Dear all, Sorry for the bumped e-mail, but I forgot to mention in the original mailing that there is a draft paper to read for this week’s HPS Philosophy Workshop, and that if you would like a copy, please let me know!
All the best, Toby Bryant Begin forwarded message: > From: Toby Bryant <[email protected]> > Subject: [CamPhilEvents] Andrew Buskell at HPS Philosophy Workshop, 07/03/14 > Date: 3 March 2014 00:31:03 GMT > To: [email protected], [email protected] > > Dear all, > > This coming Friday (07/03/14), Andrew Buskell (HPS) will be presenting his > paper ‘The Prospects for Darwinian Imperialism’ at the HPS Philosophy > Workshop. We meet at 12 noon in Seminar Room 1 in the HPS Department on Free > School Lane. > > =========== > > ABSTRACT > > Alex Mesoudi, together with various co-authors, has recently levelled serious > allegations against contemporary social sciences (anthropology, archaeology, > sociology, experimental psychology, among others). According to Mesoudi, not > only are their methods suspect and inefficient, but they also use mutually > incommensurable vocabularies, preventing any potentially fruitful > interdisciplinary linkages. In the light of such a situation, Mesoudi argues > that the social sciences need a unifying framework, one that provides > efficient and productive methods, while also allowing for and promoting > cross-disciplinary projects and analyses. > > Mesoudi’s preferred cure for this situation is a framework modelled on the > Darwinian one he sees at play in the biological sciences. Just as the > biological sciences have been unified under the aegis of the Modern > Synthesis, Mesoudi argues, so too can the social sciences be unified under a > new, Cultural Synthesis, based around Darwinian principles. But what I will > show is that what Mesoudi means by ‘framework’, let alone a ‘Darwinian > framework’ is far from clear. > > I will argue that we can isolate three different interpretations, or > understandings, of what Mesoudi means when he invokes a ‘Darwinian > framework’, and that Mesoudi plumps for the strongest of the three. However, > I will suggest that the two arguments he puts forward for this strong > interpretation are flawed. Indeed, I will close by suggesting that only the > weakest interpretation of what a ‘Darwinian framework’ entails has any > empirical support, but that this weak interpretation shares only a tenuous > relationship to Darwinian evolution as it is used in the biological sciences. > > =========== > > The atmosphere of the Philosophy Workshop is friendly and relaxed—it’s a > venue for junior members of the university to present draft work in the > philosophy of science. After a short presentation by the speaker, there is > discussion and feedback of the work, with tea, coffee, and biscuits. All are > welcome to join! > > If you are an MPhil or Part III student, PhD student, or post-doc, and you > would like to present in next term’s philosophy workshop, drop me an email to > let me know! > > Best, > Toby Bryant > > _____________________________________________________ > To unsubscribe from the CamPhilEvents mailing list, > or change your membership options, please visit > the list information page: http://bit.ly/CamPhilEvents > > List archive: http://bit.ly/CamPhilEventsArchive > > Please note that CamPhilEvents doesn't accept email > attachments. See the list information page for further > details and suggested alternatives.
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