[spsp-members] Science beyond the horizon with Nancy Cartwright | 9 December | UvA - IAS online

[Federica Russo]

[apologies for crossposting]

Event: Science beyond the horizon with Nancy Cartwright

"What are the promises and pitfalls of evidence-based policy? Is it a mistake or simply misleading to speak of laws in science?"

The Institute for Advanced Study of the University of Amsterdam (IAS) is proud to present prof. Nancy Cartwright, distinguished and highly influential contemporary Philosopher of Science, as keynote speaker in its Science beyond the Horizon series.

Date: Thursday 9 December 2021
Time: 16:30-18:30 (CET)
Location: Online

Registration:online registration form

Programme:
16:30 - 16:32: Word of welcome by IAS Scientific Director Huub Dijstelbloem
16:32 - 16:40: Introducing the speaker and the topic by Federica Russo
16:40 - 17:25: Keynote lecture by Nancy Cartwright: “Science in the earthly plane”
17:25 - 17:30: Short break
17:30 - 18:10: Panel discussion with Henk de Regt, Cees Diks, John Grin, Maartje Schermer, Sonja Smets,
18:10 - 18:30: General Q&A

Abstract:
"This is a series about science and its philosophy ‘Beyond the Horizons’. I will recommend the opposite, not science beyond the horizons but science and philosophy well below the horizons. That is, science and philosophy ‘in the earthly plane,’ as Vienna Circle philosopher and sociologist Otto Neurath urged. One dominant image of science pictures it as primarily high theory and breakthrough experiments done by men of genius wresting from nature her deepest secrets. But theory + experiment do not a science make, nor do men of genius. To accomplish anything in the world, every practice and every product of science matters.

So this talk will be in praise of big science. Not big in the sense of grand projects with large teams spending vast sums of money but rather big in the way that a giant Meccano set is big. It consists of a very great many diverse pieces that can be deployed in a great variety of different ways to serve different purposes. Not just theory and experiment but equally models; measurement definitions, procedures, and instruments; concept development and validation; data collection, analysis, and curation; non-experimental studies; statistical techniques; methods of approximation; case studies; narratives; and more. Especially important is the complex ways in which these interweave.

I shall argue that it is because of this vast tangle of other products and practices that we can trust any single product of science to do its job —whether this be an abstract formula in mathematical physics or a poverty measure or a new piece of medical technology. This argues for a far more intellectually humble attitude to the grandeur of science. All the products of science play a crucial role in securing reliability: every labourer is equally worthy their hire."

About the speaker:
Nancy Cartwright FBA FAcSS is Professor of Philosophy at Durham University and a Distinguished Professor at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD). In the first half of her career at Stanford University she specialised in the philosophy of the natural sciences, especially physics; in the second half, at the London School of Economics and now Durham and UCSD, she has specialised in philosophy and methodology of the social sciences with special attention to economics. Her current research focusses on objectivity and evidence, especially for evidence-based policy.

More information: online event page
Registration: online registration form

___________________
Dr Federica Russo | http://russofederica.wordpress.com |  @federicarusso
Department of Philosophy & ILLC, University of Amsterdam
Mailing address: Postbus 94201, 1090 GE Amsterdam
ORCID ID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1993-9697
Zoom: https://uva-live.zoom.us/my/federicarusso

European Philosophy of Science Association - Member of the Steering Committee
Institute for Advanced Study- UvA | Member of the Management Team
Russo F., Value-promoting concepts in the health sciences and public health, Philosophical News, Special issue "Ethics, Health Data and Bio-Citizenship”. Preprint here
Networks: EBM+| CitS CONFERENCE SERIES
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