Conference on the philosophy of cosmology and quantum gravity

The Beyond Spacetime project and the Rotman Institute of Philosophy, invite proposals to speak at the upcoming conference Cosmology and Quantum Gravity Beyond Spacetime, on the philosophy of quantum gravity and cosmology, to be held 10-12 November 2023 at Western University. Selected speakers will have accommodation and most meals provided.

We are planning for 10 speakers – a mix of philosophers and physicists – with commentators, over two and a half days (finishing at lunch on the 12th, to allow return travel that evening). The meeting will be capped at 30 people to encourage interaction. 

The following have accepted invitations to speak:
• Feraz Azhar (Notre Dame)
• Jamee Elder (BHI/Harvard)
• Laurent Freidel (Perimeter)
• Sean Gryb (Groningen)
• Katie Mack (Perimeter)
•Lee Smolin (Perimeter)

We are open to any topics exploring philosophical aspects of quantum gravity and cosmology. We hope to foster new directions and new collaborations in the field.

Please submit a title, abstract, and CV to https://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=coqubes23 by June 30th, 2023. 

The conference website can be found on http://www.beyondspacetime.net.

The organizing committee:
Nick Huggett (UIC)
Chris Smeenk (Western)
Francesca Vidotto (Western)
Christian Wüthrich (Geneva)

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STEM, social science & humanities scholars are joining forces to create high-quality videos of black holes with an Earth-sized virtual telescope. New white paper out now (open access): https://www.mdpi.com/2139392If you are a philosopher, historian, sociologist, HPS, STS or legal scholar interested in contributing to the Next Generation Event Horizon Telescope Collaboration (ngEHT.org), contact n.c.m.martens[at]uu.nl or @EU_phil_cosmo with a brief description of your background and thoughts about contributing to the ngEHT.

Urbino Summer School: June 17-20

Call for Papers / Participation

The 22nd International School in Philosophy of Physics will be held in Urbino, on June 17th-20th, 2019. The topic of the school is “Philosophy of Cosmology” and will feature lectures given by Christopher Smeenk (Western University, and Director of the Rotman Institute of Philosophy), Erik Curiel (Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München), and afternoon seminars given by Alfio Bonanno (INAF, Catania Astrophysical Observatory), Elena Pian (INAF, Astrophysics and Space Science Observatory, Bologna), Vincenzo Fano (University of Urbino) and Giovanni Macchia (University of Urbino)

RIP: Adolf Grünbaum (1923-2018)

As noted on Daily Nous, Adolf Grünbaum, professor emeritus at the University of Pittsburgh’s Center for Philosophy of Science and its Department of History of Philosophy of Science, died this past Thursday.

Professor Grünbaum was known for his work in philosophy of physics and the philosophy of psychology.

He joined the University of Pittsburgh in 1960, founding its Center for Philosophy of Science. Prior to that, he was a professor at Lehigh University. He received his PhD in philosophy from Yale in 1951.

(via Edouard Machery)

On a more personal note, I was fortunate to take a seminar he taught on the philosophy of religion, which he alternated with a seminar on the philosophy of psychoanalysis in the early 2000s when I was a graduate student at Pitt. I will always be grateful for his support, particularly for his very kind letter of recommendation (which he read to me over the phone!). I always admired his energy and enthusiasm for philosophy, which kept strong at what was already then an advanced age!

At the peril that this may be an awkward thing to say about the staunch atheist he was: may he rest in peace.

Foundations of Physics Research Chair: Western

The University of Western Ontario invites applications for a Tier 2 Canada Research Chair (CRC) in Foundations of Physics. Tier 2 research chairs are intended for exceptional emerging scholars, meaning that scholars should have less than 10 years as an active researcher in the field (further details).  The successful candidate will be appointed to both the Departments of Applied Mathematics and Philosophy, and is expected to have a strong research track record in both physics and philosophy, with a doctoral degree in at least one of the fields.

RIP: Aristidis Arageorgis

It is with great sadness that I report the passing of Aristidis Arageorgis, lecturer in the Department of Humanities, Social Sciences, and Law at the National Technical University of Athens. Aristides worked mostly in the philosophy of physics, but also in general philosophy of science and the philosophy of mathematics. He received his PhD in History and Philosophy of Science from the University of Pittsburgh in 1995. The community will miss him.

I will be happy to link obituaries or announcements which appear online. Here is the announcement from Pitt’s HPS department. The Department of Humanities, Social Sciences, and Law at NTUA has dedicated a website to the memory of Aristidis, with messages of condolences by John Earman and Peter Machamer.

LMU Munich: Two Postdoctoral Fellowships at the MCMP

http://www.mcmp.philosophie.uni-muenchen.de/news/post_doc_2018/index.html

The Munich Center for Mathematical Philosophy (MCMP) seeks applications for two 3-year postdoctoral fellowships starting on October 1, 2018. (A later starting date is possible.) We are especially interested in candidates with research interests in at least one of the following fields: general philosophy of science, philosophy of physics, philosophy of the social sciences, philosophy of statistics, formal epistemology, formal philosophy of science, social epistemology, philosophy and psychology of reasoning and argumentation, agent-based modeling in philosophy, or decision theory.

Application deadline: April 15 2018

For more information and details see: http://www.mcmp.philosophie.uni-muenchen.de/news/post_doc_2018/index.html

Oxford: Fixed-term departmental lecturer in philosophy of physics

UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD
FACULTY OF PHILOSOPHY, Radcliffe Observatory Quarter, Oxford.

Departmental Lecturer in Philosophy of Physics

Grade 7: £31,604 – £33,518 per annum

Rotman Summer Institute: Philosophy of Cosmology

The Rotman Institute of Philosophy will host a summer institute in philosophy of cosmology, June 11-20, 2018. The Institute will focus primarily on two issues:  first, the role of simulations in cosmology, and second, the status of singularity theorems in light of proposals from quantum gravity.  Graduate students and junior scholars are encouraged to apply by March 30. Please visit the Institute website for further details.  This event is sponsored in part by a grant from the John Templeton Foundation, awarded to Chris Smeenk and Jim Weatherall.

 

Extended Deadline: Summer School on the Philosophy, History and Sociology of Particle Physics

Second Call for Applications: The Research Unit Epistemology of the LHC invites applications for the Summer School

‘Particle Physics at the Crossroads: Interdisciplinary Perspectives on the Past, Present and Future of Particle Physics’

taking place 23-30 July 2018 in Wuppertal (Germany).

Extended deadline: 28 February 2018

Confirmed speakers