Annual Lecture Series (in-person)
Lunchtime Talks (in-person)
Conferences (in-person)
Online-Only Events
Liam Bright, London School of Economics Scientific Conclusions Need Not Be Accurate, Justified, or Believed by their Authors (This talk is being given by Liam Bright and was coauthored by Haixin Dang) ABSTRACT: It is often claimed that assertions are utterances held to certain norms, called norms of assertion. Some philosophers believe assertions are governed […]
Michael Dietrich, Univ. of Pittsburgh, Dept. of HPS The Politics of Embryology: Johannes Holtfreter’s Flight from Nazi Germany ABSTRACT: Johannes Holtfreter was forced to leave Nazi Germany. Unlike other exiled biologists though, Holtfreter was not of Jewish ancestry. He was a rare political refugee. But, did his forced migration have an impact on his […]
Mark Wilson, Department of Philosophy, University of Pittsburgh How “Wavelength” Found its Truth-Values ABSTRACT: Philosophers of science and metaphysicians frequently declare that they are only interested in the “fundamental part” of a theory T, and not in the grubby tactics utilized to extract concrete conclusions from them. “As a philosopher I am only interested in […]
Russ Poldrack, (Stanford University), Cognitive Ontologies, from Top to Bottom Part of our ongoing online seminar series. See the full list of talks here. Register using this link: https://pitt.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_KMNKu4fmQ9Wh5ZjvXJ3qQA Please note, registration will be for the entire seminar series. ABSTRACT: Cognitive ontologies have been primarily developed in a top-down manner […]
CANCELLED Subrena Smith, Univ. of New Hampshire, Dept. of Philosophy Constructing Human Behavior ABSTRACT: Behavioral sciences purport to give descriptive accounts of human beings as behavioral systems. Those accounts have it that human beings, because of their nature, behave in certain ways. In this talk, I show that this is not what is done. Infused […]
Elizabeth Schechter Indiana University, Department of Philosophy and the Cognitive Science Program Self-Consciousness After Split-Brain Surgery ABSTRACT: In this talk, I first argue that the two hemispheres of a split-brain subject are associated with distinct conscious thinkers and, indeed, distinct thinkers of self-conscious thoughts, R and L. I then argue that the dynamics of self-conscious […]
Yolonda Wilson, National Humanities Center Fellow & Encore Public Voices Fellow Empathy and Structural Injustice in the Assessment of Patient Noncompliance ABSTRACT: It is well established that health status is at least partly socially determined. Yet even with this awareness, patients are sometimes treated as though compliance with medical advice and health-seeking behavior are solely […]
James Woodward, Univ. of Pittsburgh Dept. of HPS Flagpoles, Anyone? Independence, Invariance and the Direction of Causation This talk will be a Zoom webinar and registration is required. Registration link: https://pitt.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_ky9mJLfcQDmwfxX9wy_EaA ABSTRACT: This talk will explore some recent ideas concerning the directional features of explanation (or causation). I begin by describing an ideal of […]