Dear all The first CamPoS seminar of Easter term will be given by Riana Betzler <https://rianabetzler.com/ <https://rianabetzler.com/>>, Teaching Associate in the Department of History and Philosophy of Science at Cambridge. Details as follows:
Time: Wednesday 8 May, 1-2:30pm Place: Seminar Room 2, Department of History and Philosophy of Science (Free School Lane, CB2 3RH) Title: Follow the Measures: Conceptualization, Measurement, and Interdisciplinarity in the Science of Empathy Abstract: Questions about how empathy should be conceptualized have long been a preoccupation of the field of empathy research. There are several definitions of empathy currently in circulation, as well as significant overlap between empathy and related concepts, such as sympathy, compassion, perspective-taking, and mind-reading. This conceptual diversity is widely acknowledged and generally taken to be a problem that needs to be solved. In this paper, I argue that although there is vast and seemingly intractable disagreement about the meaning of “empathy” in the psychological and cognitive neuroscience literature on it—as evidenced by stated definitions and conceptualizations—researchers working in the field seldom rely on those stated definitions and instead work within certain experimental “paradigms” characterized by the use of established measures. Continuity and stability comes from the use of those established measures while progress comes from expansion upon those measures. Stated concepts respond flexibly and not always in step with the evolution of research methodologies. By following the measures rather than the stated definitions, we can get clearer on the target(s) of empirical empathy research. Towards the end of the talk, I consider how this ‘follow the measures’ approach fares when considering interdisciplinary research and the special problems interdisciplinarity might pose. Full information about the talk is here: https://talks.cam.ac.uk/talk/index/123868 The term card for the rest of Easter 2019 is as follows: 15 May: Aaron Hanlon (Colby College). Early Modern History of Data and Epistemology of Form. 22 May: Darrell Rowbottom (Lingnan University). Does science progress? You can also follow us at https://twitter.com/CamPhilSci <https://twitter.com/CamPhilSci> All are welcome. All the best Matt Matt Farr • Teaching Associate in Philosophy of Science University of Cambridge • Department of History & Philosophy of Science Free School Lane | Cambridge | CB2 3RH w mattfarr.co.uk <http://www.mattfarr.co.uk/> | e mw...@cam.ac.uk <mailto:mw...@cam.ac.uk> | t 01223334559 _____________________________________________________ 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.
