Call for Papers

PHILOSOPHICAL PERSPECTIVES ON SCIENTIFIC UNDERSTANDING

Thursday 25 August - Saturday 27 August, 2005
Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

This conference centers around the theme of 'scientific understanding'. The
notion of scientific understanding is closely related to that of scientific
explanation, but while explanation is widely discussed in philosophy of
science, not much work has focused explicitly on understanding. One reason is
that traditional philosophers of science have long regarded it as 'merely' a
psychological notion, and thereby as philosophically irrelevant. This
attitude, however, is slowly disappearing, and interest in the topic of
understanding is growing. With this conference we hope to stimulate the
development of philosophical research into scientific understanding.

The conference is intended for philosophers of science working on the topic of
scientific understanding itself, or on related topics such as explanation,
modelling, representation, etc.; and for historians and sociologists of
science, cognitive scientists, and others having an interest in philosophical
questions regarding scientific understanding.

INVITED SPEAKERS
Hasok Chang (University College London)
Peter Lipton (University of Cambridge)
Margaret Morrison (University of Toronto)

ORGANIZATION
Henk W. de Regt, Sabina Leonelli, and Kai Eigner (Faculty of Philosophy, Vrije
Universiteit Amsterdam)
Contact: understanding@ph.vu.nl

WEBSITE
http://www.ph.vu.nl/~understanding

CALL FOR PAPERS
We welcome contributed papers, which will be programmed in parallel sessions
(45-60 minute presentation including discussion). We aim at a varied
programme, in which philosophical questions about the nature of scientific
understanding will be approached in different ways. In addition to
contributions of a general philosophical nature, we hope to be able to present
studies focused on a wide range of sciences, both natural and social. Although
the conference has a philosophical orientation, contributions by historians
and sociologists of science, cognitive scientists, and others, are welcome, as
long as they are relevant to the general philosophical theme.

Possible topics are:
- The relation between explanation and understanding in science
- Understanding and types of scientific explanation (causal, mechanistic,
functional, unifying, etc.).
- Is understanding epistemic, pragmatic, or both?
- Models, analogies, and intelligibility
- Cognitive science and scientific understanding
- Is understanding individual or social?
- Understanding in the various sciences: similarities and differences
- Case studies from the practice and history of science

Please send an abstract of 450 words, and full contact information, to:
understanding@ph.vu.nl

Deadline for submission: March 1st 2005

PROGRAMME COMMITTEE
Rachel A. Ankeny (University of Sydney, Australia)
Daniela M. Bailer-Jones (UniversitŠt Bonn, Germany)
William Bechtel (University of California at San Diego, USA)
Marcel Boumans (University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands)
Jeremy Butterfield (University of Oxford, UK)
Dennis Dieks (Utrecht University, The Netherlands)
Helen E. Longino (University of Minnesota, USA)
James W. McAllister (Leiden University, The Netherlands)
Mary S. Morgan (London School of Economics, UK)
Nancy J. Nersessian (Georgia Institue of Technology, USA)
Hans Radder (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, The Netherlands)
Erik Weber (Ghent University, Belgium)
Andrea Woody (University of Washington, Seattle, USA)

REGISTRATION INFORMATION
The registration fee is 100 euros (70 euros for PhD students) when paid before
June 1st, 2005; 150 (100 for PhD students) when paid after June 1st, 2005. The
fee includes abstract booklet, welcoming reception on Thursday, coffee/tea and
lunch on both Friday and Saturday. Information about modalities of payment and
the registration form are available on our website
http://www.ph.vu.nl/~understanding

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