Date: Tue, 17 Jan 2006 15:35:44 +0100 From: Hugin og Munin To: H U G I N O G M U N I N listen Subject: H U G I N O G M U N I N nr. 202 ####################################################### H U G I N O G M U N I N elektronisk nyhedsbrev for AAbent Netvaerk for Videnskabsfilosofi og Videnskabshistorie nr. 202 d. 17. jan. 2006 ####################################################### bringer meddelelser om aktiviteter indenfor VIDENSKABSHISTORIE og VIDENSKABSFILOSOFI og tilgraensende omraader som eksempelvis FORSKNING I FORSKNING * VIDENSKABSTEORI * VIDENSKABSETIK VIDENSKABSSOCIOLOGI * VIDENSKAB, TEKNOLOGI OG SAMFUND * BIOETIK FORSKNINGSPOLITIK * NATURFILOSOFI * VIDENSKABSFORMIDLING ####################################################### Indhold: 1. Opslag: Phd-course: IT between Representation and Intervention. Call for Papers: Scientists and Social Commitment. 2. Bogomtale: Fra eksperimentelle "models of life" til en ny naturfilosofisk metodologi? LLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL LLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL Opslag: oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo Phd-course organized by the research school BRICS 2: IT between Representation and Intervention May 15-19, 2006 at University of Aarhus How is the world represented in science and technology? And when is science and technology intervening in reality? Is, for instance, the structure of a database representing certain state of affairs in the world? Is a computerized list of concepts a true or complete representation of the subject domain, or is it rather arbitrarily constructed to fit the database system's limitations? And if the latter is the case, is it then a kind of intervention that will change the piece of reality it is supposed to represent? If science and technology is just as much about intervention as representation, how will this effect the prominent idea of objectivity that traditionally sets science and science-based technology apart from non-science? Anyone concerned with classification work is potentially confronted with such questions regarding representations, interventions and reality. The discussion about our capability to represent the world in symbolic form is not exclusive of computer science and IT. It can also be found among other science and technology researchers and in everyday life. Many scientists act, for instance, from a conviction that the numbers they read on a measuring device in a physics experiment tell them how a select part of nature behaves. Others reject this view, and may talk about technology-driven construction of reality in the lab. Proponents of artificial intelligence might build their research on the belief that verbal reports about inner states represent such states in full, and subsequently can be simulated in a computer program. Other may disagree: Words do not represent the working of the mind, thus, automated manipulation of symbols is not relevant to psychology, or it reinvent what psychology is about! The course presents and discusses this range of essential questions within the general framework of IT research. The course will provide the participants with ideas and arguments to recognise key issues in the discussion, and to relate it to their own projects. The tension between technological limitations and theoretical possibilities will be emphasised. The lectures will address a range of issues from formalisms in computer science, over cybernetics and philosophy of technology to work-oriented systems design. The key lectures at the course will be internationally recognized researchers within their fields. Professor Andy Pickering from Department of Sociology, Univertsity of Illinois, and professor Peter-Paul Verbeek from Department of Philosophy in Twente, Holland have accepted the invitation to participate. Two more prominent lecturers covering the computer science domain have been invited, and their names will be announced later. PhD-students will be asked to present selected topics from their projects during the course. Primary target group: PhD-students from the BRICS 2 Research School. The course is open for all PhD-students in Denmark and the Nordic countries. ETCS: 4 points for participation throughout the whole seminar, and 6 points if also presenting full paper. Organizers: Associate professor Olav Bertelsen, Institute of Computer Science; associate professor Claus Bossen; associate professor Finn Olesen, Institute of Information and Media Studies, Aarhus University. Practicalities: Deadline for application and submission of abstract: April 1st, Each application should include a short CV, a title and description of the Ph.D. project, and an abstract of the presentation (300 words). The seminar is free of charge for all PhD-students inside Academia. Others must pay DKK 1000 per ECTS to participate. Participants are also expected to cover their own expenses for travel, food and lodging. (for information about convenient accommodation, you may ask the secretary - see details below). Applications and other contacts should be directed to: Lene Kjeldsteen lenekj[ at ]brics.dk Immediately after the deadline all candidates will be notified. oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo Call for Papers Scientists and Social Commitment: Historical perspectives on the political, religious and philosophical ideas and activity of scientists 15th - 17th September 2006 Science Museum, London, UK. The British Society for the History of Science is organizing a conference to honour the 75th Anniversary of the 1931 Second International Congress for the History of Science, a foundation event in the modern history of science. The congress is remembered for the presence of a Russian delegation that raised political and philosophical issues in science and the history of science. It led to the elaboration of sociologically and politically conscious methods of research in the relationship between science and society. As with the original congress, the venue is Science Museum, London, and it will assess and analyse the theme of the history of scientists and social commitment. The focus is on issues of ideological commitments and their relationship to scientific and social activism in the scientific community. The three realms of the ideological addressed are political, religious and philosophical commitment in historical perspective, encompassing a number of thematic possibilities from ideological activism, social engagement, influence on scientific practices and ideas, attempts at scientific associations and organizations, networks, to individual commitment. These reach across the history of science, technology and medicine, with no parameters on historical period. In addition to scientists, we welcome papers, on similar issues, relating to natural philosophers, engineers, technocrats, medical doctors, nursing staff, scientific journalists, public propagandists, laboratory workers and technicians. The conference will address issues of implicit or tacit commitment as well as explicit, public commitment. We particularly welcome proposals reflecting upon historiographical issues and multidisciplinary approaches to these relationships. Given the wide subject area, we are especially interested in symposium proposals with an organizer (who will be responsible for the content and organization of the symposium), speakers, potential commentators and details of each paper included. We invite the submission of individual papers on any of the themes. Please send a 250 word abstract including the title of the paper, the scope and the speaker?s details to programmes[ at ]bshs.org.uk or to Chris Chilvers at chc[ at ]dtv.dk. Hardcopy submissions or correspondence should be sent to Chris Chilvers, Scientists and Social Commitment Conference, History of Technology Department, Technical Knowledge Centre of Denmark, Technical University of Denmark, P. O. Box 777, DK-2800, Lyngby, Denmark. The closing date for all proposals is 15th February 2006 with notification of acceptance by 28th February 2006. Chris Chilvers LLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL LLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL Bogomtale: oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo Fra eksperimentelle "models of life" til en ny naturfilosofisk metodologi? Umiddelbart f¿r den afgŒende redakt¿r rejste sig fra stolen modtog han en pastelgr¿n 992 g tung fascinerende bog af glittet papir med titlen "The Revolutionary Aspect of Chemometric Technology. The Universe and Biological Cells as Computers", skrevet af den kreative professor Lars Munck, der i en Œrr¾kke har ledet en forskningsgruppe pŒ KVL i kemometri og spektroskopi, - emner, der mŒske for den uindviede lyder enten lidt kedelige eller tekniske, men som i denne bog, med et opbydelse af et minimum af nysgerrighed fra l¾serens side, Œbner for helt nye mŒder at bringe menneskets evne til at percipere m¿nstre i kontakt med solid stringent dataanalyse indenfor omrŒder som biokemi og genetik. Bogen - der som der stŒr pŒ bagsiden "will appeal to scientists, including statisticians in the biological and medical field interested in new innovative approach to solving complex problems" - indeholder dels allerede publicerede originalartikler fra forskellige tidskrifter, dels et stort syntetiserende hovedafsnit hvori forfatteren udvikler sin "plea for cognitive flexibility in mathematical modeling", som er inspireret af bl.a. fysiske teorier om selvorganserende systemer og semiotiske tanker om m¿nstres betydning, men som tager sit prim¾re afs¾t i Munck-gruppens eget arbejde med udvikling af kemometriske metoder. Der arbejdes bl.a. henimod en mere operationaliserbar mŒde at t¾nke multivariate komplekse systemer pŒ, og selveste C.H. Waddingtons vision¾re men rent imagin¾re modeller for sammenh¾ngene mellem genotype space, epigenetic space og phenotype space bliver her konkretiseret via de kemometriske beregninger pŒ data fra bygmutanter. Munck har selv en bestemt videnskabsfilosofisk og metodologisk dagsorden, han ¿nsker at s¾tte - som han skriver, "By opening the "black box" of chemometric technology, it is possible to get at unique top-down overview of the probabilistic structural outcome of the dynamical chemical interactions, which are behind natural selection in emerging self-organized systems" ... "the results introduces for the first time phenomenological definitions based on NIR (near infraread spectra) patterns for the genetic terms phenome and gene pleiotropy. The advantages of a balanced explorative top-down bottom-up dialogue with nature in data modelling is discussed in relation to science theory and to the normative design trends in the presently prevailing bottom-up scientific strategy based on synthesis from destructive analyses. Bogen er ogsŒ af interesse for undervisere i biofagenes videnskabsteori ved at rumme materiale der kan illustrere, at begreber som "holisme" og "reduktionisme" ikke beh¿ver at v¾re verdensanskuelser, men begge aspekter i praktisk-operationelle erkendelsesteknikker, som rummes i eksperimentel naturvidenskab. En sp¾ndende bog at filosofere ud fra. Claus Emmeche Lars Munck, 2005: The Revolutionary Aspect of Chemometric Technology. The Universe and Biological Cells as Computers. Gylling: Narayana Press. ISBN: 87-7611-102-4. LLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL LLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL HUGIN og MUNIN er et elektronisk nyhedsbrev for aktiviteter indenfor videnskabsteori, videnskabsfilosofi, videnskabshistorie, videnskabssociologi og tilgraensende emneomraader. Det udsendes af Center for Naturfilosofi og Videnskabsstudier, Koebenhavns Universitet, for at styrke kontakten mellem grupper og enkeltpersoner indenfor de naevnte fagomraader. Annoncering af moeder i Hugin og Munin, tilmelding, afmelding, og andre henvendelser sendes til odinsravne[ at ]gmail.com . Nyhedsbrevet redigeres af Marie Svarre Nielsen, CNV. Et web-arkiv for tidligere numre er: http://www.nbi.dk/~natphil/hug/hug.intro.html Hugin og Munin - tanke og erindring - er de to vise ravne, der sidder paa Odins skuldre og hvisker ham alle tidender i oeret. Han sender dem ud ved daggry, og ved morgenmaaltidet er de hos ham igen med nyheder fra hele verden. Ravnene er her valgt som vartegn for den filosofiske eftertanke og den historiske erindring. LLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL LLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL