[evo.theory] reminder - philsci talk TODAY

[Rachael Brown]

PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE SEMINAR TODAY: 

2.00-3.30pm, Friday 27th July, 2012 ****TODAY*******
Benjamin Library, Coombs Building, ANU

More work for scientific images

Stephen M. Downes, Professor and Department Chair,

Department of Philosophy,

University of Utah.

 

Abstract.

In this talk, I introduce the claim that images are ubiquitous in science.  This claim is usually presented along with the claim that philosophers ignore images in science or do not take them seriously.  What taking images seriously amounts to is articulating an epistemic role for them in science and rejecting the once prevalent view that they are mere decorations.  I next say a little about my way into the discussion about scientific images, which was through my interest in models and modeling in science.  In another paper I appear to be making the rash claim that scientific images do not represent, which on its face sounds plain wrong.  Here I will give a bit of context to that claim and defend a version of it for one subset of scientific images and one account of representation (a much weaker position).  I go on to present Laura Perini’s account of representation for scientific images.  Next I present two different approaches to specific scientific images; one presented and defended by Jonathan Kaplan and Massimo Pigliucci and the other by Adina Roskies.  I characterize these approaches as responses to Perini and show how we can conclude from them that Perini’s theory of representation for  scientific images fails to apply in a few clear cases.  I add some further worries about Perini’s approach which support a more general conclusion: there are many scientific images that have a serious epistemic role in science but this role is not adequately accounted for by the going view of representation and its attendant theoretical commitments.

 


(for further details contact rachael.brown{@}anu.edu.au)

--------------------------
Rachael Brown
http://philosophy.anu.edu.au/profile/rachael-brown

School of Philosophy, RSSS and
Tempo and Mode, Centre for Macroevolution and Macroecology
Australian National University
email: rachael.brown at anu.edu.au
Ph: +61 2 6125 3000

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