Dear List Members,
The STS Department at University College London will host two events
featuring a special appearance by Alan Chalmers in October. Both events
are free and open to the public. Full details below.
(Apologies for cross-posting!)
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STS Seminar Series 2011-12
Monday 3 October, 5.00pm
Pearson (North East Entrance) Lecture Theatre
University College London
Alan Chalmers, Unit for History and Philosophy of Science, University of
Sydney
From the mechanical philosophy to the electron theory: Learning
philosophical lessons from the history of science
Abstract:
I aim to pinpoint important characteristics of scientific knowledge by
contrasting an example of it, the electron theory of matter, with the
character and fate of the matter theories developed by mechanical
philosophers in the seventeenth century. The modes of argument involved
in defence of the two versions of matter theory were qualitatively
different, and those involved in the electron theory were productive in
a sense that those employed by the mechanical philosophers were not. An
appreciation of this fact, and hence a good philosophical grasp of the
distinctive features of science, is something that has been learnt from
the history of science. The possibility that experiment can successfully
probe deep into the structure of matter as far down as electrons and
atomic nuclei could not possibly have been anticipated in the
seventeenth century. Further, some limitations of arguments employed by
mechanical philosophers, involving appeals to intelligibility and
projections of knowledge of macroscopic phenomena onto the micro-world,
can be fully appreciated only by reference to subsequent developments in
the history of science. While scientific theories are supported by
experiment in a way that is qualitatively stronger than the ways in
which seventeenth-century matter theories were, experiment is unable to
yield ultimate explanations, As history itself illustrates, theories,
including those about the deep structure of matter, typically prove to
have their limits and are replaced by better ones that maybe probe even
deeper than the ones they transcend. This is best comprehended by a
version of the correspondence principle.
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AD HOC London
Thursday 6 October, 6pm
Room 110, Roberts Building
University College London
http://www.hps.cam.ac.uk/adhoc/
Alan Chalmers will be a special guest in this month's AD HOC London
seminar. Below is a short description of the session, kindly provided by
Hasok Chang:
"Alan Chalmers is most famous for /What is this thing called science?/,
his brilliant and accessible best-selling textbook of philosophy of
science. In addition to his contributions to general philosophy of
science, he has done equally important work in integrated history and
philosophy of science. After his work on Maxwell, and then on early
modern astronomy, he turned his attention to the history of atomic
theory, producing his broad-ranging and thought-provoking recent book
/The Scientist's Atom and the Philosopher's Stone: How Science Succeeded
and Philosophy Failed to Gain Knowledge of Atoms/ (2009).
"The AD HOC London meeting on Thursday 6 October will discuss Chalmers's
work in progress, "Klein on the Origin of the Concept of Chemical
Compound", which continues his research on atomism. Chalmers builds on
Ursula Klein's work on E.-F. Geoffroy's role in articulating the concept
of the chemical compound in the early 18th century, and shows that the
earlier corpuscular theories, exemplified here by the work of Robert
Boyle, failed to achieve what Geoffroy later achieved. The paper also
includes an interesting historiographical section, containing a defence
of Klein and Chalmers himself against the charge of whiggism."
The seminar is open to the public, but places are limited. To reserve a
place and for advance copies of the readings please contact Stephanie
Seavers at [log in to unmask]
--
Dr. Chiara Ambrosio
Teaching Fellow in Philosophy of Science
Department of Science and Technology Studies
University College London
Gower Street
London WC1E 6BT
Tel. (+44) 02076791324
http://www.ucl.ac.uk/sts/staff/ambrosio
http://www.ucl.ac.uk/sts/
http://www.ucl.ac.uk/basc/
--
Dr. Chiara Ambrosio
Teaching Fellow in Philosophy of Science
Department of Science and Technology Studies
University College London
Gower Street
London WC1E 6BT
Tel. (+44) 02076791324
http://www.ucl.ac.uk/sts/staff/ambrosio
http://www.ucl.ac.uk/sts/
http://www.ucl.ac.uk/basc/
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