[PhilPhys] The Center for Philosophy of Science's February Hybrid Talks

[Center for Phil Sci]

The Center for Philosophy of Science at the University of Pittsburgh
invites you to join us for our upcoming presentations. All of the lectures
will be live streamed on YouTube at
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrRp47ZMXD7NXO3a9Gyh2sg.

*Lunch Time Talk - **Marton Gomori *-
https://www.centerphilsci.pitt.edu/fellows/gomori-marton/
Meet Marton Gomori, Visiting Fellow at The Center for Philosophy of
Science.  Marton's  5 Minute Video:  https://youtu.be/QTfzUTIwzhU
<https://youtu.be/QTfzUTIwzhU>


*Tuesday, February 17 @ Noon*Join us in person in room 1117 on the 11th
floor of the Cathedral of Learning.

*Title: * *Why do outcomes in a long series of rolls of a symmetric die
follow an approximately uniform distribution?*

 *Abstract: *

The talk outlines a new answer to this question. The answer is based on 1)
the structure of phase space pertaining to a roll of a symmetric die, as
described by classical mechanics, 2) the notion that the die roll is not
biased in favor any outcome, as a causal condition about the process of
selecting a point in phase space, and 3) the Common Cause Principle.
Remarkably, however, our answer nowhere refers to the notion of probability.
This talk will be available online:  Zoom:
<https://pitt.zoom.us/j/93125716226>https://pitt.zoom.us/j/93544926182


*Annual Lecture Series – Rina Bliss*-
https://sociology.rutgers.edu/people/faculty/core-department-faculty/core-department-faculty-member/1021-bliss-catherine
<https://scholars.duke.edu/person/felipe.debrigard>

*Friday, February 20 @ 3:30 EST*Attend in person in room 1008 in the
Cathedral of Learning (10th Floor)

*Title: **What’s Real About Race? Untangling Science, Genetics, and Society*

*Abstract:*
Biologically, race is a fiction—but it is a fiction that has real social
consequences. In *What’s Real About Race?* sociologist Rina Bliss unpacks
how genetic and social research have perpetuated racial categories and
stereotypes. How, Bliss asks, did categories of race emerge and get
embedded in modern-day science? How did scientists begin misusing DNA
collections and genetic research stratified by race? Are there ethical ways
to consider race in scientific research? And the elephant in the room:
what, if anything, is real about race? Bliss offers a new conceptual
framework: race is not a genetic reality, but it is also not merely a
social construct; it is a social reality with a stark impact on our life
chances and health.
Can’t make it in-person?
This talk will available online through  Zoom:
https://pitt.zoom.us/j/94981603060



*Lunch Time Talk - **Marta Bielinska** - *
https://www.centerphilsci.pitt.edu/fellows/bielinska-marta/
Meet Marta Bielinska, Postdoctoral Fellow at The Center for Philosophy of
Science.  Marta's  5 Minute Video:
https://youtu.be/8OY-Iid0OAw?si=HWqcv23YAgw510p5

*Friday, February 27 @ Noon*
Join us in person in room 1117 on the 11th floor of the Cathedral of
Learning.

*Title: **Is the Best System approach really best for scientific practice?*

*Abstract:*
Do laws of nature govern physical reality? Proponents of the so-called Best
System approach give a negative answer to this question. At the same time,
they do not reject the existence of laws of nature altogether. Instead, on
this view, laws are axioms of a deductive system whose true theorems
describe the physical world with the best balance between simplicity and
strength—hence the name “the Best System”.
How does the Best System relate to scientific practice? Many philosophers
have argued that, in comparison with rival accounts of the laws of nature,
it reflects scientific practice particularly well. Not only does it capture
the fact that science aims to develop theories that are simple yet strong
(for instance, in terms of explanatory power), but it also refrains from
invoking metaphysical categories such as powers or dispositions, which are
not recalled in contemporary scientific discourse.
However, what is missing from the literature on the Best System approach
and scientific practice is the observation that scientific laws—at least in
physics since the modern era—are largely formulated in the language of
equations, such as Maxwell’s equations of electromagnetism or Einstein’s
field equations.
In this talk, I argue that the Best System approach runs into a number of
novel problems when applied to laws of physics expressed in the form of
equations, including problems concerning approximations and idealisations,
the role of units, and the lack of perfectly isolated systems. I further
argue that, once such laws are taken into account, traditional objections
to the Best System—such as the problem of immanent inter-system
comparisons—take on a new form.
I conclude with some considerations as to whether, in light of these
arguments, the Best System should be rejected entirely, or whether some of
its core postulates could be preserved and employed in a revised account of
the laws of nature that better reflects scientific practice.
This talk will be available online:

Zoom: https://pitt.zoom.us/j/96670521198 and  YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrRp47ZMXD7NXO3a9Gyh2sg
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://listbox.elte.hu/pipermail/philphys/attachments/20260213/3e0986c3/attachment-0001.html>