Philosophy of Science: The Pragmatic Alternative

21-22 April 2017
Center for Philosophy of Science
817 Cathedral of Learning
University of Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh, PA USA

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For more information:pittcntr@pitt.edu

This workshop will be organized around the general theme of pragmatism and philosophy of science. In recent years, there have been a number of philosophers of science who have adopted broadly pragmatic approaches to various issues in our discipline. Examples include the means/ends approaches to learning and epistemology that characterize formal learning theory, accounts of "variable selection" or choice of scientific vocabulary that emphasize the role of such choices in contributing to various scientific goals, and accounts of notions like "law" and "cause" that focus on the way in which these notions are used in science - the functions they may serve, or the aims scientists have in deploying them. Other examples include treatments of inference and modeling in science that emphasize their strategic character in efficiently and reliably achieving epistemic goals, "pragmatic" accounts of issues around scientific realism and scientific representation, and "pragmatic" treatments of interpretive issues regarding particular scientific theories. One of the main goals of the workshop is to bring together philosophers of science and other philosophers who share such common pragmatic orientation and to see if we can work out the extent to which there may be a distinctively pragmatic approach to philosophy of science and just what this would involve.

Invited speakers:
Matthew Brown, University of Texas at Dallas
David Danks, Carnegie Mellon University
Richard Healey, University of Arizona
Jenann Ismael, University of Arizona
Kerry McKenzie, University C. San Diego
Laura Ruetsche, University of Michigan
C. Kenneth Waters, University of Calgary

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Organizing Committee
James Woodward (University of Pittsburgh)
Sandra Mitchell (University of Pittsburgh)
Holly Andersen (Simon Fraser University)

SPONSOR:
The Center for Philosophy of Science