DEPARTMENTS

The CPA office is located in the heart of the Faculty of Philosophy at Saint Paul University

We gratefully acknowledge the University's continuing support.
Les bureaux de l'ACP se trouvent au sein de la Faculté de philosophie à l'Université Saint-Paul.

Nous remercions grandement l'Université pour son soutien continu.

INTEGRATING COMPLEXITY: ENVIRONMENT AND HISTORY

CALL FOR ABSTRACTS
Two linked workshops in a 4-day event
The University of Western Ontario
7-10 October 2010

Organism-Environment Interaction: Past, Present & Future

a Workshop presented by:

The International Society for History, Philosophy, and Social Studies of Biology

Department of Philosophy, The University of Western Ontario

Joseph L. Rotman Institute for Science and Values, University of Western Ontario

Methodology in the Historical Sciences

a Workshop presented by:
Department of Philosophy, The University of Western Ontario
Joseph L. Rotman Institute for Science and Values, The University of Western Ontario

www.iceh.uwo.ca

Invited Speakers Include:
  • John Beatty, University of British Columbia
  • Carol Cleland, University of Colorado
  • Frank Egerton,University of Wisconsin-Parkside
  • Christopher D. Green, York University
  • Harry Heft, Denison University
  • John Odling-Smee, Oxford University
  • Robert Richards, University of Chicago
  • Emily Schultz, St. Cloud State University
  • George E. Smith, Tufts University
  • Denis Walsh, University of Toronto
Call for Abstracts:

The 4-day event at The University of Western Ontario in London, Ontario, Canada, comprises two linked workshops addressing interrelated strands in approaches to phenomena whose causal complexity poses special challenges to scientific understanding:

(1) the conceptual integration of complexity in explorations of organism-environment interaction in the life sciences and social sciences, and

(2) the methodological integration of complexity in the distinctive approaches to confirmation and explanation in the historical sciences.

The two workshops will draw together philosophers, historians, and natural and social scientists whose work focuses on the interpretation of organism-environment interaction and its implications for our understanding of complex biological and social systems, and on the distinctive methodological challenges posed by the historical sciences.

Organism-Environment Interaction: Past, Present & Future

The partitioning of the complexity of the organic world into organism and environment—a step toward simpler abstract representations of organic phenomena—opened a space for exploration of the complex and dynamic relationship between the two. Conceptions of this relationship have played a crucial role in the development of many areas of biology, including evolutionary theory, ecology and ethology. Other disciplines, including the social sciences and medicine, have also made use of the diverse representations of the complex interaction between organisms and their environment. These relationships remain deeply contested in all of these domains today.

Possible topics include, but are not limited to:

  • Pre-Darwinian Conceptions of O-E Interaction
  • Organization, Regulation & Response in O-E Interaction
  • O-E Interaction in Evolution
  • Intervening in the Environment
  • O-E Interaction in Medicine
  • History Matters: O-E Interaction and Historicity
  • O-E Interaction in the Human Sciences
Methodology in the Historical Sciences

The distinctive epistemological challenges of the “historical sciences” give rise to methodological debates concerning contingency, historicity, irreversibility and the limits of simple equilibrium models in biology but also in other disciplines such as palaeontology, geology, cosmology and history itself. The implications of these issues are far-reaching for questions of evidence, explanation and the nature of understanding in the historical sciences.

Possible Topics include but are not limited to:

  • Path dependence, contingency and irreversibility
  • Historical explanation
  • Anthropic principles
  • Reconstructing the past
  • Understanding unique events
Workshop Structure:

The event will combine plenary sessions presented by invited speakers, panel sessions, and discussion sessions led by graduate students and junior scholars.

Submission Guidelines:

Please submit a 1-page abstract for a presentation of no more than 20 minutes. There are two types of sessions: break-out discussions and panels. In a break-out discussion, the presentation introduces material for an extended discussion led by the presenter. In a panel, three related presentations precede a combined discussion. You may specify which format you prefer, though we will consider all submissions for both formats. For break-out discussions, please provide references for 2-3 background readings that can be made available in advance.

Send submissions or any inquiries to: iceh@uwo.ca

This event aims to foster lively discussion across disciplinary lines and between junior and senior scholars - submissions from any relevant field and from graduate students are welcome.

Deadline: June 1, 2010