Evora's first international symposium on Twentieth century philosophy of Science

O Centro de Estudos de Historia e Filosofia da Ciência promove durante o dia 23, proxima quinta-feira, uma jornada dedicada à Filosofia da Ciência. Entre os oradores destaca-se o professor Herminio Martins que nos falarà sobre a Filosofia das Ciências Sociais de Sir Karl Popper. O programa detalhado é o seguinte:

CEHFCi – Philosophy of Science Research Action
Evora's first international symposium on Twentieth century philosophy of Science
Évora – April 23, 2009
Sala 131, Colégio do Espirito Santo.

Scientific coordination:
Augusto dos Santos Fitas
João Paulo Príncipe
Maria de Fátima Nunes

Programme of the Symposium

9.30h – Welcome session
10h – Opening morning conference: Friedrich Wallner (Wien University): “Intercultural Philosophy - The Viennese Program”.
10.45 h – Discussion

11.15 h – Coffee break

Session I – chairman – Fátima Nunes (Univ. Évora/CEHFCi)
11.15h – Augusto Fitas (Univ. Évora/CEHFCi): "Influence of Vienna Circle in Portugal during the period 1930-1946"
11.45h – Marcial Rodrigues (CEHFCi) : "Philosophy of Science in Portugal (XXth century)"
12.15h – Discussion

13h – Lunch

15h – Opening afternoon conference – Herminio Martins, (ST. Anthony College, University of Oxford): "Karl Popper and the philosophy of the social sciences"
15.45h – Discussion

Session II – chairman: Augusto Fitas (Univ. Évora/CEHFCi)
16h – João Paulo Príncipe (Univ. Évora/CEHFCi) - “La nature des théories physiques d'après Maxwell et Poincaré ”.
16.30h – Rui Moreira (Fac. Ciências Univ. Lisboa/CFCUL) – “What is a physical theory?”.
16.45h – Discussion

17h - Coffe Break

Session III – chairman João Paulo Principe (Univ. Évora/CEHFCi)
17.15h – Ricardo Coelho (Fac. Ciências Univ. Lisboa/CEHFCi) - "Hertz and Wittgenstein".
17.45h – Mariana Valente (Univ. Évora/CEHFCi) – “L'image du monde dans la physique - il y a cent ans”.
18.15h – Jorge Croce Rivera (Univ. Évora/CEHFCi) –"Fernando Gil and the problem of Truth".

18.30h – Discussion

19h – Final comments by João Paulo Príncipe and Augusto Fitas

AGENDA: Conferência Internacional "Evolution today and tomorrow"

The Centre for Philosophy of Science of the Universidade de Lisboa is, in collaboration with ISPA and CBA, organizing a 2-day international conference on Evolution today and tomorrow, Darwin evaluated by contemporary evolutionary and philosophical theories. The conference will be held on 23 & 24 April, 2009 at the Universidade de Lisboa.

Conference theme

In 2009, the world is celebrating the 200th anniversary of the birth of Charles Darwin and the 150th anniversary of his magnum opus On the Origin of Species by means of Natural Selection. 2009 is also the 100th anniversary of Constantin Mereschkowsky's article on symbiogenesis "The Theory of Two Plasmas as the Basis of Symbiogenesis, a New Study for the Origins of Organisms". Moreover, Jean Baptiste Lamarck's Philosophie Zoologique was first published 200 years ago. And finally, Alexander von Humboldt, the father of biogeography, passed away 150 years ago.In the conference, we will investigate the impact that Darwin's thinking had on modern evolutionary biology as well as on philosophy of biology. More specifically, we will examine the theory of natural selection in regard to the modern theories of symbiogenesis and punctuated equilibrium. The focus will lie on the controversies over the pace of evolution, the different species concepts that arise by making use of different evolutionary theories, and the units and levels of evolution debate. We will furthermore examine the current implementation of Neodarwinian thinking in the human and social sciences and its philosophical implications. It is often stated that cultural and social evolution occur more in accordance with Lamarckian ideas of inheritance. We will test these views in light of selectionist interpretations of the rise of culture.The international conference combines the expertise of both foreign as well as Portuguese experts in the field of both biology and philosophy. Together, these experts will put forward important knowledge on evolution, understandable for both the scientific and non-scientific community of Portugal. Therefore the conference will help in a better understanding of evolution at all levels of society.

Plenary Speakers

António M. de Frias Martins, Universidade dos Açores, Portugal

Jan Sapp, University of York, Canada

John Wilkins, University of Sydney, Australia
James Steele, University College London, UK

Call for posters

We kindly invite scholars to contribute to the conference with a poster presentation. Posters can be in accordance with any of the philosophical and biological topics discussed in the 4 major conference sessions: 1. The pace of evolution (gradualism versus punctuated equilibrium, developmental systems theory, embryology...)2. Symbiogenesis (the origin of eukaryotes and prokaryotes, viruses, mutualism, parasitism, commensualism...) 3. Species concepts and units and levels of evolution (phylogenetic trees, hybridization, multilevel selection, identity...)4. Darwinism applied to the human and social sciences (evolutionary anthropology, evolutionary archaeology, evolutionary linguistics, neuroscience...)The language of the poster can be either in English or in Portuguese. Posters should be in portrait and must not exceed a width of 70cm and a height of 100cm. The posters will be visible during the entire conference, and they can be discussed during the conference reception and coffee breaks.

Interested scholars can send an abstract in accordance to the abstract template to Helena Abreu: helenaabr@gmail.com. The deadline for abstract submission is 12 April 2009.

All abstracts will be published in the conference booklet.

More information at http://cfcul.fc.ul.pt/coloquios/darwincolloquium/coloquiodarwin.htm