First Call for Abstracts

Biological Explanations of Behavior: Philosophical Perspectives

Thursday, June 12th to Sunday, June 15th, 2008,
Leibniz University of Hannover, Germany

This conference will be organized around three general themes: explanations in
behavioral genetics, developmental explanations of behavior, and the evolution
of behavior.  Possible topics include, but are not limited to, the following:
evolutionary explanations of human and animal behavior (e.g., altruism), causal
claims in behavioral genetics, behavioral traits as natural kinds, logical
analyses of arguments in evolutionary psychology, and comparisons of the
different ways that biologists from different disciplines explain behavior.  In
addition, we welcome papers that include philosophical analyses of concepts
central to biological explanations of behavior, such as innateness, imprinting,
and particular behavioral traits. 

The conference will begin with a keynote address that is intended to set the
agenda for the conference.  On each of the three following days, there will be a
plenary lecture in the morning in accordance with the theme for the day, which
will then be followed by topical sessions of contributed papers.  The conference
sessions will be organized in series (rather than in parallel sessions) so that
participants will have the opportunity to attend all presentations.  While this
means we will accept fewer papers, we believe that this will lead to a more
coherent conference with more intensive participation from all attendees. 


Program:

Thursday, June 12: Registration & evening keynote address
Keynote lecture by Helen Longino

Friday, June 13: Day theme: explanations in behavioral genetics
Plenary lecture by C. Kenneth Waters & 3 sessions with 3 contributed papers each

Saturday, June 14: Day theme: developmental explanations of behavior
Plenary lecture by Colin Allen & 3 sessions with 3 contributed papers each

Sunday, June 15: Day theme: the evolution of behavior
Plenary lecture by David Sloan Wilson & 1 -- 2 sessions with 3 contributed papers each

This conference is organized by Kathryn Plaisance and Thomas Reydon, and is
jointly sponsored by the Center for Philosophy and Ethics of Science (ZEWW) at
the Leibniz University of Hannover and the Minnesota Center for Philosophy of
Science (MCPS) at the University of Minnesota.

Publication of a small selection of papers delivered at the conference is
planned to appear as an edited volume of the Minnesota Studies in the Philosophy
of Science, to be edited by Kathryn Plaisance, Thomas Reydon, and C. Kenneth
Waters.  The volume will include papers by the keynote speaker and each of the
plenary speakers.  In addition, there will be room for four to six contributed
papers, based on quality and fit.  The deadline for paper submissions will be
several weeks after the conference, and decisions about publication will be made
promptly.

Please submit an abstract of up to 500 words to beb@ww.uni-hannover.de.  We
prefer that you attach a Word document that includes your contact information
(Name, Department, Institution, Email) followed by your abstract.  The deadline
for submission is December 21st, 2007.  (NOTE EXTENSION OF ORIGINAL DEADLINE, which 
was Dec. 1). Notifications of acceptance will be sent out in February, 2008. 
For more information, please visit http://www.unics.uni-hannover.de/zeww/beb.conf.eng.html

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