CFP: Workshop on The Role of Theory Confirmation in Science, Stockholm, 5-7 May 2022

There are two ways of viewing theory confirmation. At a formal level, a theory is taken to be confirmed when collected data agrees with the theory’s predictions. At a pragmatic level, confirmation provides the basis for scientists’ confidence that the confirmed theory provides a viable representation of a set of phenomena and its so far untested predictions in the given context are true. Though the two roles of confirmation are of course related, the precise connection between them is non-trivial. The workshop focuses on the trust-generating role of confirmation with the aim of shedding light on the stated connection. Specific questions to be addressed will include: what are the criteria that turn evidence into empirical confirmation? In which way and to what extent do non-empirical considerations play a role in assessing a theory? What is the role of non-epistemic considerations in theory assessment? To what extent and in which ways does the notion of theory confirmation depend on the research field? The workshop aims to compare perspectives from various scientific disciplines.

Call for abstracts for the Online-Workshop “Metaphysics of Physics”, 30 August – 3 September 2021 (Deadline: 8 July 2021)

The Working Group “Philosophy of Physics” (AGPhil) of the German Physical Society (DPG) invites submissions for its annual workshop at the virtual DPG conference, organized by Jena. Contributions on any topic in the philosophy of physics are welcome. The workshop takes place 30 August – 3 September 2021 as an online event (https://smuk21.dpg-tagungen.de/). As part of this event, the AGPhil organizes a small workshop on the “Metaphysics of Physics”. Contributions in this area are especially welcome.

Confirmed speakers

Karen Crowther (Oslo)
Matt Farr (Cambridge)
Kerry McKenzie (UC San Diego)
Christopher Timpson (Oxford)
Alastair Wilson (Birmingham)

20th Annual LMP Conference

JUNE 24 – 25, 2021

Join us for the twentieth annual Philosophy of Logic, Math and Physics (LMP) graduate student conference in philosophy hosted by Western University in London, Ontario, Canada over Zoom. The LMP Graduate Student Conference will bring together philosophers of logic, mathematics, and physics for two days of presentations and discussions with some of the leaders in these fields. We are pleased to announce our keynote speaker this year is James Owen Weatherall from the University of California, Irvine.

Links for registration and the event program can be found at our website: logicmathphysics.uwo.ca.

Online conference: Philosophers and Einstein’s Relativity

We are delighted to announce a conference on the early philosophical reception of relativity theory, to be held online, and organized by Chiara Russo Krauss (University of Naples Federico II) and Luigi Laino (University of Naples Federico II). You may find further information here: https://federicoii.wixsite.com/einstein2021.

Online Philosophy of Lambda Workshop

Wednesday, 16 June 2021
Online via Zoom

This online workshop focuses on various philosophical aspects of Lambda, i.e. dark energy/ the cosmological constant/ vacuum energy.

CFA: ‘Cosmology Beyond Spacetime’ Summer Institute, 27 June – 2 July 2021

Call for Applications:

International Summer Institute in Philosophy of Physics on the PHILOSOPHY OF COSMOLOGY and the PHILOSOPHY OF QUANTUM GRAVITY

Hosted by the University of Geneva-University of Illinois at Chicago Cosmology Beyond Spacetime project

Hotel Le Crêt, Morzine, France
27 June – 2 July 2021

Further information, when available, at http://beyondspacetime.net/2021summerinstitute/.

CFP: 24th International Summer School in Urbino

*Call for Participation* and *Call for Papers*
BLACK HOLES AND THE INFORMATION LOSS PARADOX

XXIV International Summer School in Philosophy of Physics
07-10 June 2021, University of Urbino

Submission deadline: March 24, 2021.

For further information please write to: cirfis.scuolaestiva@gmail.com

Philosophy of Dark Matter Workshop, 29-30 March 2021

Online – via Zoom

Registration deadline: 22 March

Further info & registration: https://www.lhc-epistemologie.uni-wuppertal.de/events/events/phil-dm.html

SPEAKERS:

• Simon Allzén (Stockholm): “Dark matter, evidence, and theory confirmation”
• Antonis Antoniou (Bristol): “Reliability, informativeness and sensitivity in dark matter observation”
• Siska de Baerdemaeker (Stockholm): “Exploratory observations with stellar streams”
• Niels Martens (Bonn/Aachen): “Dark matter realism”
• Helen Meskhidze (Irvine): “(What) Do we learn from code comparisons? A case study of implementations of self-interacting dark matter”
• Robert Rynasiewicz (Johns Hopkins): “Dark matter and referential handles”
• William L. Vanderburgh (San Bernardino): “Multi-messenger metaphysics: Evidence and inference in astrophysics and cosmology”

PANEL:

• Siska de Baerdemaeker (Stockholm)
• Melissa Jacquart (Cincinnati)
• Christopher Smeenk (London, ON)
• Adán Sus (Valladolid)

For further questions, please contact the organizer, Niels Martens, at nmartens@uni-bonn.de

Beyond Spacetime Online Seminar Series, 3 February to 10 March 2021

This is to announce an online seminar series organized by the Beyond Spacetime project in conjunction with the Center for Philosophy of Science at the University of Pittsburgh, featuring talks by Francesca Vidotto, Lee Smolin, Chris Smeenk, Fay Dowker, Nick Huggett, and Christian Wüthrich on the intersection of quantum gravity and cosmology. More specifically, the program will be as follows:

• Feb 3: Nick Huggett, University of Illinois at Chicago
• Feb 10: Christian Wüthrich, University of Geneva
• Feb 17: Francesca Vidotto, Western University
• Feb 24: Lee Smolin, Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics
• March 3: Christopher Smeenk, Western University
• March 10: Fay Dowker, Imperial College London

For more information, including the zoom coordinates, please see https://www.centerphilsci.pitt.edu/cosmology-beyond-spacetime/ (and ignore the unrelated image on top!).

Please join us!

Oxford philosophy of physics Thursday seminar this fall

We pleased to announce the schedule for the Oxford philosophy of physics Thursday seminar for the forthcoming academic term. (See below.) The seminar will be held over Microsoft Teams; if you would like to attend, but are not already a member of the Teams group, please email James Read to be added.

We hope to see you there!