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X-WR-CALNAME:CEFISES @ UCLouvain
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DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Brussels:20260109T140000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/Brussels:20260109T160000
DTSTAMP:20260408T003915
CREATED:20250916T153023Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260308T094022Z
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SUMMARY:CEFISES Seminar: Kristina Engelhard\, "Powers BSAs and Cognitive Capacities. A Powerful Capacitist Theory of Laws of Nature"
DESCRIPTION:Livestream  https://youtu.be/OsbrC1GoG3g \nSeries: MEPHISTO (MEtaphysics and PHIlosophy of Science: Transcendental Orientations) \nSpeaker: Kristina Engelhard (Trier University) \nTitle: “Powers BSAs and Cognitive Capacities. A Powerful Capacitist Theory of Laws of Nature” \nAbstract \nThis talk sketches and explores the outlines of a new theory of the laws of nature\, according to which laws\, understood as both law facts and law propositions\, can be grounded on two kinds of powers: physical and cognitive powers. This theory is called the Powerful Capacitist Theory of Laws (PTLPC). This approach combines an ontological and an epistemological perspective on laws. One version of this account is Powers BSA\, which has recently been discussed in the literature. Like the Powers BSA\, the PTLPC can explain epistemic features connected to the laws of nature\, such as the relationship of laws and theories to scientific practices. However\, it is superior to recent Powers BSAs in that it can provide a unified and systematic account of this dualism. In part one I discuss the PBSA account and Friend’s objection to; I then show in part two that a powers theory of laws including powerful capacitism — the view that there are cognitive powers bringing about cognitive outputs such as intuitions\, propositions\, inferences\, and theories — is unaffected by Friend’s objections. Section three sketches a metaphysics of cognitive powers. Section four outlines how a powers theory including powerful capacitism grounds the laws of nature. Finally\, section five concludes the results of this investigation.
URL:http://cefises.be/en/event/cefises-seminar-9-jan/
LOCATION:Salle Ladrière\, Place du Cardinal Mercier 14 (bâtiment Socrate\, a.124)\, Louvain-la-Neuve\, 1348\, Belgium
ORGANIZER;CN="Danielle Pizzocaro":MAILTO:daniele.pizzocaro@uclouvain.be
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Brussels:20260116T140000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/Brussels:20260116T160000
DTSTAMP:20260408T003915
CREATED:20250916T153154Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260308T094059Z
UID:1936-1768572000-1768579200@cefises.be
SUMMARY:CEFISES Seminar: Jan Potters\, "Thomas Kuhn and the history of quantum physics\, 1961-1984"
DESCRIPTION:Livestream  https://youtu.be/3ET4nXiVIqM \nSeries: HPS \nSpeaker: Jan Potters (University of Antwerp) \nTitle: “Thomas Kuhn and the history of quantum physics\, 1961-1984” \nAbstract \nThomas Kuhn is primarily known as the philosopher of science who wrote The Structure of Scientific Revolutions (1962). Less known is that he has also carried out work that has been of major significance for the development of history of quantum physics as a discipline. In the 1960s in particular Kuhn was the principal investigator of a project titled Sources for History of Quantum Physics\, which aimed at archiving as much material about the development of quantum physics as possible. The project did this not only by collecting archival materials\, but equally well by interviewing physicists who had participated in the field’s development. \nAs of yet\, there has been very little study of Kuhn’s work on this project. My aim in this talk is to fill this gap. I will focus\, more specifically\, on three aspects of Kuhn’s work on the history of quantum physics. First\, I will provide an extensive discussion of the Sources-project itself\, and Kuhn’s later evaluation of it. Second\, I will then outline how Kuhn himself used the project output in his later work on the history of quantum physics. And third\, I will discuss how Kuhn’s historical work related to his philosophical practice.
URL:http://cefises.be/en/event/cefises-seminar-16-jan/
LOCATION:Salle Ladrière\, Place du Cardinal Mercier 14 (bâtiment Socrate\, a.124)\, Louvain-la-Neuve\, 1348\, Belgium
ORGANIZER;CN="Azat Garaev":MAILTO:azat.garaev@uclouvain.be
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Brussels:20260123T140000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/Brussels:20260123T160000
DTSTAMP:20260408T003915
CREATED:20250916T153304Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260308T094139Z
UID:1939-1769176800-1769184000@cefises.be
SUMMARY:CEFISES Seminar: Azat Garaev\, "Reductionism in contemporary developmental biology"
DESCRIPTION:Livestream  https://youtu.be/GTgiHBdTBEk \nSeries: Work-in-Progress \nSpeaker: Azat Garaev (UCLouvain) \nTitle: “Reductionism in contemporary developmental biology” \nAbstract \nThe metaphor of the genetic program has played a central role in developmental biology since the rise of molecular biology. In this talk I am going to examine how this metaphor is connected with different forms of reductionism\, focusing on its evolution from early molecular genetics to contemporary developmental biology. I begin by situating the discussion within philosophical debates on reductionism\, with particular attention to explanatory strategies in molecular and developmental biology. I follow Sahotra Sarkar’s distinction between genetic reductionism\, which assigns explanatory primacy to genes\, and molecular or physical reductionism\, which seeks to account for biological phenomena in terms of lower-level molecular mechanisms. \nI then trace the emergence of the molecular biology paradigm in the 1960s and 1970s\, highlighting how the notion of a genetic programme supported a gene-centric\, algorithmic view of development. The subsequent discovery and formalisation of gene regulatory networks (GRNs) significantly complexified this picture\, replacing linear genetic control with network-based models of regulation. I assess whether the GRN framework constitutes a departure from reductionism or rather its new form. \nFinally\, I consider recent research programmes that focus on the GRNs’ mechanisms of action\, including the roles of protein stability\, post-translational regulation\, and extra-nuclear activities in transcription factor action. I suppose that these developments challenge the standard GRN paradigm and\, with it\, the genetic programme metaphor itself. Overall\, I aim to clarify how contemporary developmental biology navigates between reductionist commitments and increasingly complex accounts of biological organisation.
URL:http://cefises.be/en/event/cefises-seminar-23-jan/
LOCATION:Salle Ladrière\, Place du Cardinal Mercier 14 (bâtiment Socrate\, a.124)\, Louvain-la-Neuve\, 1348\, Belgium
ORGANIZER;CN="Alexandre Guay":MAILTO:alexandre.guay@uclouvain.be
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Brussels:20260130T140000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/Brussels:20260130T160000
DTSTAMP:20260408T003915
CREATED:20250916T153409Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260308T094219Z
UID:1942-1769781600-1769788800@cefises.be
SUMMARY:CEFISES Seminar: Doan Vu Duc\, "An interactionist account of the problem of demarcation. How to conceive an empirically informed framework of scientific rationality?"
DESCRIPTION:Livestream  https://youtu.be/kDY50nwDn6g \nSeries: OLOFOS \nSpeaker: Doan Vu Duc (UNamur) \nTitle: “An interactionist account of the problem of demarcation. How to conceive an empirically informed framework of scientific rationality?” \nAbstract \nOne consequence of people’s mistrust in science is the proliferation of certain pseudosciences that aim to “fight down some scientific theory or branch of science” (Hansson\, 2021). Although one may have a rough idea of what a pseudoscience looks like (astrology\, for instance)\, the philosophical task of demarcating it from science has been a difficult one. Throughout the 20th century\, philosophers attempted to define the nature of science by means of a single criterion\, until Laudan dismissed the discussion as “a pseudo-problem” (Laudan\, 1983). Yet the problem has resurfaced. \nPhilosophers of science today increasingly embrace the societal responsibility of distinguishing science from pseudoscience. In the face of pseudoscience and disinformation\, demarcation has become necessary for both political and educational purposes. Despite certain difficulties\, the gradualist approach is a promising strategy. \nWithin this context\, my aim is to challenge the meaning and nature of scientific rationality in a demarcationist fashion (unlike\, for instance\, Feyerabend). I defend an account of demarcation grounded in the Argumentative or Interactionist Theory of Reason (ITR). This theory of cognitive science from Hugo Mercier and Dan Sperber holds that reason is a tool evolved for a specific function: producing arguments or justifications and evaluating them in interactive contexts. On this view\, science is one such context\, where argumentation is particularly fast and dynamic\, allowing reason to operate in the very environment for which it evolved. Scientists strive to persuade the community with the strongest possible arguments while being equally motivated to rigorously evaluate those of their peers. \nIf this framework helps resolve key problems (e.g.\, distinguishing bad science from pseudoscience)\, it also raises seemingly relativistic concerns. If scientific justification is simply what convinces the community—i.e.\, what survives peer evaluation—how can we secure the truth-conduciveness of science? Since truth-conduciveness grounds the educational role of science\, it remains a non-negotiable element of any viable account. I therefore defend an account of the problem of demarcation that I call epistemic interactionism (EI) for which I propose two interpretations (one strong and one pragmatist) that I wish to defend in this talk. \n 
URL:http://cefises.be/en/event/cefises-seminar-30-jan/
LOCATION:Salle Ladrière\, Place du Cardinal Mercier 14 (bâtiment Socrate\, a.124)\, Louvain-la-Neuve\, 1348\, Belgium
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