From ereshefs at ucalgary.ca Wed Jan 12 20:27:28 2011 From: ereshefs at ucalgary.ca (ereshefs@ucalgary.ca) Date: Wed Jan 12 20:27:39 2011 Subject: Jan. 18 HPS Talk: Jack MacIntosh on Robert Boyle In-Reply-To: <105e79ecfd90353ef31aee56d449e38f.squirrel@webmail.ucalgary.ca> References: <105e79ecfd90353ef31aee56d449e38f.squirrel@webmail.ucalgary.ca> Message-ID: <0bce7775fc4668d60a25daf2eed43a61.squirrel@webmail.ucalgary.ca> Jack Macintosh, Philosophy, University of Calgary ?Robert Boyle on Causation and Laws of Nature? January 18, Tuesday 3:30 ? 5:00 pm, in SS1253 ----------------------- Also note that the schedule for the Philosophy of Biology Workshop has been revised. See below and attached. February 4 & 5 Philosophy of Biology Workshop In SS 1253 Friday, February 4 4:00 ? 6:00 pm, Laura Franklin-Hall, Philosophy, NYU "The Emperor's New Mechanisms: A Critique of Mechanistic Explanation" Saturday, February 5 10:30- 12:30 Jonathan Kaplan, Philosophy, Oregon State University "The Constructions and Biologies of Race" 12:30-1:30 Lunch 1:30-3:30 Sharyn Clough, Philosophy, Oregon State University "Gender, Germs, and Dirt: A Case Study of Properly Politicized Science" 3:30-4:00 Coffee break 4:00- 6:00 Eric Desjardins, Philosophy, University of Western Ontario "Irreversibility and Path Dependence in Evolutionary Biology" -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: HPS schedule W2011.doc Type: application/msword Size: 60416 bytes Desc: not available Url : http://mailman.ucalgary.ca/pipermail/hps-l/attachments/20110112/e600029d/HPSscheduleW2011-0001.doc From ereshefs at ucalgary.ca Sat Jan 29 12:23:36 2011 From: ereshefs at ucalgary.ca (ereshefs@ucalgary.ca) Date: Sat Jan 29 12:23:47 2011 Subject: Philosophy of Biology Workshop Feb 4&5 Message-ID: <1ba4b8a3c88e54f5a9b53f17031cb182.squirrel@webmail.ucalgary.ca> See schedule below, and abstracts further down. Poster attached. February 4 & 5 Philosophy of Biology Workshop In Social Science 1253 Friday, February 4 4:00 ? 6:00 pm, Laura Franklin-Hall, Philosophy, NYU "The Emperor's New Mechanisms: A Critique of Mechanistic Explanation" Saturday, February 5 10:30- 12:30 Jonathan Kaplan, Philosophy, Oregon State University "The Constructions and Biologies of Race" 1:30-3:30 Sharyn Clough, Philosophy, Oregon State University "Gender, Germs, and Dirt: A Case Study of Properly Politicized Science" 4:00- 6:00 Eric Desjardins, Philosophy, University of Western Ontario "Irreversibility and Path Dependence in Evolutionary Biology" Abstracts: The Emperor?s New Mechanisms Laura Franklin-Hall There has been a recent surge in interest in mechanisms in the philosophy of science. It is often suggested that an account of the nature of mechanisms can ground an approach to scientific explanation appropriate for the life sciences. I argue here that this excitement about mechanisms is misplaced. This is not because the ?mechanistic approach? is false, but rather because, as developed to date, it is (largely) vapid. To show this, I outline three problems on which an account of mechanisms might shed light: the nature of causation, explanatory relevance, and the proper grain of explanation. I then show that the mechanistic approach cannot help with any of these problems. I conclude with some diagnoses of the mechanistic project, indicating why it has appeared attractive despite its vacuity and how mechanism-friendly philosophers might pursue their projects more productively. The Social and Biological Realities of Race Jonathan Kaplan Recently, some researchers have argued that contemporary population genetics has shown that human races, as they are ordinarily understood, are biologically real entities, and hence that ?race? is a biological, and not only (or even primarily) a social, concept. This, these researchers suggest, implies that a focus on e.g. health disparities between socially recognized races that fails to take seriously the genetic differences between the populations is doomed to failure, and that arguments against e.g. the existence of ?biological? differences in average intelligence between ?races? are, at best, inadequate. But these kinds of claims are deeply misleading. The argument that population genetics can vindicate the claim that human races, as they are ordinarily understood, are biologically real entities relies on multiple misunderstandings. To see this, it is important to get clear about just what contemporary population genetics has revealed about the distribution of genetic differences in humans, and about what those who deny the biological reality of human races are denying. In the end, I will argue, genetic differences are not what account for the folk-racial categories in use today, and, despite recent research sometimes taken to imply otherwise, folk-racial categories ?which remain of fundamental importance to people?s life-prospects ?remain primarily social categories. Gender, Germs, and Dirt: A Case Study of Properly Politicised Science Sharyn Clough The hygiene hypothesis offers an explanation for the correlation, well-established in the industrialised nations of North and West, between increased hygiene and sanitation, and increased rates of asthma and allergies. Recent studies have added to the scope of the hypothesis, showing a link between decreased exposure to certain bacteria and parasitic worms, and increased rates of intestinal inflammatory diseases. What remains less-often discussed in the research on these links is that women have higher rates than men, of asthma, allergies, and auto-immune, and inflammatory disorders generally. I argue that differential gender socialisation can help account for this pattern. That standards of cleanliness are higher for girls than boys, especially under the age of five when children are more likely to be under close adult supervision, is a robust phenomenon in industrialised nations of the North and West, and some studies point to a cross-cultural pattern. I present the feminist political commitments that make the link between gender and the hygiene hypothesis salient. Finally, I argue that by making the link between gender and hygiene visible, these feminist political commitments do not bias the immunological and epidemiological research. Instead, insofar as the research supports the hygiene hypothesis, the political commitments I prescribe have the effect of increasing the empirical adequacy of that research, specifically by reconceiving of relevant sources of evidence, responding to current puzzles in the research, and opening up further avenues for study. Irreversibility and Path Dependence in Evolutionary Biology Eric Desjardins What does it mean to say that history matters in evolution? For some, like the biologist E?rs Szathmary, it means that evolution is "path dependent'' and entails "irreversibility." However, ?irreversibility? possesses many faces, and I will argue that not all of them agree with ?path dependence.? So, defining path dependence in terms of irreversibility could be problematic. I propose an account of "path dependence" that does not rely on irreversibility, and I explore its relationship with two forms of irreversibility arising in evolutionary processes: 1) the entropic-like irreversibility that follows from Fisher's fundamental theorem of natural selection and 2) the (contingent) irreversibility endorsed by the Belgian paleontologist Louis Dollo. I will show how the latter is the form that more naturally co-exists with path dependence, but that we should not conceive this relationship as necessary. -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: Workshop Schedule.jpg Type: image/jpeg Size: 86085 bytes Desc: not available Url : http://mailman.ucalgary.ca/pipermail/hps-l/attachments/20110129/c28b4ee1/WorkshopSchedule-0001.jpg From ereshefs at ucalgary.ca Thu Feb 24 21:15:58 2011 From: ereshefs at ucalgary.ca (ereshefs@ucalgary.ca) Date: Thu Feb 24 21:16:06 2011 Subject: March 1 HPS Talk: Peter Toohey "Mental illness in the early Roman empire" Message-ID: <5de3c47e832fe5b6ba7ffa690f46513c.squirrel@webmail.ucalgary.ca> The next HPS talk: Peter Toohey, Classics, University of Calgary. ?Mental Illness in the Early Roman Empire? March 1, Tuesday 3:30 ? 5:00 pm in SS1253 From ereshefs at ucalgary.ca Fri Feb 25 12:21:35 2011 From: ereshefs at ucalgary.ca (ereshefs@ucalgary.ca) Date: Fri Feb 25 12:22:19 2011 Subject: History of Medicine Days March 11-12 Message-ID: <58069c4cc0cc15a7f8aaad36bcaff3c3.squirrel@webmail.ucalgary.ca> Please see the History of Medicine Days Programme attached. -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: History of Medicine Days 2011 - PROGRAM - February 25, 2011-1.pdf Type: application/pdf Size: 49777 bytes Desc: not available Url : http://mailman.ucalgary.ca/pipermail/hps-l/attachments/20110225/f840b35f/HistoryofMedicineDays2011-PROGRAM-February252011-1-0001.pdf From ereshefs at ucalgary.ca Tue Mar 1 09:31:11 2011 From: ereshefs at ucalgary.ca (ereshefs@ucalgary.ca) Date: Tue Mar 1 09:31:35 2011 Subject: Today: HPS Talk: Peter Toohey "Mental illness in the early Roman empire" In-Reply-To: <5de3c47e832fe5b6ba7ffa690f46513c.squirrel@webmail.ucalgary.ca> References: <5de3c47e832fe5b6ba7ffa690f46513c.squirrel@webmail.ucalgary.ca> Message-ID: <5f760c7e7add908cf0cc2d5106fd6796.squirrel@webmail.ucalgary.ca> Peter Toohey, Classics, University of Calgary. ?Mental Illness in the Early Roman Empire? March 1, Tuesday 3:30 ? 5:00 pm in SS1253 From ereshefs at ucalgary.ca Thu Apr 14 10:37:07 2011 From: ereshefs at ucalgary.ca (ereshefs@ucalgary.ca) Date: Thu Apr 14 10:37:18 2011 Subject: HPS Events May and June 2011 In-Reply-To: <1ba4b8a3c88e54f5a9b53f17031cb182.squirrel@webmail.ucalgary.ca> References: <1ba4b8a3c88e54f5a9b53f17031cb182.squirrel@webmail.ucalgary.ca> Message-ID: <25abacd9f738b0ab71c21b4f3846c961.squirrel@webmail.ucalgary.ca> History and Philosophy of Science Research Group May and June 2011 Events May 3, Monday 3 - 4:30 pm, Social Sciences 1253 Daniel Robinson, Oxford University ?BIG BRAINS AND BOSKOPS: PHRENOLOGY LIVES!? Daniel Robinson is a Faculty Fellow of Philosophy at Oxford University and distinguished Professor Emeritus at Georgetown University. His most recent books are The Mind: An Oxford Reader (1998) Oxford University Press, Praise and Blame: Moral Realism and Its Applications (2002) Princeton University Press, and Consciousness and Mental Life (2008) Columbia University Press. June 22, Wednesday 3 ? 4:30 pm, Social Sciences 1253 Makmiller Pedroso, University of Calgary ?DOES KRIPKE?S ARGUMENT FOR ORIGIN ESSENTIALISM APPLY TO BIOLOGICAL SPECIES?? Makmiller Pedroso is a PhD. candidate in the Philosophy Department at the University of Calgary. He works in the philosophy of biology, focusing on philosophical issues concerning biological taxonomy. From ereshefs at ucalgary.ca Thu Apr 14 10:44:36 2011 From: ereshefs at ucalgary.ca (ereshefs@ucalgary.ca) Date: Thu Apr 14 10:44:46 2011 Subject: HPS Events May & June CORRECTION In-Reply-To: <25abacd9f738b0ab71c21b4f3846c961.squirrel@webmail.ucalgary.ca> References: <1ba4b8a3c88e54f5a9b53f17031cb182.squirrel@webmail.ucalgary.ca> <25abacd9f738b0ab71c21b4f3846c961.squirrel@webmail.ucalgary.ca> Message-ID: Apologies. Robinson's talk is on May 2 (not May 3). -Marc ------------------------------------------------------------------ History and Philosophy of Science Research Group May and June 2011 Events May 2, Monday 3 - 4:30 pm, Social Sciences 1253 Daniel Robinson, Oxford University ?BIG BRAINS AND BOSKOPS: PHRENOLOGY LIVES!? Daniel Robinson is a Faculty Fellow of Philosophy at Oxford University and distinguished Professor Emeritus at Georgetown University. His most recent books are The Mind: An Oxford Reader (1998) Oxford University Press, Praise and Blame: Moral Realism and Its Applications (2002) Princeton University Press, and Consciousness and Mental Life (2008) Columbia University Press. June 22, Wednesday 3 ? 4:30 pm, Social Sciences 1253 Makmiller Pedroso, University of Calgary ?DOES KRIPKE?S ARGUMENT FOR ORIGIN ESSENTIALISM APPLY TO BIOLOGICAL SPECIES?? Makmiller Pedroso is a PhD. candidate in the Philosophy Department at the University of Calgary. He works in the philosophy of biology, focusing on philosophical issues concerning biological taxonomy. From ereshefs at ucalgary.ca Mon Apr 18 11:47:30 2011 From: ereshefs at ucalgary.ca (ereshefs@ucalgary.ca) Date: Mon Apr 18 11:47:49 2011 Subject: Robinson HPS talk May 2 time change Message-ID: Same day, different time: May 2, Monday 10:30-12:00, Social Sciences 1253 Daniel Robinson, Oxford University ?BIG BRAINS AND BOSKOPS: PHRENOLOGY LIVES!? Daniel Robinson is a Faculty Fellow of Philosophy at Oxford University and distinguished Professor Emeritus at Georgetown University. His most recent books are The Mind: An Oxford Reader (1998) Oxford University Press; Praise and Blame: Moral Realism and Its Applications (2002) Princeton University Press; Consciousness and Mental Life (2008)Columbia University Press. From ereshefs at ucalgary.ca Thu Apr 28 10:33:53 2011 From: ereshefs at ucalgary.ca (ereshefs@ucalgary.ca) Date: Thu Apr 28 10:34:05 2011 Subject: Robinson on Phrenology: HPS Talk May 2 Message-ID: <3f7295c5359de7dfb582efe23c2d6390.squirrel@webmail.ucalgary.ca> May 2, Monday 10:30-12:00, Social Sciences 1253 > Daniel Robinson, Oxford University > ?BIG BRAINS AND BOSKOPS: PHRENOLOGY LIVES!? Daniel Robinson is a Faculty Fellow of Philosophy at Oxford University and distinguished Professor Emeritus at Georgetown University. His most recent books are The Mind: An Oxford Reader (1998) Oxford University Press; Praise and Blame: Moral Realism and Its Applications (2002) Princeton University Press; Consciousness and Mental Life (2008)Columbia University Press. From ereshefs at ucalgary.ca Mon Jun 13 10:35:56 2011 From: ereshefs at ucalgary.ca (ereshefs@ucalgary.ca) Date: Mon Jun 13 10:36:56 2011 Subject: HPS Talk June 15: British neurology In-Reply-To: <3f7295c5359de7dfb582efe23c2d6390.squirrel@webmail.ucalgary.ca> References: <3f7295c5359de7dfb582efe23c2d6390.squirrel@webmail.ucalgary.ca> Message-ID: <11e745ccf60ec978f896edb2aca3fee5.squirrel@webmail.ucalgary.ca> Dr. Stephen Casper, Assistant Professor, History of Science, Clarkson University "How Physicians Became Neurologists: The Case of Britain, 1800-2000" Wednesday, June 15, 2011 Begins at 4:00 PM Health Sciences Center - Room G500, University of Calgary, Foothills Campus ABSTRACT: This presentation describes the specialization of British neurology. British neurology emerged in a medical culture philosophically generalist in its values for medical practice. For this reason, British physicians in the nineteenth and early twentieth century were largely opposed to medical specialization. Rather than contravening their culture?s standards, British neurologists embraced ?generalism? by claiming that their specialist knowledge not only conformed to this culture but was its highest manifestation. These claims had advantages, but the result was a conflict in the idioms of medical practice. On one hand, neurologists produced and reproduced habits and dispositions that articulated and even underscored their specialty?s differences with medicine. On the other hand, they argued that they were general physicians possessing broad knowledge and sound judgment for the whole of medicine. Neurology, thus conceived in Britain, became at once the most elite of generalist medicine?s many practices. At the same time, neurology was one of its most marginal specialties. From ereshefs at ucalgary.ca Wed Nov 2 11:16:36 2011 From: ereshefs at ucalgary.ca (ereshefs@ucalgary.ca) Date: Wed Nov 2 11:18:05 2011 Subject: Upcoming History of Science Talks Message-ID: <726dcb8939f99e8d41a5584631969773.squirrel@webmail.ucalgary.ca> Friday, Nov-4 at 3 pm (SS 623) Emeritus Professor Martin Staum (History Dept., UofC) ?Nature and Nurture in French Social Sciences, 1859-1914 and Beyond? (http://hist.ucalgary.ca/) This event is hosted by McGill-Queens Press on the occasion of Martin Staum's new book on 19th century French psychology and anthropology. Tuesday, Nov-22 at 12:00 pm Dr. Anna Perlina (Max Planck Institute for the History of Science, Berlin, Germany) ?Between Adaptation and Confrontation: Migration of Gestalt Psychologists to North America and the Case of Kurt Lewin? (http://www.ucalgary.ca/hpsstm/event/2011/11/01/month/all/all/1 Abstract attached. -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: Between Adaptation and Confrontation.docx Type: application/octet-stream Size: 12206 bytes Desc: not available Url : http://mailman.ucalgary.ca/pipermail/hps-l/attachments/20111102/a7f5e34a/BetweenAdaptationandConfrontation.obj From ereshefs at ucalgary.ca Mon Nov 28 11:05:27 2011 From: ereshefs at ucalgary.ca (ereshefs@ucalgary.ca) Date: Mon Nov 28 11:05:40 2011 Subject: Friday, Dec 2: Philosophy of Science / Biology Talk Message-ID: <5301efd1b3099621fc1005ca8fd1f197.squirrel@webmail.ucalgary.ca> See below and attached for a philosophy of science / philosophy of biology talk this Friday. ------------ Bengt Autzen Department of Philosophy University of Calgary "Bayesianism, Convergence and Molecular Phylogenetics" Friday, December 2, 4:00pm Social Sciences Building, Room 1253 Abstract: Bayesian methods are very popular in both philosophy and science. At the same time there is concern among philosophers and scientists regarding the properties of this methodology. In particular, there is concern about the lack of objectivity of evidential statements in Bayesian confirmation theory due to the role of prior probabilities. One standard reply to be found in the Bayesian literature is that as data size grows larger differences in prior probability assignments will "wash out" and there will be convergence of opinion among different agents. This paper puts the "washing out of priors" argument to the test in the context of phylogenetic inference. I argue that the role of nuisance parameters in molecular phylogenetics prevents the application of convergence arguments typically found in the literature on Bayesianism. Bengt Autzen is a Postdoctoral Fellow in Philosophy at the University of Calgary. _____ -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: Notice Autzen.pdf Type: application/pdf Size: 115422 bytes Desc: not available Url : http://mailman.ucalgary.ca/pipermail/hps-l/attachments/20111128/a724e084/NoticeAutzen-0001.pdf From ereshefs at ucalgary.ca Fri Dec 16 16:21:10 2011 From: ereshefs at ucalgary.ca (ereshefs@ucalgary.ca) Date: Fri Dec 16 16:21:23 2011 Subject: HPS Research Group Winter 2012 Schedule In-Reply-To: <5301efd1b3099621fc1005ca8fd1f197.squirrel@webmail.ucalgary.ca> References: <5301efd1b3099621fc1005ca8fd1f197.squirrel@webmail.ucalgary.ca> Message-ID: <77d9d257444c8f1dd9be19f55f3464b9.squirrel@webmail.ucalgary.ca> History and Philosophy of Science Research Group Winter 2012 Schedule January 17, Tuesday 3:30 ? 5:00 pm, in SS1253 Bengt Autzen, Philosophy, University of Calgary ?Inductive Inference and Non-hereditary Trees? February 7, Tuesday 3:30 ? 5:00 pm, in SS1253 Noa Latham, Philosophy, University of Calgary "The Direction of Time" March 20, Tuesday 3:30 ? 5:00 pm, in SS1253 Marc Ereshefsky, Philosophy, University of Calgary ?Evolution and the Triumph of Homology, or Why History Matters? April 3, Tuesday 3:30 ? 5:00 pm, in SS1253 Megan Delehanty, Philosophy, University of Calgary "Seeing and Watching" -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: HPS schedule W2012.docx Type: application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.wordprocessingml.documen t Size: 21952 bytes Desc: not available Url : http://mailman.ucalgary.ca/pipermail/hps-l/attachments/20111216/f390edb2/HPSscheduleW2012-0001.bin