Explanation and Reduction in the Sciences (The Third Jerusalem-MCMP Workshop in the Philosophy of Science)
Jerusalem, 8.-10. February 2018
Idea and Motivation
What is a scientific explanation? Which theories of scientific explanation should we embrace? What does it mean to say that some scientific explanations are reductive? To what extent do some scientific explanations support particular versions ontological reductionism or physicalism? The participants of this workshop will address these questions in the context of explanatory practices in cognitive science and physics.
Organizers
- Stephan Hartmann (MCMP/LMU Munich)
- Alexander Reutlinger (MCMP/LMU Munich)
- Orly Shenker (Edelstein Center, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem)
Program
Day 1 (Thursday, 8 February 2018)
| Time | Event |
|---|---|
| 09:30 - 09:50 | Gathering and Refreshments |
| 09:50 - 10:00 | Opening |
| 10:00 - 11:15 | Ophelia Deroy: From Explanatory Gap to Explanatory Division in Cognitive Neuroscience |
| 11:15 - 12:30 | Oron Shagrir and Lotem Elber-Dorozko: Computation and the Mechanistic Hierarchy |
| 12:30 - 14:00 | Lunch Break |
| 14:00 - 15:15 | Orly Shenker: Flat Physicalism |
| 15:15 - 16:30 | Stephan Hartmann: Hawking Radiation and Analogue Experiments: A Bayesian Analysis |
| 16:30 - 16:45 | Coffee Break |
| 16:45 - 17:30 | Reuben Stern: Antireductionist Interventionism |
| 19:00 | Conference Dinner |
Day 2 (Friday, 9 February 2018)
| Time | Event |
|---|---|
| 09:00 - 10:15 | Mario Günther: Interventionist Mental Causation and the Methods of Cognitive Neuroscience: The Explanatory Merit of Functional Reduction |
| 10:15 - 11:30 | Arnon Levy: Must the Best Explanation Be True? |
| 11:30 - 11:45 | Coffee Break |
| 11:45 - 13:00 | Ori Hacohen: Mental Representations in Cognitive Explanations |
| 13:00 - 13:15 | Concluding remarks |
Day 3 (Saturday, 10 February 2018)
Day trip for participants
Practical Information
Venue
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (Edelstein Center for History and Philosophy of Science, Technology and Medicine)
Acknowledgement
The conference is supported by The Sydney M. Edelstein Center for History and Philosophy of Science, Technology and Medicine, the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation through an Alexander von Humboldt Professorship, the Graduate School of Systemic Neurosciences (GSN) and the Munich Center for Neurosciences (MCN).