title: From mathematical notations to the applications of mathematics: Studying epistemic accessibility Abstract: This talk is about mathematical notations, and more broadly about mathematical language. My goal is to present, […]
Organizing Committee Members: Michael R. Dietrich, (University of Pittsburgh, History and Philosophy of Science) John Norton (University of Pittsburgh, History and Philosophy of Science) Carol Cleland (University of Colorado Boulder) […]
Title: Transfer of quantum information in teleportation Abstract: The controversial issue of information transfer in quantum teleportation procedure is analyzed in the framework of the many-worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics. […]
Title: How do Imperatives Motivate? Abstract: (Joint work with Shaun Nichols.) How do we form beliefs on the basis of assertions of declarative sentences? According to the Spinozan theory of […]
Title: Pursuit-Worthy Research in Health: Three Examples and a Proposal Abstract: In the ideal, we might want researchers and institutional reviewers from the populations affected by given research projects. However, […]
Title: Characterizing a Collaboration by Its Communication Structure Abstract: I present first results of my analysis of a collection of about 24,000 email messages from internal mailing lists of a […]
Title: The Biological Trait Concept and Character Identity Mechanisms Abstract: Biologists frequently talk about characters, traits, features, phenotypes, and parts to pick out those aspects of cells, organisms, and populations […]