2013 Clifton Prize

Congratulations to Thomas Barrett (Princeton) for winning the 2013 Robert K. Clifton Memorial Prize in Philosophy of Physics!

Updated CFP: Seminar on the Philosophical Foundations of Quantum Gravity

26-28 September 2013 – University of Illinois at Chicago

Invited Speakers:

Jeremy Butterfield (Cambridge)
Elena Castellani (University of Florence)
Bianca Dittrich (Perimeter Institute)
Jeff Harvey (University of Chicago)
Nick Huggett (UIC)
Christian Wüthrich (UCSD)

Annual Philosophy of Logic, Mathematics, and Physics Graduate Conference: Western Ontario, 18-19 May 2013

The 13th Annual Philosophy of Logic, Mathematics, and Physics Graduate Conference will take place on Saturday-Sunday, May 18-19, 2013, at the University of Western Ontario in London, Ontario, Canada.

Hans Halvorson from Princeton University will deliver the keynote address.

The conference is held in conjunction with the annual Philosophy of Physics Conference (Friday May 17, 2013), with speakers Jill North, Erik Curiel, Christian Wüthrich, and James Owen Weatherall. More information can be found at http://logicmathphysics.ca

We hope that you join us.

Please send questions to:
Melissa Jacquart
uwolmp@gmail.com
Department of Philosophy, Stevenson Hall,
The University of Western Ontario,
London, Ontario CANADA N6A 3K7

Summer school on “Revolutions in Science”, Utrecht, 26-30 August 2013

History and Philosophy of Science: Revolutions in Science

Science is one of the major determinants of modern society. Both the history and philosophy of science aim at a deeper understanding of the nature of the scientific enterprise and the knowledge it produces. The philosophy of science studies general questions concerning the nature of scientific knowledge and scientific methods, but also includes conceptual analysis of fundamental theories such as relativity, quantum mechanics, evolution and modern genetics. The historical approach focuses on the development of scientific thought and practice in times past. It does not limit itself to the problems, methods and solutions assigned by scientists, but extends its scope to the interplay with cultural, social or institutional features at particular times and places.

COURSE AIM
Introducing students to modern debates in the History and Philosophy of Science. The central theme will be “Scientific Revolutions”.

Rotman Summer Institute 2013: Foundations of Statistical Mechanics (repost)

This year’s Rotman Summer Institute is aimed at fostering an understanding of conceptual issues in the foundations of statistical mechanics. The goal for students is to come away from the course prepared to engage the philosophical literature on the foundations of statistical mechanics at a professional level.

As there isn’t a consensus as to what the correct approach is to understanding statistical mechanics, we will be bringing together leading contributors to the philosophical debates to date. Lecture topics will include both introductions to basic issues, and specialized topics.

The institute will take place between Sunday, July 14 and Saturday, July 20, in a charming setting on the shores of Lake Huron.

Faculty for this year’s institute are David Z. Albert (Columbia University), Wayne Myrvold (Western University), John Norton (University of Pittsburgh), Jos Uffink (University of Minnesota), David Wallace (University of Oxford).

Yet another summer school: the philosophical history of modern spacetime theory, Tuebingen, 5-9 August 2013

Call for Applications

The Forum Scientiarum (University of Tuebingen) kindly invites 20 graduate students and young researchers in the field of philosophy, physics and mathematics, to apply for the International Interdisciplinary Summer School:

The Philosophical History of Modern Space-Time Theory
with Robert DiSalle, University of Western Ontario

Tuebingen, August 5 – August 9, 2013

Rotman Summer Institute 2013: Foundations of Statistical Mechanics

Each year the Rotman Summer Institute brings graduate students together with exceptional faculty from around the world to focus on a topic of special interest.

This year’s institute is aimed at fostering an understanding of conceptual issues in the foundations of statistical mechanics. The goal for students is to come away from the course prepared to engage the philosophical literature on the foundations of statistical mechanics at a professional level.

As there isn’t a consensus as to what the correct approach is to understanding statistical mechanics, we will be bringing together leading contributors to the philosophical debates to date. Lecture topics will include both introductions to basic issues, and specialized topics.

The institute will take place between Sunday, July 14 and Saturday, July 20, in a charming setting on the shores of Lake Huron.

Faculty for this year’s institute are David Z. Albert (Columbia University), Wayne Myrvold (Western University), John Norton (University of Pittsburgh), Jos Uffink (University of Minnesota), David Wallace (University of Oxford).

CfP: Quantum Gravity in Perspective (LMU Munich, 31 May – 1 June 2013)

QUANTUM GRAVITY IN PERSPECTIVE
LMU Munich
31st May – 1st June 2013
http://www.quantumgravityinperspective.philosophie.uni-muenchen.de/index.html

The search for a theory which would unite the insights of general relativity with those of quantum theory, a theory of quantum gravity, has now lasted the better part of a century. Although a number of promising candidate theories have emerged (string theory and loop quantum gravity being the most prominent), a large array of conceptual, formal and methodological issues are still unresolved. The increasingly fractured nature of the field – with long standing and well publicised disagreements over the premisses, goals and criteria for evaluation relevant to a ‘theory of quantum gravity’ – might be seen as one significant factor impeding progress.

Postdoc Fellowship, Hebrew University Jerusalem

THE SIDNEY M. EDELSTEIN CENTER FOR THE HISTORY AND PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY AND MEDICINE AT THE HEBREW UNIVERSITY OF JERUSALEM, ISRAEL

Invites applications for

POST-DOCTORAL FELLOWSHIPS FOR THE ACADEMIC YEAR 2013-2014

The Sidney M. Edelstein Center for the History and Philosophy of Science, Technology, and Medicine at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem invites applications for post-doctoral fellowships in the history and philosophy of science, technology and medicine for the academic year 2013-2014.

Summer Institute in Philosophy of Cosmology, UC Santa Cruz (UCSC), 23 June – 14 July 2013

Directors: David Albert (Columbia), Barry Loewer (Rutgers), Joel Primack (UCSC)

The Multi-university Templeton Project on Philosophy of Cosmology will conduct a three week summer institute in philosophy of cosmology at the University of California Santa Cruz. The purpose of the institute is to promote understanding of and research in issues in the philosophy of cosmology. Among the topics to be discussed are philosophical foundations of statistical mechanics, quantum mechanics, and relativity theory, the direction of time, questions of whether space and time are fundamental or emergent, reasons for believing in a multi-verse, anthropic arguments, the metaphysics of laws and chance, why anything at all exists. There will also be lectures on recent developments in cosmology intended for participants who are not cosmologists.